Smokeless cigarettes - good or bad?

[Blaze]

What are your thoughts and feelings about smokeless cigarettes or electronic cigarettes?

[selmiak]

never tried it, I don't expect it to be *more healthy*... but it is less smoking and more of feeding a bad habbit/addiction...

[Blaze]

I kind of get your point, but I'm guessing that most people (like me) look to turn to them to actually give up smoking. Obviously they don't contain tar and most other harmful carcinogens of normal cigarettes. But thanks for the reply anyway...

Has anyone actually tried them?

Just wanted some feedback from a "user" before I take the plunge!

never tried it, I don't expect it to be *more healthy*... but it is less smoking and more of feeding a bad habbit/addiction...

[Stupot]

My brother-in-law has started smoking electronic cigarettes, as he is preparing for a half-marathon.  He seems to be pretty pleased with them.
Health issues aside, they are far far cheaper than buying real cigarettes.  Also, whereas previously he would smoke outside for various sensible reasons, he can now do so in the comfort of his living room, without passing 2nd hand smoke to the children and making the house smell like a speakeasy.

They seem to be seen as rather 'uncool' (among real smokers), and Noel Gallagher recently had a go at the drummer of Muse for smoking an E-fag at the Brit awards, saying it ruined his night.

Personally, as a non-smoker, I have my own opinions about smokers of any ilk, but that's for another day.

[mkennedy]

They're a hell of a lot better than the real thing. If it helps you quit then I would even support letting people pay for them with health insurance money.

[Slasher]

Having smoked for over 40 years (and still do but less) I can honestly say that without willpower they don't work.

Willpower is the key. It's Psychological.

For some it no doubt works.

Most of the stuff you get is a lot healthier, well, better than the real thing.

I suffered a stroke and was told that smoking contributed to it, well, that's what I was told.

I would say that they could be useful while trying to quit but never as a substitute.

I wish I had never started 

[Blaze]

Thanks very much for all the great replies.

My exact reason for wanting to try e-cigarettes is for health reasons too. I understand will-power is required, but I am really determined to give up. I've actually come across an e-cigarette recently in Tesco's (the supermarket for any non-Brits), the vapestick - www.vapestick.co.uk and have been doing my homework.

My guess is that if Tesco's are selling them in the same way they do patches and gum there must be certain health benefits to them.

[Domino]

I have used e-cigs in the past few months. It will give you the nicotine fix you are craving, but for me i still went back to smoking regular cigs. It might work for some people, but not for me. :-(

[cat]

A college of mine started to smoke them instead of real cigarettes. But now he doesn't even have nicotin in it anymore, just some fruit taste. He likes the taste of it.

[Darth Mandarb]

8 May 2004 ... my last cigarette.  Ever.  I have not smoked anything since then.  No cigars.  No weed.  Nothing.

How long did I smoke up to that point?  Over 10 years (about 16 on-and-off).

How did I quit?  I realized how stupid smoking is and I stopped.  Cold turkey.

Was it hard?  One of (if not the) hardest things I've ever done.

How did I pull it off?  Willpower.  Nothing else.

The first month was, I admit, sheer torture.  Constant cravings and withdrawals.  After a month it got easier.  After two months it became a personal challenge; I will not lose now!!!

Please stop smoking!!  In a month of not smoking you'll feel SO much better and be shocked at how much easier certain things are.  Even things you didn't realize you were having a hard time with (especially stairs).  I know a lot of people make all the excuses in the world (we've gotten into this on here before) but there really is no [acceptable] reason to smoke.  It's all willpower.  You know you should stop.  So just stop.  If you feel like the e-cigs are a good stop gap go for it.  But you're just substituting one vice for another and all it does is drag out the quitting process.  If you're still pretending to smoke it's a short step back to smoking.

Just my two units of currency!

Good luck!

[selmiak]

nice one darth... so, did you grow fat after stopping smoking?

[Darth Mandarb]

No real weight gain thankfully. 

I knew, when starting the quit smoking process, that a lot of people replace the cigarettes with near constant snacking so I made a VERY conscious effort to avoid snacking.

The trick I used was turning the whole thing into a challenge.  I will not let smoking win!!  I even kept my last pack of smokes on my nightstand next to the bed (a bit sadistic I know).  Stared at it for weeks refusing to let it win.  By making it a challenge I put myself in competition mode.

And I hate to lose.

[Grim]

You're making me want to quit smoking... stop it!;)

[miguel]

I second Grim, stop this nonsense!
I love my cigarettes!

