E-cigarettes, currently a small but growing part of the tobacco market, eventually could surpass traditional cigarettes to become a leading tobacco product, one industry expert says.

“While difficult to predict, we think it is possible that consumption of [electronic cigarettes] could outpace traditional cigarettes over the next decade, especially given the rapid pace of innovation and consumers’ demand for reduced harm products,” Bonnie Herzog, Managing Director of Beverage, Tobacco and Consumer Research at Wells Fargo Securities LLC, told Convenience Store News.

One major tobacco company, Newport brand manufacturer Lorillard, acquired the e-cigarette company blu ECigs this spring. The e-cigarette company NJOY is expected to release a new product soon, which it says will more closely resemble a “traditional smoking experience.”

Last year, the Food and Drug Administration announced it will regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco products, but has so far not issued regulations for the products, according to the article.

Laws regulating e-cigarettes are under consideration in a growing number of states.

E-cigarettes are designed to deliver nicotine in the form of a vapor, which is inhaled by the user. They usually have a rechargeable, battery-operated heating element, a replaceable cartridge with nicotine or other chemicals and a device called an atomizer that converts the contents of the cartridge into a vapor when heated. E-cigarettes often are made to look like regular cigarettes.