After almost half a century of demonizing cigarette smoking by big government, the medical community and almost anyone else listening, it's almost impossible to find anyone who defends the habit.
The percentage of the public smoking cigarettes is now reported to be about 20 percent, more than half of what it was about 50 years ago. However, that number is probably higher since many smokers won't admit it when asked in a survey, or even by their doctor.
Now, with all things retro and vintage becoming cool again through a variety of cultural sources such as the AMC hit television show Mad Men, is it possible that cigarette smoking could become in again?
Cigarette acceptance in 2011 and beyond is not very likely, since the health risks of cigarette smoking are so commonly acknowledged. Even Mad Men protagonist and heavy smoker Don Draper came down on the cigarette habit after losing the big Lucky Strike advertising account.
Now that network TV is jumping on the Mad Men early 1960s retro bandwagon this fall with shows on Pan Am airlines and the Playboy Club, the issue of smoking is being debated even in the make believe world of TV. Apparently, ABC's Pan Am has decided to cut back on just the fake smoking for the show's stars, including Christina Ricci, and include black stewardesses even though they weren't hired by the airlines until later in the decade.
With all the social taboos against smoking now, it's hard to imagine that cigarettes could make any kind of comeback in the real world. The number of people smoking now is probably about the maximum unless cigarettes are actually banned outright. However, there is a high tech version of the old school cigarette gaining in popularity.
Electronic cigarettes like Green Smoke, Blu and a host of others have exploded over the last couple years. The e-cig craze, sometimes called vaping for the vapor component of the technology, provides a nicotine vapor without the use of tobacco or paper, which contain much of the health risks in regular cigarettes.
In fact, some celebrities like Katherine Hiegl, Leonardo DeCaprio and Johnny Depp have touted electronic cigarettes are various entertainment forums like TV talk shows and their movies.
Whether electronic cigarettes like Green Smoke, Blu and others ever significantly displace old school cigarettes remains to be seen. However, it will be interesting to see how the public, business community, government, Hollywood and others react, and possibly accept them. Stay tuned...
