Macau has so far insulated itself from the anti-cigarette legislation that has swept North America, the European Union and even Hong Kong.
This could be something to do with the fact that its core clientele, gamblers from Mainland China, are as a rule, ferocious smokers.
Puffing away while playing slot machines or baccarat is almost de rigueur*** in Macau. Until recently it was not unusual to see people smoking in hospital waiting rooms.
There are signs of change though, with a number of Macau casinos introducing modest no smoking zones for those patrons turned off by the habit.
Now a London-based company has come up with a piece of technology that allows casino punters to engage in a bit of virtual smoking without annoying their non-smoking fellow players.
At Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas recently, London-based Gamucci Ltd demonstrated the ‘Gamucci Elite’—a disposable ‘electronic’ cigarette. It has a glowing red tip like a cigarette, and tastes and draws like a cigarette, but it contains no tobacco. Instead it has a cartridge filled with a nicotine solution that is vapourised when heated and mixed with flavourings.
A tiny atomising chamber in the tube heats up the liquid nicotine when the user takes a drag, reduces it within seconds to a vapour, which gives the user his nicotine hit without harmful tar and carcinogens. At the other end, what appears to be the ‘smoke’ expelled by the user is actually only water vapour, which merely adds to indoor humidity. In this way, Gamucci says, the device meets the spirit of anti-smoking laws by eliminating the second-hand smoke that can endanger the health of casino patrons and workers. And smokers can contentedly puff away.
Each ‘cigarette’ lasts about 600 puffs, equivalent to 40 cigarettes. And the delivered nicotine comes in flavors, including tobacco, menthol, peach, coffee, apple, cherry and ‘Turkish Delight’.
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