In this Tuesday May 3, 2011 picture, Kim Thompson exhales vapor from her e-cigarette outside her new business called "The Vaporium" in Lakewood, Wash. Thompson, a 20-year smoker, opened the business selling electronic cigarettes or personal vaporizers as an alternative to traditional cigarettes in January and says the business is doing well. The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department is considering a ban on battery-powered electronic cigarettes that deliver nicotine without smoking. The News Tribune reports that regulations proposed Wednesday, May 4, 2011 would ban e-smoking — or "vaping" — in the same public places where the use of real cigarettes and cigars are prohibited by state law. King County adopted such a ban in January.

Canada's Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq walks past a display showing new warning labels for cigarette packages following a news conference in Ottawa, Dec. 30, 2010.

General view of the production hall of a new cigarette factory in Changchun in northeast China's Jilin province 17 September 2010. Despite the announcement of banning smoking in public spaces next year, China's cigarette sales still enjoyed growth of 16.7% in the first half of this year.