[m0ds]

several of my friends started smoking e-cigarettes after being heavy smokers, now they don't smoke at all. I am very, very tempted to get one.

[NickyNyce]

I quit smoking years ago by using cigars as my crutch, and it worked. Just knowing that I had them to fall back on was a big help in having me quit. I soon after stopped smoking cigars too, and life was great.

After I got married I started smoking again. 

I bought the E-Cigarette and tried it for a while and must say, it does help take away the cravings. The problem was, it made me cough, it bothered my lungs. I know this sounds strange, how can real cigarettes not bother me but fake ones do?. Perhaps I was pulling too hard?...I don't know, but they did bother my lungs and make me cough at times.

Maybe it's just me, either way, I say go for it. Like Darth said....Be ready for war. You really need to want to fight this thing and kick its ass, because if you're not ready for war, you'll be smoking in three hours.

[Ryan Timothy B]

My brother stopped smoking for maybe a year. Then he got a new job and started getting that smoking urge again. He decided to look into the ecigs to "ease" the urge. It certainly stopped him from smoking while he had the ecigs, but then after a month his unit started leaking and put him into hard withdrawal (probably because he puffed back too much nicotine with the ecigs, likely more than he would with a real cigarette). Now he's back to smoking again.

Would I recommend them? I'd probably recommend them to person who can't shake smoking, so may as well take up the ecig as it's much healthier. But I definitely wouldn't recommend it to someone who stopped smoking and wants to try them because they're getting the urge to smoke again.

I've never been a smoker and I puffed back on it once. It actually made me cough. Odd.

[Anian]

Maybe about a year ago there were some stories about certain brands of ecigies having rather toxic chemicals in them, so you might want to check that before buying.

[waheela]

Hey, seems like I'm a little late to this thread, but I thought I would chime in if you're still considering e-cigs.

My boyfriend thought he would have trouble quitting cold turkey so he switched to e-cigs. He hasn't had a cigarette in 4 months since, nor has he had any desire to. He's now a pretty die-hard supporter of them. I gave his a try and enjoyed it so much I got my own, even though I was never a smoker (there are nicotine-free juices you can get as well). From what I've read, there aren't any provable negative health risks tied to them.

My boyfriend found this group on Reddit really useful when he was getting started. Maybe you will too: http://www.reddit.com/r/electronic_cigarette/

I know the information can be a little overwhelming at first, but if you're willing to give it a try, I would really recommend getting a starter kit and e-juices from Virgin Vapor. Their juices are delicious and natural, and I've never had any problems with them.

Hope this helps!

[FrankT]

Well... there's no tar in them, but they keep the nicotine... that's still a lethal chemical, isn't it?

[waheela]

I don't think nicotine by itself is any worse for you than alcohol or caffeine.

[Anian]

I don't think nicotine by itself is any worse for you than alcohol or caffeine.

Even if that was true. Nicotine is far more addictive, especially more than caffeine (I'm not saying the end result of addiction is any better in alcohol than in cigarettes lung cancer and liver failure ar both end of the line).

[Khris]

Afaik, overcoming a nicotine addiction in a purely physical sense takes like five days or so.
Getting rid of the habit is what's hard.
Meaning, smokers aren't addicted to nicotine, they're addicted to smoking.

[waheela]

I don't think nicotine by itself is any worse for you than alcohol or caffeine.

Even if that was true. Nicotine is far more addictive, especially more than caffeine (I'm not saying the end result of addiction is any better in alcohol than in cigarettes lung cancer and liver failure ar both end of the line).

You may be right Anian. I've heard the same thing. However, I can only speak for myself when I say this: I've been vaping nicotine juice for the past three or four months and have no problem putting it down for two or three weeks at a time. My boyfriend on the other hand, has a harder time doing that. He used to smoke cigarettes, I never have. Could simply be due to having different bodies with different make-ups, or it could be habit-related like Khris suggested. I'm not sure. All I can say is that I haven't noticed any negative issues with nicotine myself.

[Darth Mandarb]

Nicotine is, by itself, relatively harmless (as I understand it).  It's just "habit" forming and it's what big tobacco intentionally adds to their cigarettes to keep people buying them.  It's sickening that they get away with it but they have paid off enough politicians I guess.

[SinSin]

I have an E cig from a company called TotalEWicked. They are good if you like gimmick and such they helped me quit for a month or two. However my other half smokes roll ups and its just too easy to say yes.. WEAK!!!

I wish I was a bit more like Darth to be honest if I could do that My life would be £15 a week cheaper and as I'm getting married this year it would help massively, Plus I might live longer too. 

