Stop Smoking Help Blog

Lisa says:

They are designed to be a smoking alternative – basically so people who choose to, can continue to smoke in a reduced harm manner.
BUT….
Many people are using them to quit smoking. If you no longer smoke tobacco cigs at all… then basically you have quit smoking, by using the e-cig you continue to use nicotine and the action of smoking, tho by definition you aren’t smoking.
Also people are using the ability to control the amount of nicotine you use, as a method to gradually decrease their dependence on nicotine until they are nicotine free. Once there, they may choose to quit using the e-cig or they may choose to continue to use it without any nicotine.
Would that mean they still smoke? That would depend on the definition of smoking…

Does the action of smoking constitute “smoking” even tho there is no tobacco, no combustion, no second hand carcinogens, and no nicotine? Hmmmmm… Food for thought

Scotty Mack says:

First off, I must comment on the stupidity of some answers here. The FDA is not in the business of seizing anything. That is what customs agents do based upon laws. Speaking of laws, the FDA does not have the power to ban anything – only congress does.

The FDA claims to have done what they admit to as “limited tests” on only two brands of e-cigarettes. They claim to have found an “immeasurable trace element” of a specific carcinogen in exactly one of the seventeen cartridges that they tested. That same carcinogen is found in higher quantities in the Nicotrol patch and in the same quantities in fruit and vegetables – particularly tomatoes. I have used the words “claim to” twice here because the FDA, despite pleas from leading health organizations, has thus far refused to release their testing data or methodology.

One must remember that the FDA receives enormous amounts of money from the pharmaceutical industry and from the tobacco industry. Neither of those industries is happy about the increasing popularity of the electronic cigarette. Philip Morris, however, seems to be hedging their bet. They have reportedly just put in a bid to buy one of the largest manufacturers of electronic cigarettes in China.

There have been more than a dozen published tests that have shown that electronic cigarettes are safer than regular cigarettes. They do not contain the more than 40 cancer causing substances associated with the combustion of tobacco. Major medical organizations have endorsed them and, in fact, my doctor recommended them to me and I have been tobacco-free for over six months now after smoking a carton per week for over 25 years. I no longer wake up every morning coughing up half a lung, so my body sure seems to think they are better!

More to the point, technically speaking, e-cigarettes were specifically designed to help people stop smoking. Because long range studies cannot be done in order to prove this claim, companies have had lawsuits filed against them by organizations that are funded by the pharmaceutical industry for making “stop smoking” claims. Now, all electronic cigarette manufacturers and resellers are urged to remove these claims to prevent similar lawsuits against themselves. More than a million people are smoking these things instead of regular cigarettes to date, however.

Being able to smoke in places where regular cigarettes have been banned is just a side benefit of the e-cigarette. If you are interested in reading the truth about these devices, please review the links below. Usually, you can scroll down to the bottom of the studies if you just want to see the conclusions. Some of them open with the results, however.

If you are only interested in “proving” to your friend that you are right, ignore the studies and go with Adelaide’s answer, which comes straight out of the Big Tobacco/Big Pharma handbook!