Yet, the growing market may come as a threat to the profits of pharmaceutical companies that market various smoking cessation tools. At present, their products bring huge profits, especially considering the fact that just 7 percent of smokers quit with the help of nicotine gums and patches. Many of the failed quitters in the West will try other smoking cessation aids in their repeated attempts to stay smoke-free. At that, the sale of prescription and various marketed cessation tools totaled more than $3 billion on a global scale. Moreover, the companies are constantly developing new products such as nicotine vaccines.

Their target market is increasingly shifting to China, Brazil, Russia, and India where half of the smoking community lives. Yet, these countries yield low per capita revenues from the sale of smoking cessation aids. The e-cigarette comes as a cheaper alternative that may attract smokers in the four states. It is obvious that pharmaceutical companies will be hardly pleased to see their market shares dwindling with regard to this huge potential market.

Furthermore, the pharmaceutical companies spend millions to fund research on the hazards of tobacco products. They will naturally support the ban on smoking and the activities of anti-smoking organizations. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, for instance, calls for higher pre-pack taxes and clean indoor air legislation. On the other hand, the foundation is said to have a share of $700 million in one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies.

It is clear that the profits of pharmaceutical companies may be under threat if the market for electronic cigarettes flourishes. Ultimately, consumers will be the ones who choose among the large array of smoking cessation aids and the alternatives to conventional tobacco products.

The e-cigarette is a high tech electronic device, consisting of a series of micro electronic components in a tube of stainless steel stimulating smoking.

In one part of the tube is the battery connected to light indicator. In the other part is the inhalator, connected to a container with nicotine solution. In the middle there are several micro-electronic components like the heating control, the touch pneumatic switch for the airflow, the vaporizer, etc. The loop starts from one side of the battery and ends with the pneumatic switch and the vaporizer. In the last widget there’s a heater, linked from one of the sides to a pneumatic switch, and from the other side to a container with nicotine solution. Airflow passes along the tube.
The e-cigarette products are user-friendly: if the battery is charged and there’s a cartridge with a solution, they can be used everywhere and every time. When the user inhales the pneumatic switch starts acting under the pressure of the inhaled airflow. Then it turns on the loop by means of magnetic induction, the light indicator flashes and the vaporizer atomizes the liquid from the container. If you stop inhaling, the pneumatic switch breaks the loop, the indicator grows dim and the vaporizer stops. If the light of the indicator fades away, it’s time for battery recharging. If the fume decreases, you can change the cartridge and add some drops solution in the cigarette container.

The differences between the various models of e-cigarettes are only in the size and shape, the technology is the same. However simple it may be, some questions can still arise in users.

Where is the battery?

The long white part of the e-cigarette that makes it look like a tobacco cigarette is the battery. It’s  a high tech lithium product (such are used in electric cars and other high end electronic devices) that usually doesn’t need recharging in a period of 24 hours. To charge it, the user needs to unscrew the cartridge from the end of the e-cig. Then the end of the battery or the connector side is placed into the charger. There’s usually a light on the battery that signals it’s ready to start the charging process by blinking several times. Then the light on the charger turns green and the device is ready to be reset.

What does an e-cigarette starter kit contain?

Most models are being sold in an e-cigarette starter kit containing charger (s), atomizer(s), cartridge(s), instruction manual, battery, power line, warranty card.

What are the consumables?

The consumables consist of:

• E-liquid that is a diluted nicotine solution ready for adding to the cartridge. It may contain flavors, vitamins and different concentrations of nicotine.
• E-cartridge that is a plastic container which holds the liquid and supplies the necessary quantity of inhalation to the atomizer.
• E-inhalers are frequently changed consumables as they are easily damaged by the body contact
• E-battery – usually every starter kit contains at least two batteries and a charger so that till you smoke with one of them, the other can be charging.

It came out that it’s possible after the invention of electronic cigarettes in 2003. This revolutionary invention changed and continues to change smokers’ lives to better.

How do e-cigarettes contribute to the smoker’s health?

