Every time I see this guy on commercials, I think about how guys like the Marlboro Man just seem sexier to me. Until they breathe on me.

I’m on the East Coast and my visit to New York to see the Rockettes yesterday reminded me how many people still smoke traditional cigarettes despite all the evidence that they will kill you, and despite the fact that smokeless cigarettes will give you the nicotine rush you desire without that pesky blackening of the lung thing. Smoking in California is grounds for public stoning.

Electronic cigarettes don’t burn tobacco; instead they take a liquid nicotine and convert it into vapor that is inhaled, so you can still get that “smoke” effect. In cigarettes, when the chemicals are burned, the dangerous toxins are released and inhaled by the smoker; in e-cigarettes, there is no burning so those toxins are never released.

Sucking on a vapor stick instead of a cancer stick doesn’t make him any less sexy, but it will make him less stinky. Less stinky, and richer, because cigarette smokers spend an average of $2,000 a year on cigarettes. Converting to electronic cigarettes would cost an average of $800 per year.

So why are people STILL smoking regular cigs in New York City and everywhere else except California? The amount of nicotine in e-cigarettes is on average the same as regular cigarettes.