[Chicky]

well, i quit smoking at work ,o,

This involved replacing roll ups with mini cheddars.

[Scavenger]

Nicotine is, by itself, relatively harmless (as I understand it).  It's just "habit" forming and it's what big tobacco intentionally adds to their cigarettes to keep people buying them.  It's sickening that they get away with it but they have paid off enough politicians I guess.

Don't be silly, Mandarb, Nicotine is a poison generated by the tobacco plant in order to stop animals from eating it. In fact, Nicotine is named FOR the tobacco plant.

If tobacco companies didn't add their source of Nicotine to their cigarettes... you wouldn't have a product. I'm not saying it's good, I'm saying that if they didn't add tobacco to their cigarettes, you would have a pretty shitty cigarette.

(though it would be pretty funny to see them try to sell Nicotine-free cigarettes. All the tar! None of the high!)

[waheela]

Nicotine is, by itself, relatively harmless (as I understand it).  It's just "habit" forming and it's what big tobacco intentionally adds to their cigarettes to keep people buying them.  It's sickening that they get away with it but they have paid off enough politicians I guess.

Don't be silly, Mandarb, Nicotine is a poison generated by the tobacco plant in order to stop animals from eating it. In fact, Nicotine is named FOR the tobacco plant.

Wait a second though, there are plenty of "poisonous" things that other animals can't eat, but people can. For example, chocolate is poisonous to cats, and grapes are poisonous to dogs, but fine for us. There are also plenty of things besides nicotine that will kill us in high doses, but not in small amounts. Nutmeg and many other cooking spices, for example.

Nicotine may be part of the Nightshade family, but hey, so are tomatoes and potatoes.

[Scavenger]

Nicotine is, by itself, relatively harmless (as I understand it).  It's just "habit" forming and it's what big tobacco intentionally adds to their cigarettes to keep people buying them.  It's sickening that they get away with it but they have paid off enough politicians I guess.

Don't be silly, Mandarb, Nicotine is a poison generated by the tobacco plant in order to stop animals from eating it. In fact, Nicotine is named FOR the tobacco plant.

Wait a second though, there are plenty of "poisonous" things that other animals can't eat, but people can. For example, chocolate is poisonous to cats, and grapes are poisonous to dogs, but fine for us. There are also plenty of things besides nicotine that will kill us in high doses, but not in small amounts. Nutmeg and many other cooking spices, for example.

Nicotine may be part of the Nightshade family, but hey, so are tomatoes and potatoes.

Oh, I know it's mostly harmless to us, physically, I was addressing "Deliberately putting nicotine into cigarettes. Grr, big tobacco". When without nicotine, there wouldn't be a product to sell. Noone wants to smoke a burning plant that does nothing. x3

Though, looking more closely, the nicotine content of cigarettes has increased recently. Ooh, so that's what he meant. I've learnt something today!

[waheela]

Nicotine is, by itself, relatively harmless (as I understand it).  It's just "habit" forming and it's what big tobacco intentionally adds to their cigarettes to keep people buying them.  It's sickening that they get away with it but they have paid off enough politicians I guess.

Don't be silly, Mandarb, Nicotine is a poison generated by the tobacco plant in order to stop animals from eating it. In fact, Nicotine is named FOR the tobacco plant.

Wait a second though, there are plenty of "poisonous" things that other animals can't eat, but people can. For example, chocolate is poisonous to cats, and grapes are poisonous to dogs, but fine for us. There are also plenty of things besides nicotine that will kill us in high doses, but not in small amounts. Nutmeg and many other cooking spices, for example.

Nicotine may be part of the Nightshade family, but hey, so are tomatoes and potatoes.

Oh, I know it's mostly harmless to us, physically, I was addressing "Deliberately putting nicotine into cigarettes. Grr, big tobacco". When without nicotine, there wouldn't be a product to sell. Noone wants to smoke a burning plant that does nothing. x3

Though, looking more closely, the nicotine content of cigarettes has increased recently. Ooh, so that's what he meant. I've learnt something today!

Ahh, gotcha. Yeah, I totally agree with that.

[miguel]

Snarky, sorry to bump this thread up again,
but I just want to share my experience with e-cigarettes.

I've been using it for nearly a month now and I've come to the conclusion that it does work for me.
I smoke much less than I used to with normal cigarettes, better even - I smoke anywhere and any time I want. There's no filthy smoke or smell on my clothes! I can say I'm going to water the horse on my job and have a quick puff!

