Can Electronic Cigarettes Really Help You Quit Smoking?

Advertised by some as a healthy alternative to smoking and demonized by others for making that exact claim, the e-cigarette has been around since 2003, when it was first patented by the Chinese company Ruyan.
The idea is simple - nicotine dissolved in propylene glycol along with flavorings, is vaporized by a battery powered coil, which the user then inhales to get their "nicotine fix."

Other manufacturers followed suit, designing their own versions and refinements of the same basic concept. Now, seven years on, the industry is thriving with some companies reporting turnovers well into millions of dollars.

The reason for this is as basic as the device itself - it mimics the sensation, feel and effects of smoking a genuine cigarette, but without any known carcinogens, users tend to drift off cigarettes gradually - often without realizing they are doing so.

That is not to say that e cigarettes are necessarily safe, will prolong your life or prevent cancer. Nicotine is a poison, and there have been few studies into the long-term effects of inhaling propylene glycol, however few doubt that the dozen or so chemicals in an electric cigarette are significantly less hazardous than the 6000 plus contained in conventional tobacco products.

But the problem, and it is a big problem, is that few if any e-cigs work straight out of the box in a simple way which is comparable to picking up 20 Marlboro and a box of matches. And there is a startling array of options available to users, which to the first-time "vaper" can be bewildering.

Most smokers new to e-cigarettes, will choose a model such as a 501 which physically resembles a normal cigarette. But the limits imposed by size and available technology mean a battery life of under an hour, frequent liquid refills and atomizers - the part of the ecig which heats up and evaporates the liquid - will often last only a couple of weeks.

Faced with a steep learning curve and often unreliable technology, many smokers will revert to normal tobacco products, while a sizable minority will be intrigued enough to search for more information and help in the only place they trust - the Internet.

By rights the online electronic cigarette - or "vaping" community should not exist. It is a by-product of people desperate to change their behavior and challenge their addictions by clinging to an invention which is quite simply, not ready for sale as a consumer item.

There are more than 50 Internet forums dedicated to electronic cigarettes, the largest of which has more than 30,000 members. And the central reason for its popularity is that its members need help. They cling together for mutual support, for advice and for reassurance that what they are collectively doing will work and continue to work. If the technology worked straight out of the box, there would be no need, but the forums are where electronic cigarettes evolve.

Users unsatisfied with first generation ecigs,have modified them to have bigger batteries, on-board juice bottles - negating the need to change or refill cartridges for days at a time and variable voltage atomizers which can alter the taste, volume and density of vapor produced. The trade off for these innovations is that the device no longer looks anything like a cigarette, most are big & boxy, but manage to deliver consistent nicotine hits, last all day and need very little maintenance.

The liquid itself comes in a variety of nicotine strengths ranging from 0mg per ml up to around 36mg, so if a user is determined to lose their dependence on nicotine as well as on cigarettes, the strength can gradually be reduced to zero.

One of the biggest benefit to e-cigarettes as opposed to analogues is that they are not covered by the various smoking bans which are coming in across the world. You can legally smoke them anywhere, although although this may not be a good idea if people do not know what they are and lengthy explanations may follow your being spotted.

If you can cope with either carrying a stash of batteries, liquid and spare parts in your pocket or you don't mind being seen puffing on a box which looks like a cross between a remote detonator and a crack pipe, then electronic cigarettes may be a suitable alternative to tobacco and could help you to quit.