Use of electric cigarettes in sleeper

[BillVas]

My friend would get off to smoke at the smoke stops, but now has those phoney cigarettes that are just a mist of air. can these be used in our compartment without getting thrown off the trains??

 

[Acela150]

That's a great question that I think might stump us all. I would call Amtrak to find out. That's my take on this topic. If it's just a mist of air I would guess yes but not sure. If you he or she does use them in your sleeping compartment shut the door and blinds. So you don't get caught and get thrown off. Or tell the SCA that you have the fake cigarettes and is it ok if you use them in the compartment.

Good luck on this new topic!

Steve

 

[amtrakwolverine]

yeah i would check with the car attendent they might not have heard of them and at first glance might think your smoking for real.

 

[Chris J.]

yeah i would check with the car attendent they might not have heard of them and at first glance might think your smoking for real.

I saw someone smoking one of these in a bar a few weeks ago and It did look like they were smoking a normal cigarette. I think it was only the lack of smoke coming from it that made me realise it was one of these fake electronic ones.

I'd ask the attendant before "lighting up" (switching on?) - you don't want to be thrown off the train at a grade crossing in Nowheresville over a misunderstanding!

 

[user 683]

A friend of mine mentioned a similar situation where someone was using an electronic cigarette in a non-smoking area in a restaurant. Apparently, the restaurant staff didn't mind, or at least they didn't see any reason to ask that person to not use the device since it was not creating any smoke and none of the other patrons seemed to mind. Granted, I am not a smoker - I think this may actually be a bigger problem for those who smoke as opposed to those who don't since it would entice smokers to think about lighting up.

 

[Guest]

I'd ask the attendant before "lighting up" (switching on?) - you don't want to be thrown off the train at a grade crossing in Nowheresville over a misunderstanding!

IMHO, that would be far better than calling Amtrak customer service. It would be the attendant who makes the, on-the-spot, judgement call.

 

[caravanman]

As a non smoker, I am guessing that it is the smoking by burning part that that is frowned upon. If one can inhale "nicotine" or whatever without it being released into the air I imagine that would be ok for most people.

Anyone know if there is a spliff electric joint available?

Ed

 

[rrdude]

As a non smoker, I am guessing that it is the smoking by burning part that that is frowned upon. If one can inhale "nicotine" or whatever without it being released into the air I imagine that would be ok for most people.
Anyone know if there is a spliff electric joint available?

Ed

I've seen these things close up, and there is absolutely no smoke, but the mere "Thought" of someone breaking the rules sends the do-gooders into shock.

He has told me story after story about people who "Don't believe" they are not at risk for second-hand smoke.

Your last sentence, good idea......

 

[wayman]

Anyone know if there is a spliff electric joint available?

Vaporizers may accomplish the same smokeless objective.

 

[user 1215]

The TV commercials for these gizmos are pretty cocky. Shows a guy just blatanly puffing away in a restaurant booth and when approached by the server, he jabs it into his hand to prove he's not breaking the rules.

In the privacy of a roomette, or even in coach if everyone else is sound asleep, I don't have a problem with it, but to "switch on" in the middle of the lounge car is probably just inciting a hostile environment.

 

[Asst Conductor OKJ]

In short the answer is no. We recived an update about them in regaurds to amtraks smoking policy and we were told that they are NOT allowed to be used on board the train, and should be enforced the same way as smobody smoking a real cig. sorry.

 

[caravanman]

Oh well, it's back to the hash cookies and vodka then...

Ed

 

[rile42]

Last spring I sat behind a guy from Denver to Chicago that had some type of fake cigarette in his mouth the entire time. I thought for a long time it was a real cigarette just unlit. It didn't emit anything. He never tried to hide it and nobody bothered him about it.

 

[sunchaser]

In short the answer is no. We recived an update about them in regaurds to amtraks smoking policy and we were told that they are NOT allowed to be used on board the train, and should be enforced the same way as smobody smoking a real cig. sorry.

Bummer. I almost bought some for the long train trip last summer, but they are bit expensive. Now I'm glad I didn't buy any. I certainly would not want to cause an uproar.

 

[user 1215]

In short the answer is no. We recived an update about them in regaurds to amtraks smoking policy and we were told that they are NOT allowed to be used on board the train, and should be enforced the same way as smobody smoking a real cig. sorry.

Why? What is the concern?

 

[Rafi]

Here's the Amtrak statement on the matter:

ELECTRONIC CIGARETTES PROHIBITEDELECTRONIC CIGARETTES OR E-CIGARETTES ARE BEING MARKETED AS A SAFER ALTERNATIVE TO SMOKING TOBACCO PRODUCTS FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE ADDICTED TO OR WANT TO USE NICOTINE. MANY OF THESE ELECTRONIC DEVICES ARE DESIGNED TO LOOK LIKE CIGARETTES, CIGARS AND PIPES. THERE HAVE BEEN SOME INSTANCES OF PASSENGERS SMOKING E-CIGARETTES ON AMTRAK TRAINS AND IN AMTRAK STATIONS. THESE ELECTRONIC DEVICES HAVE NOT BEEN APPROVED BY THE FDA AS BEING SAFE TO USE.