What I find funny is that because I'm not getting the same "pleasure" I had, I just go for the nicotine fix and that's it. Even if my brand comes with tobacco flavour and reproduces the inhaling feeling of smoking it's clearly not the same. It's not as "good". So, I end up doing short puffs once in a while just to level the addiction. Some days, when I'm calm and relaxed I nearly don't smoke at all.

The other thing is the cough, I don't have it any more. I've been a smoker for a long time but also like to workout so coughing was a permanent side of my personality. Not tuberculoses cough but that annoying thing smokers do with their throat. Well, not anymore!

If you're tired of the burning tar on your lungs, tired of feeling tired, really - give it a try.
Well, if you can, just quit smoking, period. But if you find it difficult give e-cigs a chance.

If in the following months scientists find that e-cigs are stupidly bad for your health please don't blame me!

[Grim]

I switched to vaporizers just before Christmas and haven't had any cigarettes since. I'm really, really happy about that:)

Unlike you Miguel, I actually like "vaping", it's not just the nicotine hit. I'm on the low nicotine level liquids now and I can vape anywhere guilt-free. Like you, I pop out to the loo at work every now and then to take a puff or two;) Or during my lunch break I go out and sit in the garden, read a book and vape.

Sure, might not be exactly "healthy", but no one will argue that it's not a LOT better than smoking. It is. I don't stink, I don't poison my kid (and I don't have to tell him to go away because "dad is smoking", God, I hated myself for that), and I don't cough or feel headache-y after having too many sometimes. Now I can enjoy my coffee and vape in the comfort of my home, instead of standing in the wind and rain outside in the garden.

It bothers me a bit that there is still that stigma attached to it- people don't tolerate very well the sight of a cloud of vapor coming out of somebody's mouth... But maybe one day that will change, when everyone realizes there is no such thing as secondary smoke with e-cigs and vaporizers?

[miguel]

It's not that I don't like "vaping", it's just different. I used to smoke Candlelight Yellow package (vanilla) and they were pretty good.
When you say low nicotine levels, how much are you taking? I'm on 1.8mg, medium level, I think.

But yeah, there's still some people annoyed with us vaping away in public places but I really like to show them the nice blue light while smiling.
Monetary speaking I'm spending 6 euros a month!!! That's how much a 10ml container costs here and it's only half way empty.
The perfect solution is to really stop smoking but right now I'm really happy with my e-cig!

[Grim]

I don't really know how many mgs... The bottle says "low" haha It could be rat poison for all I know (though surely that would make me feel quite bad very quickly).

And yes, it's a massive money saver. I'm spending £5 a bottle, and like you said, it does last about a month. I mix menthol with Golden Virginia (since I used to smoke roll-ups with menthol filters). Every now and then you have to buy a new tank (or is it atomizer?), and they're about £3-5 for a cheap one. A nice quality tank I'm using now cost me £10 and it is supposed to last 3 months or so.

[Chicky]

The refillable E-Cigs are great until one spews liquid nicotine into your mouth, eugh, how it burns! I did get a fairly cheap one (£25)

[miguel]

Never happened to me, so far. I make sure to keep the e-cig with the mouth-piece pointing up and I was told that you shouldn't fill the container completely.
Anyway, my kit cost me 45euros so maybe it's of a better quality, don't know.

[miguel]

2 Months, the liquid container is empty...today! Meaning that a container lasts me nearly 2 months!
I'm gonna buy me some Marlborough Lights flavour today!
Keep on vaping dudes!

[frenzykitty]

I've been using one for a year now. Nevel looked back. Easily one of the better decisions I've made in my life.

[Amiga1]

Its SO important to get a good e-cig and not a cheap nasty one. Also you need to know exactly what sort of experience you want to have while smoking.
I can run and exercise whilst quitting real smoking so its got to be a good thing.
I use the £15 Vapouriz Gemini ( its a small black cigerette size device with a USB charger it costs £2 to buy a new cart each cart is about 40 cigs.

one good thing is you can pop open the empty cartridge and pour more nicotie liquid in and reuse them.

they always try to upsell me at shop  with the newer or bigger versions ranging from £20 to £120 in cost but the thing is with all the fancy ones with all these pipe contraptions and tanks and so on...you don,t get a good throat hit..i like my little e-cig because i get that hit in the throat like a real cig.

I think most i have tried make all these big plumes of (smoke) but you don,t feel like you have smoked (very unsatisfiying)

lastly the flavour of the liquid is vital...for example tescos 10 motives  cartridges look and taste of cig dog ends. But vapouriz seem to have a nice flavour.
Im sure there are lots to try but in my case it was cheap = best.