Even though alcohol has been denied to the 33 miners trapped underground for over a month in a mine near Chile, their request for cigarettes was finally granted, and the miners will now share a ration of two packs per day. Though they were provided with nicotine patches and gum previously, the miners said it did little to alleviate their tobacco cravings.
“Well then why don’t we send them smokeless tobacco or clean nicotine such as e-cigs?” wonders ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross.
NASA scientists at the scene advised against allowing the miners to smoke, but officials relented after rescuers improved ventilation to the mine.
“That mine is one place that I might actually be concerned about second-hand — and even third-hand smoke,” quips Dr. Ross.
ACSH staffer Cheryl Martin is still bewildered that the government “won’t give the miners alcohol, but will provide them with cigarettes.”
ACSH's Jeff Stier analyzes the situation pragmatically and believes that the nicotine concentration in gums and patches is ineffective, and he would “like to see higher nicotine concentrations in e-cigs, since nicotine — while addictive — is not particularly harmful, especially compared with the toxins inhaled from cigarettes.”