Though in bursts of rapid shop talk users say at least now they’re not consuming tar and 68 other carcinogens to feed their need. Or digging through garbage for old butts to burn when they bolt up from sleep in the middle of the night, out of cigarettes, and out of their minds for a fix.

That used to be Jordy Tractenberg, a 45-year-old music rights negotiator. Four weeks after trading his two-pack a day habit for a vape pen, he says he took a hot shower. As the steam entered his nostrils, he began coughing and filled the drain with “lung cookies,” heavy, green and black chunks of mucus. Vaping was giving his respiratory system a chance to start working through a 30-year backlog, he said.

“All of a sudden, you can breathe,” he said.