• According to studies nearly all e-smokers have previously tried cutting down on smoking either by pharmaceutical products or relying on their will. Also very few of them buy the device without the hope of quitting the habit. E-cigarettes help in alleviating nicotine cravings and its increase in the blood. Also no combustion, being the main reason for the harm of smoking, is applied when using the devices. Thus e-cigarettes help switchers to improve their health – either by quitting the habit or by transforming it into a healthier form. As the results are 45 % success rate of smokers who have given up smoking, this is encouraging. It’s another question if those results are consistent. Only time can prove or disprove it.
• E-cigarettes reduce significantly the usual morning smoker’s cough.
• E-cigarettes improve the smoker’s ability to exercise because they ameliorate the lung’s capacity to breathe more intensively and this is in favor of the smoker’s health.
• The sense of smell of the smoker is bettered and the e-cigarette users can catch slight smells more easily.
• The sense of taste is also improved and e-smokers can tell between two similar tastes. This is an ability that the regular smoker often loses.
• Smoking e-cigarettes definitely feels different and there’s no way that it doesn’t produce a different sensation – mostly reported as exciting by switchers
• E-smoking serves as an energizer, because it provides the needed nicotine for the blood without the body suffering the other harms of tobacco.
• The outer appearance of e-cigarette switchers improves visually into a healthier one. The wrinkles, black spots around the eyes, yellowish skin, etc. gradually fade away.
• The socializing effect with e-cigarettes is even greater as you can talk to friends – smokers or non-smokers in a non-smoking environment while smoking. This is how the device creates a calmer, inspiring environment for your psyche.

There are still areas in which the e-cigarettes’ impact on the smoker’s health are not being studied. Yet one thing can be confirmed for sure: they can only help – less or more, but cannot cause harm to smoker’s health.

Benefits of Electronic Cigarette

The e-cigarettes obviously have a lot of advantages compared to traditional ones. Some of them include:

* E-cigarettes are non-flammable
* E-cigarettes don’t emit second-hand smoke
* E-cigarettes are free of carcinogens, tobacco and tar
* E-cigarettes are reusable, because they are designed to use a rechargeable battery

Electronic Cigarette  Flavors for Different Tastes

Nicotine cartridges of the e-cigarettes are produced in a wide range of flavors. E-cigarette starters can buy an initial starter kit, then order replacing of the nicotine cartridges in flavors they choose. Some of the options include cigar flavor, flue-cured tobacco, French pipe, menthol. Some producers offer also flavors of distinguished cigarette brands as Marlboro, Hilton, Mild Seven. Another group of flavors consist of fruit or liquid scents like coconut, coffee, apple, caramel, cream, peach, strawberry, chocolate, red tea, Red Bull, vanilla, cola, pineapple, etc. There’s even a healthy flavor that contains a combination of ginseng with vitamins. For unpretentious smokers there are, of course, tasteless nicotine cartridges. Marketers of e-cigarettes should be aware that according to statistics tobacco and menthol are the most common flavors of e-cigarettes.

Controllable Levels of Nicotine

The Nicotine levels in e-cigarettes vary a lot and range according to the milligrams of nicotine in a cartridge. They can have low level – 6 mg, medium level – 11 mg, high level – 16 mg and extra high level – 24 mg. This provides the option for consumers to gradually decrease nicotine level and that way reduce the negative effects of smoking. The marketer of various types of such cartridges will actually give broader options to his potential buyers.

Costs of Electronic Cigarettes

The costs of e-cigarettes vary a lot, but in common an e-cigarette cartridge is equivalent to 1.6 packs of regular cigarettes. Of course, there’s an initial price that should be paid for a starter kit. It includes usually 2 e-cigarettes, 1 charger for an electrical outlet, 5 cartridges, 1 charger for computer. Additional devices are also offered, but they are uncommon for starter kits. The marketer should stress on the fact that e-cigarettes even with the initial investment of a starter kit are cheaper than traditional cigarettes.

Health issues

This is one of the mostly underlined points in the marketing strategies of companies selling e-cigarettes. The device is not healthy taken alone, but it’s a healthier alternative to smoking traditional cigarettes. Sometimes e-cigarettes are used as help in the process of quitting smoking, but the marketer should make it clear that they are not meant and not designed for such purposes. Even though they may influence beneficially to heavy smokers who are fighting the habit.

