Michelle Peterson/Winonan

Winona e-cigarette store managers advocate for e-cigarettes in place of traditional cigarettes for health reasons, which is why they question the new policy regarding e-cigarettes on Winona State University campus.

With the new policy in place, Winona State now treats e-cigarettes like traditional cigarettes, meaning there are designated spots where they are allowed.

However, Mark Roussin, co-owner of Vapor Vibes, said if students are using e-cigarettes to quit smoking cigarettes, it doesn’t make sense to put them near people who smoke cigarettes.

“You’re forcing students to be around the very habit that they’re trying to get away from,” Roussin said.

Roussin said a lot of people that don’t understand this product instantly correlate it with something that’s really negative, but at least the school is attempting to understand it.

“These aren’t tobacco devices. These are nicotine devices. I see an e-cig as a safer alternative to something that people are going to be doing no matter what,” Roussin said.

Roussin explained that some people use e-cigarettes to try to quit smoking cigarettes, and some people use e-cigarettes as an alternative to smoking.

Roussin said e-cigarettes are for people who don’t want to be around the 4,000 chemicals, 300 poisons and 76 carcinogens in cigarettes since e-cigarettes are made of only four chemicals: polyethylene glycol, vegetable glycol, nicotine and natural and artificial flavorings.

“People are figuring it out for themselves, would I rather put four chemicals in my body or 4,000?” Roussin said.

“The whole point of college is really to learn how to become an adult, and if you baby students, that defeats the whole purpose. It should be their choice,” Roussin said.

Roussin and Delsing agree that there should be some regulations on the use of e-cigarettes during class or in the cafeteria, like cell phones. If it’s distracting in class, then people shouldn’t be doing it, Roussin said.

However, Roussin and co-worker Dave Delsing do agree with the hookah ban.

Hookah is different, Delsing said, because something is actually being burned.

“We don’t want to be in the same category as hookah, because it’s not a hookah at all,” Delsing said. “What we have here is all electronic.”

Roussin said he encourages people to do research before they label e-cigarettes as bad.

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