<span id="midArticle_start"/><span id="midArticle_0"/> Before Hon Lik invented the e-cigarette, a device now shaking up the Big Tobacco industry, he was a pharmacist in China struggling to quit a two-to-three pack a day smoking habit.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>Once in 2002, Hon forgot to remove a nicotine patch from his stomach before bed and had nightmares all night. He traced it to the continuous dose of nicotine and then realized it was precisely that steady release that made patches inadequate for him.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>Without the sharp nicotine highs he got from smoking, he found there was no relaxation or stress relief.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>Armed with a background in Oriental medicine, knowledge of mechanics and an interest in electronics, Hon set out to make something that would mimic smoking - without the deadly smoke.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>His drive was galvanized further when his father, also a smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer shortly afterwards. He died in 2004.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>"I believed that if I could use vapor to simulate cigarette smoke, this could help me," Hon told Reuters on Tuesday.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>Thirteen years on from those nightmares, the 59-year-old stopped off in London after participating in a global summit in Warsaw on nicotine as the father of the most disruptive technology the industry has seen. He is also now employed by one of its biggest players, Imperial Tobacco Group, following Imperial's 2013 purchase of Hon's business.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>Imperial, the world's fourth-largest tobacco company, will become a major e-cigarette player in the United States following its purchase of the Blu brand in a deal expected to close this week.
<span id="midArticle_8"/> <span class="first-article-divide"/>E-cigarettes, which heat nicotine-laced liquid into vapor, have ignited a global market for "vaping" products that could top $7 billion this year.
<span id="midArticle_9"/>In the absence of definitive studies about the long-term health effects of vaping, they are the subject of great debate.
<span id="midArticle_10"/>Tobacco giants including Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco are also racing to enter the market as governments race to control it.
<span id="midArticle_11"/>
<span id="midArticle_12"/>'CLOUD-CHASERS'
<span id="midArticle_13"/> <span class="second-article-divide"/>Authorities in Wales on Tuesday proposed a new public health law that would ban e-cigarettes in enclosed spaces like offices and restaurants following similar moves in Ireland and elsewhere.
<span id="midArticle_14"/>Some regulators fear e-cigarettes could lead non-smokers to vape or even smoke, while proponents say bans discourage smokers from switching.
<span id="midArticle_15"/>"E-cigarettes are a consumer-driven revolution," Hon said, noting the array of products now on the market that address the needs of various groups, from people wanting to cut back or quit smoking to a new band of recreational "cloud-chasers" who use nicotine-free vapor to blow the biggest and densest clouds.
<span id="midArticle_0"/>"When automotive manufacturers first started out, they were not thinking about a sport to be called Formula One. You always have groups of people who are looking for excitement," Hon said of the cloud-chasing phenomenon.
<span id="midArticle_1"/> <span class="third-article-divide"/>Although most e-cigarettes are manufactured in China, the market there is very small and tobacco smoking remains high. China is by far the world's biggest tobacco market, and is a virtual monopoly dominated by state-owned firm China National Tobacco. Some estimates peg revenue from tobacco sales as making up as much as 10 percent of the government's coffers.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>Yet Hon could soon see more people in his home city of Beijing vaping, due to this month's implementation of strict rules on smoking in public places.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>Anyone who violates a ban on smoking in restaurants, hotels, schools, hospitals and in certain outdoor public places must pay a 200 yuan ($32.25) fine. That is 20 times the current, albeit rarely enforced, penalty.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>Hon said second and third-tier cities in China could follow Beijing's lead as governments seek to improve public health.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>"I understand the market is slowly changing," said Hon, who now only smokes when his job requires him to compare the flavors of various tobaccos and vapes.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>"What could happen to the Chinese market could be similar to what's happening here."
<span id="midArticle_7"/>
<span id="midArticle_8"/> (Reporting by Martinne Geller in London; Editing by Pravin Char)
<span id="midArticle_9"/>
<span id="midArticle_1"/>Once in 2002, Hon forgot to remove a nicotine patch from his stomach before bed and had nightmares all night. He traced it to the continuous dose of nicotine and then realized it was precisely that steady release that made patches inadequate for him.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>Without the sharp nicotine highs he got from smoking, he found there was no relaxation or stress relief.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>Armed with a background in Oriental medicine, knowledge of mechanics and an interest in electronics, Hon set out to make something that would mimic smoking - without the deadly smoke.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>His drive was galvanized further when his father, also a smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer shortly afterwards. He died in 2004.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>"I believed that if I could use vapor to simulate cigarette smoke, this could help me," Hon told Reuters on Tuesday.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>Thirteen years on from those nightmares, the 59-year-old stopped off in London after participating in a global summit in Warsaw on nicotine as the father of the most disruptive technology the industry has seen. He is also now employed by one of its biggest players, Imperial Tobacco Group, following Imperial's 2013 purchase of Hon's business.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>Imperial, the world's fourth-largest tobacco company, will become a major e-cigarette player in the United States following its purchase of the Blu brand in a deal expected to close this week.
<span id="midArticle_8"/> <span class="first-article-divide"/>E-cigarettes, which heat nicotine-laced liquid into vapor, have ignited a global market for "vaping" products that could top $7 billion this year.
<span id="midArticle_9"/>In the absence of definitive studies about the long-term health effects of vaping, they are the subject of great debate.
<span id="midArticle_10"/>Tobacco giants including Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco are also racing to enter the market as governments race to control it.
<span id="midArticle_11"/>
<span id="midArticle_12"/>'CLOUD-CHASERS'
<span id="midArticle_13"/> <span class="second-article-divide"/>Authorities in Wales on Tuesday proposed a new public health law that would ban e-cigarettes in enclosed spaces like offices and restaurants following similar moves in Ireland and elsewhere.
<span id="midArticle_14"/>Some regulators fear e-cigarettes could lead non-smokers to vape or even smoke, while proponents say bans discourage smokers from switching.
<span id="midArticle_15"/>"E-cigarettes are a consumer-driven revolution," Hon said, noting the array of products now on the market that address the needs of various groups, from people wanting to cut back or quit smoking to a new band of recreational "cloud-chasers" who use nicotine-free vapor to blow the biggest and densest clouds.
<span id="midArticle_0"/>"When automotive manufacturers first started out, they were not thinking about a sport to be called Formula One. You always have groups of people who are looking for excitement," Hon said of the cloud-chasing phenomenon.
<span id="midArticle_1"/> <span class="third-article-divide"/>Although most e-cigarettes are manufactured in China, the market there is very small and tobacco smoking remains high. China is by far the world's biggest tobacco market, and is a virtual monopoly dominated by state-owned firm China National Tobacco. Some estimates peg revenue from tobacco sales as making up as much as 10 percent of the government's coffers.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>Yet Hon could soon see more people in his home city of Beijing vaping, due to this month's implementation of strict rules on smoking in public places.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>Anyone who violates a ban on smoking in restaurants, hotels, schools, hospitals and in certain outdoor public places must pay a 200 yuan ($32.25) fine. That is 20 times the current, albeit rarely enforced, penalty.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>Hon said second and third-tier cities in China could follow Beijing's lead as governments seek to improve public health.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>"I understand the market is slowly changing," said Hon, who now only smokes when his job requires him to compare the flavors of various tobaccos and vapes.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>"What could happen to the Chinese market could be similar to what's happening here."
<span id="midArticle_7"/>
<span id="midArticle_8"/> (Reporting by Martinne Geller in London; Editing by Pravin Char)
<span id="midArticle_9"/>
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