The Col: I know the answer to this, because I've heard some stories about people using them in restaurants and other smoke free zones. You can and will be hassled, and for no other reason than because it looks like you are smoking a cigarette. There's not enough nictone in the expelled water vapor for anyone to be concerned about. If they didn't know there were a few parts per million of nictone in the air that weren't there before, they wouldn't know it was there... they wouldn't be able to smell or feel it.

Even if you put a candy cigarette in your mouth and pretend to smoke it, I think there's a good chance you would be hassled for doing that as well. I know this sounds bizarre, but over the years I've been amazed at how some people will react to perceived threats or violations of law even after they've discovered no threat or violation exists. Perception has the power to trump reality... it has always had that power, but only with people who don't bother to think about what it is they are seeing and believing. And I think perception drives politics more today than it ever used to... so between my own experiences with mindless reactionaries and what I'm seeing with national politics, I'm pretty sure I'm not just imagining all of this.