You may have recently seen someone in a non-smoking bar with a cigarette and asked yourself why the bartender hasn’t asked them to go outside, only to realize that what they are smoking is not a cigarette, but is, in fact, a smokeless, electronic cigarette. As an extensive traveler and someone who moves frequently, I have seen the smoking ban go into effect in many places, each affected differently by the bans, and each ban increasing the propensity towards electronic cigarettes. 2010 saw a widespread increase in smoking bans, including a statewide ban in Wisconsin, increasing the popularity of electronic cigarettes as a smoking alternative. They have become especially popular among bar-goers in Wisconsin, who are able to get their nicotine fix in bars, while forgoing facing the bitter winter weather. Cities that were traditionally smoking cities like Dallas and Washington, D.C. have enacted city-wide smoking bans in restaurants, lounges, clubs, and bars; gone are the days of enjoying a cigarette in the lobby of The Willard or over drinks and a meal at Old Ebbitt Grill.

Even Sin City has become less sinful, heavily promoting new non-smoking slot areas in casinos. Attempt to light up inside of Marquee, The Cosmopolitan’s hot new club, and you will be peremptorily ushered to the outdoor patio. In Las Vegas, electronic cigarettes have become a popular choice among tourists who are “social smokers” or smoke when they drink, allowing them to indulge in their vice without making it a long-term habit. Anyone who has quit smoking and had “just one” while drinking on New Year’s Eve, at a Rolling Stones concert, during finals, or while going through the mortgage approval process (yes, I’ve all of the above), resulting in a three to six month downward spiral of smoking, has benefited from the invention of the electronic cigarette.

The electronic cigarette has become a popular way to quit smoking, far less punitive than cold turkey or nicotine patches, indulging in the oral and manual fixation that keeps many smoking, and giving you the nicotine your body is craving, without the smoke. The rise of their popularity has also been largely affected by the plummeting economy and rapidly increasing cost of smoking, a pack of cigarettes now costing more than a bottle of Barefoot wine. Even Pall Malls have become expensive and you can forget about smoking Capris, packing a mean blow to the budget in every pack. Electronic cigarettes are not only cost-effective, they also encourage “smoking” the amount of nicotine that you need, rather than finishing an entire cigarette, lowering the total amount of nicotine inhaled and prolonging the life of the electronic cigarette, making it equal far more than the stated number of packs that it represents. The ability to smoke in your car or home without devaluing it or upsetting your landlord, the ability to smoke without it lingering on your clothes and in your hair, are all benefits of electronic cigarettes, making it evident why they are popular among “closet smokers.” Whether you are trying to quit smoking, reduce the cost of smoking, work around your city or state’s smoking ban, reduce the health effects of smoking, get around your landlord’s no smoking policy, smoke while drinking or in times of stress without it becoming habit-forming, or remain in the closet about your habit, electronic cigarettes have become a popular and satisfying alternative for many types of smokers.