Smoke swirls above the restaurant table, but no one is complaining. It’s not nicotine being released into the air; instead it’s a sweet strawberry smell. It’s an electronic cigarette.

E-cigs are cigarette-shaped devices that allow the user to intake nicotine in a vapor form. They come in various flavors and colors unlike traditional cigarettes. There are various reasons why people pick up the habit of smoking electronic cigarettes. Some people use it as a method to quit while others just use it as a way to pass time.

Senior Bryan Nava has recently taken up smoking electronic cigarettes as a substitute for traditional cigarettes, which he started smoking when he was 12 years old.

“My mom is more comfortable with me smoking e-cigs instead of smoking regular cigarettes,” Nava said. “But smoking has been in my family for a while.”

Nava says he has been slowly lowering his nicotine intake by getting a smaller concentration.

Some companies in the electronic cigarette industry market e-cigs as an alternative or safer way to smoke. When prescribed by a doctor this is called a therapeutic purpose, which is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. When not prescribed by a doctor, the FDA does not regulate e-cigs. Their website says the safety of e-cigs has not been fully studied. According to the site, “consumers of e-cigarette products currently have no way of knowing whether e-cigarettes are safe, how much nicotine or other potentially harmful chemicals are being inhaled during use, or if there are any benefits associated with using these products.”

In addition to being able to control his nicotine intake, money is another factor in why Nava decided to switch to e-cigs. “When I first got it, I [spent] 50 bucks on the container, battery, charger and two flavors,” Nava said. “It’s saved me a lot of money.”

Although Nava has been smoking e-cigs for a year, he is not worried it has become an addiction.

“Basically, I haven’t stopped, and if I’ve stopped it was only one cigarette a week,” Nava said. “Lately I haven’t smoked [regular cigarettes] in like a year.”

Even though he does not consider himself addicted, smoking still has some impact on Nava’s life.

“[Changing to e-cigs] was due to a recent relationship,” Nava said. “I thought she deserved better, so I tried to stop. I was trying to improve myself.”

After having a year-long experience with electronic cigarettes, senior Pedro Castillo has recently stopped smoking e-cigs. Before e-cigs, Castillo did not have any other involvement with traditional cigarettes.

“I remember seeing it in the store, and I thought it was cool so I bought it,” Castillo said.

Getting a nicotine based flavor was not an important factor to Castillo when buying refills for his e-cig.

“I got actual nicotine, but I didn’t like it,” Castillo said. “I get different flavors.”

Even though some people feel e-cigs are less harmful than traditional cigarettes, people still have different opinions on this new method of nicotine intake.

“[My parents] think it’s bad, but I don’t really care,” Castillo said. “[My friends] don’t think anything about it. They smoke actual cigarettes.”

Even though Castillo spends time around people who smoke traditional cigarettes, he hasn’t picked up the habit of smoking those himself.

“I started with an e-cig and then I got cigarettes,” Castillo said. “But I didn’t like cigarettes.”

But other teens have picked up the new habit. According to data from the 2011 and 2012 National Youth Tobacco Survey, use of both e-cigs and traditional cigarettes among high school students have increased.

The survey stated e-cig experimentation and useage doubled among high school and middle school students during 2011-2012. About 1.78 million students have admitted to trying or using e-cigs as of 2012. And about 16,000 of those had never used traditional cigarettes.

Smoking e-cigs isn’t an important part of his life, Castillo said. It’s more like a way to pass the time.

“I don’t do it frequently, I rarely do it,” Castillo said. “I kinda already stopped.”

(photo was flipped to fit into Top Stories layout)