E-cigarettes are used as alternatives to traditional cigarettes, for recreational activity, and as a delivery device for other licit or illicit drugs. This forum discusses the problem to public health/criminal justice, how ecigs work, and other research.
Few peer-reviewed manuscripts exist in the literature that describe, define, and illustrate the use of electronic cigarettes. This forum describing how they work and their efficacy in drug delivery will be of great benefit to the forensic science community. Given that one role of the forensic toxicologist is to define and characterize drug usage trends, publicly funded research poses an important, relevant, and critically timed study to address an identified threat to public health and criminal justice. This forum will support analytical efforts in controlled substances units and support the findings and opinions of scientists, medical examiners, death investigators, and forensic toxicologists as they present analytical results. It will also provide greater understanding in the court systems nationwide as to the nature of drug usage, abuse, and overdose cases in which electronic cigarettes were used to deliver an illicit drug.