Ohio casinos divided on use of electronic cigarettes

The FDA tried to block the sale of the devices, saying that they often are marketed as smoking-cessation devices, making them a product that would be controlled by the agency. A federal judge ruled in 2010 that e-cigarettes are to be regulated as tobacco products, not as drugs or medical devices.

A recent study at Boston University concluded that e-cigarettes are safer than real cigarettes and might help people stop smoking.The evidence “shows them to be much safer than tobacco ego electronic cigarette and comparable in toxicity to conventional nicotine-replacement products,” Boston University professor Michael Siegel said in a statement.

Like policies at gambling venues, those at local bars and restaurants vary.The Park Street Tavern allows e-cigarettes.Patrons wanting to use electronic cigarette atomizer at Ohio's casinos where smoking tobacco is prohibited are out of luck at three casinos in the state, although others are allowing them.dsdED23sa

Electronic cigarettes, also known as e-cigarettes, are permitted at the Horseshoe casinos in Cleveland and Cincinnati and the recently opened ThistleDown racino near Cleveland.

A state spokeswoman says e-cigarettes can legally be smoked at indoor venues because Ohio law addresses the burning of tobacco.Out of respect for their friends' faith, they didn't want to smoke in the car or at their friends' home. So they stopped by Vapoligy to learn about cheap E-liquid and "vaping" - a term for using e-cigarettes, battery-operated cylindrical devices of various sizes that heat nicotine-infused liquid to make a vapor that is inhaled.

McAllister bought a starter kit of electronic cigarettes and stopped smoking two days later, he says.The device allowed him to trade smoke for vapor without giving up the usual smoker habits or going through nicotine withdrawal. That, he says, was the trick. It turned out also to be the key for his wife, his cigar-smoking son, his daughter and his daughter's boyfriend, all of whom now use the e-cigarettes.

"Here's the amazing thing," McAllister says. "I'm able to walk past somebody who's smoking and not crave a cigarette."His family's experience is an example of the booming demand for flavored e-cigarettes sold by Vapoligy, a local company that is growing with an addict's intensity.