THE WASHINGTON POST Report: A quarter of teenagers who use e-cigarettes have tried ‘dripping’
In 2003, after his father died from a tobacco habit, a Chinese pharmacist named Hon Lik developed an electronic device to vaporize nicotine. A precursor to what are now called e-cigarettes or vaporizers, the device’s goal was to deliver nicotine without the carcinogens. Lik’s first attempt relied on ultrasonic technology to create vapor, but the guts of electronic cigarettes today are, as a rule, battery-powered heating coils. These coils, known as atomizers, turn liquids — often flavored, with nicknames like e-liquid or juice, and frequently but not always containing nicotine — into vapor.
As e-cigarettes grew in popularity in the mid-to-late 2000s, users did not stop tinkering with the technology. Mass-produced cartridges, pre-filled with the nicotine liquid of various concentrations, are common.
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Photo credit: Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post
