First e-cigarette store in Menomonee Falls to open later this month

A new cigarette shop is opening in Menomonee Falls -- but this one plans on selling electronic smokes. Sometime in the next nine to 10 days, "It Is Vapor" plans to open its doors to tobacco users with a newer type of product -- the e-cigarette, said Jeff Jacobs to Newsradio 620 WTMJ's Wisconsin's Afternoon News, who plans to open the shop with his mother Anne Hooper. Jacobs also owns a similar store by the same name in Oshkosh.

 The e-cigarette is an electrical device that simulates the act of tobacco smoking by producing an inhaled vapor bearing the physical sensation and look of inhaled tobacco smoke, without its odor or health risks. This e-cigarette, which made its way into the United States in 2007, is a cheaper and less harmful way to smoke, said Jacobs. "Most people who use these products either stopped smoking recently...or they want a cheaper alternative to smoking," said Jacobs. "Most people who use would be smoking regular cigarettes... if they didn't have this as an option."

 While there are around 600 additives in cigarettes, studies show that more than 4,000 chemical compounds are created by burning a cigarette -- and Jacobs argued that taking out the burning of a tobacco cigarette makes the e-cigarette less harmful. A starter kit is about $60, but a refill of nicotine juice is equivalent to paying $6 for 10 packs of cigarettes, and could be a cheaper long term option than paying for traditional cigarettes. While most of the health facts surrounding e-cigarettes aren't known, "they aren't a safer cigarette," said to Donna Winisky, the Director of Public Policy and Communications for the American Lung Association to Wisconsin to Wisconsin's Afternoon News.

 Winisky pointed out that e-cigarettes contain carcinogens, including some toxins found in antifreeze. She believes the underlying tactic of the e-cigarette is to get young people interested in smoking, as e-cigarette shops -- including the one Jacobs will open -- has numerous juice flavors including: regular, menthol, vanilla, raspberry, blueberry and other fruit flavors. Winisky also argued there is "no scientific evidence" showing these e-cigarettes help people quit smoking.

 She acknowledged there are anecdotal cases that people quit cigarettes or ease off them, such as Erin Moss of Robert, GA who told Newsradio 620 WTMJ, "I was (smoking) up to 3 packs a day; in a month and a half I quit cigarettes completely because of the electronic cigarette." Moss said she still smokes the e-cigarette, but uses smaller doses of nicotine than when she started. Winisky stressed that more research needs to be examine the health risks that come with e-cigarettes and the FDA needs to be more testing.