In May 2004, a Chinese company released the first electronic cigarette, also known as e-cigarette, or personal vaporizer. Since then, this substitute for traditional cigarettes has been marketed all over the world with varying success. According to the American Association of Public Health Physicians, the e-cigarette is many times less risky than conventional cigarettes. On the other hand, the public health department of Canada (Health Canada) has claimed that it causes risks such as nicotine addiction and subsequent health problems, just like regular cigarettes.
Reactions vary among consumers as well. Most non-smokers presumably do not put much thought on the increasingly popular product. Smokers who want to quit but find the task challenging hope to find in the electronic cigarette the solution that would finally allow them to "kick the nicotine habit." Smokers who delight in their habit and don't want to quit scoff at the product, claiming that it is not as desirable as a real cigarette.
An e-cigarette resembles either a conventional cigarette or a ballpoint pen. It is powered by a lithium battery, and it works by providing doses of nicotine in the form of vapor that the smoker inhales. The taste of tobacco is also simulated even though there is no actual burning that takes place, as in the case of a traditional cigarette. These cigarettes can be either reusable (with replaceable and refillable parts) or disposable.
Some distinct features of the electronic cigarette are enticing to the smoker. First, it does not contain tobacco, so the smoker is not inhaling numerous carcinogenic chemicals along with nicotine as what happens when a conventional cigarette is smoked. This also eliminates the risks associated to second hand smoke. Furthermore, since e-cigarettes do not burn anything, as stated, the laws that regulate the use of tobacco do not apply to this product. Hence, an electronic cigarette can be smoked even in public places where conventional cigarettes are not allowed.
Although electronic cigarettes are mostly not promoted as devices to help smokers quit, many users admit to using it as such. When smokers attempt to quit, they often miss the act of smoking even after recovering from nicotine addiction. By using an electronic cigarette, the motion, and all the sensations they associate with smoking are experienced but without most of the harmful effects. For many smokers attempting to quit, this is much better than using nicotine patches or gum.
Finally, users of these alternatives claim that they save money that is otherwise burned up by conventional cigarettes. A pack of cigarettes costs around $5 to $6 dollars in America. If a smoker consumes one pack of cigarettes a day, that works out to around $160 a month. Clearly, as many smokers have come to realize, their habit is indeed an expensive one and if the health risks are not enough to encourage them to quit, the cost certainly will. Since most electronic cigarettes are refillable or come with parts that are replaceable, the user saves some money from re-using the item instead of having to buy a new pack every time the previous one is consumed.
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