AN E-CIGARETTE CONSISTS OF A METAL OR PLASTIC TUBE THAT CONTAINS A LITHIUM BATTERY PACK, A HEATING ELEMENT, ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS, AND, IN THOSE DESIGNED TO LOOK LIKE CIGARETTES, AN LED AT ONE END THAT MIMICS THE GLOW OF A LIT CIGARETTE WHEN THE USER DRAWS AIR THROUGH IT. WHEN A USER DRAWS AIR THROUGH THE DEVICE, A HEATING ELEMENT VAPORIZES THE NICOTINE CONTAINING PROPYLENE GLYCOL SOLUTION, AND THE VAPOR IS INHALED INTO THE LUNGS. WHEN THEY ARE PUFFED, A VAPOR IS EMITTED INTO THE ATMOSPHERE. THE VAPOR EMITTED CAN BE VISUALLY SIMILAR TO CIGARETTE SMOKE. THERE IS ALSO THE POSSIBILITY THAT THE EXHALED AEROSOL FROM AN E-CIGARETTE COULD CONTAIN NICOTINE, PROPYLENE GLYCOL OR OTHER VOLATILE MATERIALS.

AMTRAK DOES NOT ALLOW THE USE OF THESE ELECTRONIC SMOKING DEVICES IN ANY AREA ON TRAINS, ON THRUWAY BUSES, IN STATIONS, OR IN ANY OTHER AREA WHERE SMOKING IS PROHIBITED.

 

[user 1215]

That seems to make the most sense of anything I've seen about these electric suck sticks. At first, I thought it was silly to say that they weren't approved by the FDA as being safe to use. Would that mean that holistic (legal) vitamins are also banned?

But the part about the 2nd hand vapor makes a bit more sense. Amtrak's SA's and conductors need to be able to articulately relay this to passengers to avoid a major disrutption by someone having a nic attack.

 

[dlagrua]

The solution to all this would be if Amtrak had an air tight smoking room where the smokers could puff on their cigarettes. If the room was completely air tight it would not annoy the rest of the passengers as all of the smoke would be tightly contained in there. When you are a smoker the more smoke the better the enjoyment!

 

[amtrakwolverine]

if you have to smoke get off at the smoke stops or brings lots of nicotine gum or those patches.

 

[Chris J.]

The solution to all this would be if Amtrak had an air tight smoking room where the smokers could puff on their cigarettes. If the room was completely air tight it would not annoy the rest of the passengers as all of the smoke would be tightly contained in there. When you are a smoker the more smoke the better the enjoyment!

One problem would be getting from that air-tight room to the rest of the train; the other might be they'd use all the air in their air-tight smoking area; and that might be bad...

 

[BigBlueBuddha]

As a non smoker, I am guessing that it is the smoking by burning part that that is frowned upon. If one can inhale "nicotine" or whatever without it being released into the air I imagine that would be ok for most people.
Anyone know if there is a spliff electric joint available?

Ed

Vaporizers exist, both in stationary and portable, rechargeable models. How would I know this?

Edit: I guess wayman beat me to this! Hmm. . .

 

[caravanman]

Airtight rooms reminds me of an amtrak travel book I read.. Daydreaming and smoking around America, by Jenny Diski

Admittedly, the cover pic is a bit pre-amtrak, but she mentions the Smoking Cabins provided before the full ban..

Ed

 

[AlanB]

The solution to all this would be if Amtrak had an air tight smoking room where the smokers could puff on their cigarettes. If the room was completely air tight it would not annoy the rest of the passengers as all of the smoke would be tightly contained in there. When you are a smoker the more smoke the better the enjoyment!

Amtrak tried that; it didn't work.

Select Superliner coaches had an enclosed room on the lower level where the baggage areas are in some cars today. Despite the vent to the outside, too many smokers would go inside at one time and it would get too smoky for even them. So they'd find some way to prop the door open, venting smoke to the entire car. And of course no matter what you tried, a little always escapes every time someone goes in or out of the room.

Another big problem with those rooms is that the smoker's turned it into a pig sty. They'd bring a cup of soda or a can of soda in, use it as an ashtray instead of those provided, then leave the can/cup behind. The train would hit a bump and now you have a sticky mess with ashes mixed in. Cleaning costs were off the wall.

So between the door propping issues and the cleaning issues, the smokers killed their ability to smoke on the train.

 

[sunchaser]

if you have to smoke get off at the smoke stops or brings lots of nicotine gum or those patches.

It's funny. I brought the lozenges along for us 'just in case'. Never even opened them, even though we were a bit behind (2 hours) for the scheduled stop at Reno. There was enough going on to keep us focused elsewhere.

I didn't know they used proplylene glycol and lithium batteries. I can see why they would be unacceptable. I definitely will not buy them now. As I have said before, I don't mind smoking outside. That's what we do at home. IF it were ok on the train in the sleeper, I would be opening the window if I could. I know it's not ok, not about to try getting away with it.

 

[rrdude]

What if I just walk around with an UN-lit cigarette? Is that also banned by Amtrak?