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First District voices health concerns about e-cigarettes 

Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, are available in the Minot community and raising some concerns.

The e-cigarette is a battery powered device that looks like a real cigarette, with changeable cartridges, or filter tips, that allow users to inhale a nicotine vapor instead of smoke. The cartridges come in a number of flavors.

"One filter tip is about equivalent to a pack of regular cigarettes. You can smoke them anywhere because it is a vapor. Some smokers buy them because they're able to smoke them on a long flight or in other places they can't smoke," said Kacey Quinata, an e-cigarette kiosk employee.

E-cigarettes are advertised as safer than regular cigarettes, because they don't contain the 4,000 chemicals that regular cigarettes contain, though e-cigarettes do contain nicotine and some other chemicals.

In a hearing scheduled for Aug. 17, e-cigarettes will be classified either as a nicotine product or a tobacco product. Their classification will impact the future sales of e-cigarettes in the U.S.

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