Smoking v2.0

Smoking is bad for you. This should not be news, since we know it has been bad for people for a very long time (even if we didn't want to admit it). Second-hand smoke is also bad.

Now, the entire premise behind smoking is to ingest nicotine, no? (I realise that the tactile experience of smoking a cigarette may be important to some people, but let us set that aside for the moment.) Surely there must be better ways to get that nicotine fix.

Why hasn't some sort of big evil corporation developed a sports drink or something similar which contains the quantities of nicotine needed by addicts? It would be way more convenient than cigarettes: one could drink it anywhere, whereas smoking is becoming increasingly prohibited. One still gets their nicotine fix, so they don't have to do those difficult things like, oh, say, quitting. And, of course, the tobacco companies can still make money, just on sports drinks instead of cigarettes. It's a win-win-win scenario.

The debate over the morality of stuffing one's lungs with smoke will not go away anytime soon. I have no problem with someone smoking if they want to do it; that is their choice. I am, however, very paranoid about second-hand smoke, partly because I have asthma, and partly because, well, it just doesn't make sense to pollute the air that other people breathe. Common decency and all that.

So I'm just rather surprised that no one has come up with a smoke-free alternative to smoking. (I'm aware of the nicotine patch, but I am under the impression that such a device exists purely to help people quit, as opposed to what I am suggesting, which would be a replacement.) Maybe someone has; maybe someone did and it proved impractical.

Anyway. Just a thought. If any representative of a large tobacco company happens to drop by, feel free to let me know why my idea is totally unrealistic. Or steal it and revolutionise the industry. Doesn't matter. :angel: