>> i haven't had a drag of a cigarette since about 2 1/2 years ago. >> liquid nicotine is heated up by a battery charged coil. there's no tobacco burned. users inhale and instead of smoke, there's a steam like vapor. so are e cigarettes safe and perhaps the greatest innovation yet to the quit smoking or an addictive be health hazard? >> with a product like e cigarettes you're guilty till proven innocent. we need to know these things are i've and okay to use. >> they've been in the u.s. less than a decade and increasingly big tobacco companies are manufacturing them. limited research has been done on the health impact and there are conflicting stories whether or not nicotine alone is harmful. >> i would like the science to catch up with what we're doing here. >> but you're still will to do it. >> i am because i think the alternative to just smoking all day i think this is a better alternative. >> woo p what we gain is far greater than what we have the potential to lose. >> amey fairchild of columbia