--- title: An Open Letter to People Bothered by My E-Cig Vapor description: I can be conscious not to blow my vapor in your direction, if you''ll be conscious not to send your judgment and complaints in mine canonical: https://time.com/3475708/open-letter-people-bothered-ecig-vapor/ author: Sarah Cannon article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-06T18:24:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:00:32.077Z article:section: Ideas og:title: An Open Letter to People Bothered by My E-Cig Vapor og:description: I can be conscious not to blow my vapor in your direction, if you''ll be conscious not to send your judgment and complaints in mine og:url: https://time.com/3475708/open-letter-people-bothered-ecig-vapor/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3a14c858e24f482d/6986a739cd6848b6bc096d9a/481681373.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4756 og:image:height: 2675 og:image:alt: Man with an electronic cigarette in a public place. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: An Open Letter to People Bothered by My E-Cig Vapor twitter:description: I can be conscious not to blow my vapor in your direction, if you''ll be conscious not to send your judgment and complaints in mine twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3a14c858e24f482d/6986a739cd6848b6bc096d9a/481681373.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # An Open Letter to People Bothered by My E-Cig Vapor > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=89b8e678-636e-4110-8b70-ab80f9fa40f2&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Watch: The Rise of E-Cigarettes [Watch (HLS stream): Watch: The Rise of E-Cigarettes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bo5A95r5.m3u8) (2:02)  _Published 2013-12-27. A look at the rise of the e-cigarette market and why it's so divisive for many._ by [Sarah Cannon](https://time.com/author/sarah-cannon/) ## Sarah Cannon Oct 6, 2014 6:24 PM UTC  Man with an electronic cigarette in a public place. (Photo by: BSIP/UIG via Getty Images) Man with an electronic cigarette in a public place. (Photo by: BSIP/UIG via Getty Images) BSIP—UIG via Getty Images by [Sarah Cannon](https://time.com/author/sarah-cannon/) ## Sarah Cannon Oct 6, 2014 6:24 PM UTC Dear person who [can’t stand the smell](http://time.com/3461399/open-letter-person-smoking-e-cigarette-indoors/) of my e-cig in this coffee shop, First of all, I hear your concerns and respect your right to speak out about something that bothers you. However, I have a few things to say in response to [your complaints](http://time.com/3461399/open-letter-person-smoking-e-cigarette-indoors/). After using my vape (e-cigarette) for over a year now, my body feels so much better than when I was smoking cigarettes. I can breathe! I can go up a flight of stairs without huffing for breath halfway. I can go for six months at a time without catching a nasty, lingering cough. My clothing doesn’t reek of smoke all of the time and my car actually smells nice. So, though they are far from perfect, I am enjoying the changes that not smoking cigarettes has brought to my life. I don’t sit around inhaling lungful after lungful of vape for seven minutes at a time, like I would a real cigarette, so the lingering aura from my habit certainly isn’t hovering for extended periods of time. When I exhale, the vapor is gone within 10 seconds, along with the smell. Funny how just about 10 years ago people were still allowed to smoke actual cigarettes in some restaurants and I didn’t see anyone walking out on their meal due to the smell coming from the smoking section. This was, in fact, the norm for decades and we all got along fine. I’m not saying it was a wonderful arrangement, but people dealt with it. I understand that for a few moments during your meal you may have a sniff of my vape that you don’t care for, but I’m sure that it isn’t as horrible as you make it sound in your rant. Life is full of mild unpleasantries that we all must deal with on a daily basis, but we can choose to deal with them or let them torment us. Not to mention the smell that lingers on a person’s body after finishing a cigarette, even if it was outside, far outlasts a vape any day. When I smoked cigarettes, I dealt with inconveniences due to my addiction. I would be forced to leave the company of my friends and family to go stand outdoors, like an outcast or lesser human, so that I could prevent myself from having a withdrawal meltdown. I would sit in freezing weather and torrential downpours so that people like you could enjoy your meals without the offensive and unhealthy fumes of my cigarettes. Not to mention all of the health problems that I caused myself. There was no compromise offered, I had to deal with it. And I did. Now there is an option available to me that is far less harmful or offensive as cigarettes and, for now, I am allowed to enjoy the company of my friends and family indoors with the rest of society. No longer do I have to huddle under the awning of a building, trying to avoid the rain, nor do I have to freeze my fingers off trying to rush through a cigarette just so everyone else can be satisfied. At last I can feel like I am a part of society again, and not some evildoer who deserves to be sent out to the village gates to hide my atrocious acts. Vaping isn’t perfect, but it is a compromise. I’m doing my part by not smoking cigarettes and releasing their known carcinogens to the atmosphere, while still dealing with my addiction. I am trying to improve my health, trying to not smell like cigarette smoke all the time, and get to spend time with my loved ones as well. My intent is not to make you uncomfortable. In fact my actions are not about you at all. So I must ask that you not make them about you and respectfully let me and my vape alone. I can be conscious not to blow my vapor in your direction, if you will be conscious not to send your judgment and complaints in mine. _Sarah Cannon is a graduate of the University of South Florida with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Communications._ ## Transcript >> I always work when I work. They go together. >> In the 1950's cigarette ads were all about being manly and about being in control. Eventually, the ads were banned because smoking is a health risk. Now, with the E- cigarettes the marketing is back wherever you go. It seems vaping is involved-- with some 7 million Europeans making a switch. It's called Vaping because the liquid nicotine, which is founded here vaporizes when you press this button. Now, even though there is no tar and no smoke, there are still nicotine, which is the addictive part. Yet, E- cigarette advocates say this is healthier, the one of these. >> Really not a problem. The research demonstrates that the side stream vapor is not an issue. There are no sort of carcinogens being carried around in that, certainly nothing on a [ unk ] with what we see with tobacco smoking and second- hand smoke. >> There's a new spin in an old habit is a marketing gold mine. The E- cigarette market is valued at $ 2 billion. With the United States accounted for a quarter over sales, then there is a potential for growth with the industry expected to outperform traditional tobacco within 10 years. While this is igniting worries that will pick up new addicts along the way, already we're seeing celebrities leading the craze. >> You're awfully good with that. >> The E- cigarettes are being presented as this new trending product. The later thing that people are trying in social environments they're referring to celebrities using them, so we're very concern that possibly by seeing all this exposure to E- cigarette marketing, the lines are being blurred. And that message that smoking kills will get lost. >> As the health debate burns in the background businesses are waiting for a verdict. 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