Electronic cigarettes: The new way to 'smoke' healthily

YOU may or may not have heard about electronic cigarettes, but they are taking the market by storm. Unlike traditional cigarettes, electronic alternatives contain no tobacco and there is no combustion involved.

Instead, a battery pack resides inside a tube that looks identical to a real cigarette and when the user ‘puffs’ on it, nicotine vapour is released.

A question many people ask is why anyone would want to do this, especially as there are already nicotine patches and gum available. The truth of the matter is that nicotine replacement therapy has a failure rate of 98.4 per cent (a success rate of 1.6 per cent) when looked at long term. While the health advocates like to refer to smokers as nicotine addicts, smokers are well aware that there is more to the act of smoking than nicotine delivery; there are many psychological aspects involved too.

Electronic cigarettes, otherwise known as E Cigarettes, combat these aspects. By looking like a real cigarette and being held like a real cigarette, the actual habit of holding and puffing a cigarette is satisfied, while the sucking action and production of a vapour mimics the action of smoking. Finally, by being able to inhale a gaseous substance, the smoker feels like they are really smoking.

Essentially, the E Cigarette allows you to smoke without actually smoking, which is infinitely more satisfying than chewing some gum or sticking a patch on your arm.

The electronic cigarette is not just for those looking to quit smoking, however. The blanket smoking ban in the UK has meant that indoor smoking anywhere besides your car or home is illegal, so smokers are forced outside for their cigarette.

As there is no combustion, or indeed any smoke, electronic cigarettes are perfectly legal to consume anywhere you please. This means you can ‘smoke’ on the bus, train, aeroplane, waiting in line at the bank or, nostalgically, in the pub. While it certainly can be used as a tool for cessation, the electronic cigarette is increasingly being used by current smokers who wish to avoid the hassles of finding a smoking area; real cigarettes at home, E Cigarettes everywhere else.

With no combustion and no smoke, there is no second-hand smoke for those around you to be concerned about. You may get some strange looks when you first pull it out down the local, and you may need to let the landlord know what it is before you take a drag, lest he think you are breaking the law on his premises, but after a quick explanation that you are holding breakthrough technology, there will be no problems.

You may be wondering how this little device works. Inside the cigarette is nicotine dissolved in propylene glycol and/or vegetable glycerine. Both of these are food additives which are safe for consumption; in fact propylene glycol has been used in asthma inhalers since the 50s and is on the FDA’s Generally Recognised as Safe list. This solution is housed inside a cartridge, which the user will need to replace periodically, although the frequency will depend on how much you use the product. Needless to say, though, that you can also find yourself saving a lot of money by switching to the electronic cigarette, be it permanently or just using it a substitute while you cannot smoke the real things.

The electronic cigarette is rather advanced too, acknowledging that there exist different types of smoker. Accordingly, you can purchase different nicotine concentrations to suit your own needs and desires, ranging from zero nicotine all the way up to 36 mg/ml, which is stamped on the cartridge so you know what you’re getting. This way you can keep your ‘lights’ or ‘regulars’, just in a different form.

There are also various flavours, providing a selection far more comprehensive than real cigarettes offer, from chocolate, vanilla and coffee, as well as the usual menthol and regular tobacco flavour. Some brands even go so far as to resemble particular brands, like Marlboro.

It may or may not be the future of smoking, but the E Cigarette is undeniably here to stay. An increasing number of smokers are recognising the advantages of this new type of cigarette and are jumping ship, whether it be for a safer habit or try to give it up altogether.

If you smoke tobacco, it is worth trying an electronic cigarette whether you want to quit or not. After all, the very least that will happen is you’ll be able to enjoy it in the warmth and not shivering in the winter rain.