(Inspired by the article “E-Cigarettes Can Churn Out High Levels Of Formaldehyde,” h/t Lynn.)

I’m gonna churn out high levels of whoop-ass if I hear the word “vape” again.

Here’s the thing, though: The most passionate defenders of these things (I hate the term “e-cig” almost as much as I hate the word “vape”), at least in my circles, are the people who were finally able to quit smoking actual cigarettes thanks to these things (I’m just gonna have to suck it up and say “e-cigarettes,” aren’t I?)

I can absolutely respect them for helping smokers to quit, but we’re not talking about Nicorette here. It’s a replacement for smoking that precisely mimics the act of smoking, and it’s introducing a whole new concept of how it’s “cool” to suck on a stick and exhale some sort of mist. Plus, people think it’s okay to do indoors and they have douchey new words for it.

On the other hand (overshare of personal information alert), I will say that cigarettes were just about the only thing that kept me on my feet during my brief time in the retail business. If there’s a way to give people that sort of energy boost without the associated particulate matter, I guess that’s good. We sure as sh!t aren’t about to reconsider whether people ought to be working such insanely long hours with only two 15-minute breaks, which would be the actual sane thing to do under these circumstances.

As long as I’m being ranty, I support marijuana legalization in part because I never want to hear idiotic slang like “420,” or metaphorical uses of the term “herbal remedies,” ever, ever, ever again.

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Image credit: Wes + Tony [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US], via AmazingSuperPowers.