1. Price: the prices of e-cigarettes vary in a wide range – from $ 9.99 to $ 200 and more. The fact that an e-cigarette is more expensive doesn’t necessarily mean that its quality is higher. Price is determining only while there’s a big difference of the value. This means that if the e-cigarette costs $ 10 it probably has a lower quality than the one that costs $ 150, but you may not be able to distinct two models at a price of $100 and $120. Also consider if shipping costs are included in case you buy it through internet.

2. Cartridge Price: this is a separate element from the initial price of the e-cigarette package. Why is that? The electronic cigarette cartridges are the nicotine solution inside that makes the device work. They also should be replaced or refilled at certain periods of time. If you buy an e-cigarette in a foreign country and then the time for its cartridge recharging comes, it might cost you time and nerves to order it again in case it’s not offered on your local market. Another thing is that the cartridge price will be your recurring cost when purchasing e-cigarette, so if you are to use it in the long run, choose a company that offers cartridges corresponding to your monthly paying capacity.

3. Warranty: If you are buying an e-cigarette not just to try it, but for long-term usage, you should take into account if the e-cigarette is accompanied by warranty. There are companies that offer such.

4. Size: Size, of course, depends on the personal preferences of the customer. Some people choose e-cigarettes with sizes similar to the tobacco ones. That is to remind them of the habit as much as possible. Others prefer bigger cigarettes exactly for the opposite reason. In most cases these customers are trying to give up not just smoking, but to give up the habit: including all mini-habits connected to it: firing, holding of something cigarette-like, smoking when nervous, smoking when out or with friends, smoking with coffee or before going to sleep, etc. They rely on the inconvenience that e-cigarette will lead to with its bigger size and also on the awkward impression it may cause – amongst crowd, friends, etc. Thus they hope it may help them draw back from the habit gradually.

5. Durability: again it’s a matter of personal preference – whether you are willing to use the same device for years, or you’d like to take one with shorter durability because you know that you’ll switch to another model in a few months.

6. Charger: simply make sure you can recharge your e-cigarette whenever and wherever possible.

After you go through these details and keep them in mind your choice may become more conscious and respond to your personal characteristics more precisely. Therefore it’s something worth doing!

There are two major ways to buy an e-cigarette – each suitable for different reasons.

The first one is buying the e-cigarette online. There are a lot of companies and second-hand retailers that offer e-cigarettes online. You can go straight to the source or buy it from an intermediary. Try out with the following companies: Greensmoke, NicotineGreen (situated in Seattle), Lightinthebox, etc.

The online products are much cheaper than those sold in malls and small tobacco and alcohol kiosks. At the same time they have the same quality and also are shipped to an indicated destination.

The major offset of such kind of dealing is that although you’ve seen a lot of pictures showing how your e-cigarette will look like and have read the advertisement that explains to you how it will function, you’ve never really touched, smelled and tried such a cigarette. You may be disappointed when the product is delivered to you.

On the other hand it sometimes happens (especially with the cheapest e-cigarettes for 9.99 EUR) that when you get your delivery, you find out that the device doesn’t work and you should return it to the producer or retailer complicating your day (or week) by complaining to them about the faulty article. Then you should wait for another delivery and hope that the e-cigarette will now be fit.

Anyway this remains one of the most preferred ways of buying the device as it comes out to be more suitable, there are much more options and the purchaser can escape the jabbering of the vendor instead examining different options at an easy pace. Also potential buyers from countries in which e-cigarettes cannot be offered the traditional way because this is banned or because the country hasn’t still imported the product have this only option to purchase the device.

The other option is, of course, the traditional way – in malls, tobacco &alcohol kiosks, in stores and big chains of supermarkets. In these premises the e-cigarettes are usually offered at a much higher price – from $130 to $200. There’s nothing more special about their e-cigarette kit so different from the offers online. It’s just that the vendors have more expenses like rent and salary of the consultant to pay. Therefore what you’re actually paying in excess is exactly this. On the other hand there you have the opportunity to look at the device closer, touch it, even try it out, talk to the consultant selling it to you and thus gain a better idea of what you’re buying.

Maybe the best thing you can do is firstly scrutinize the device in such a store and then find it online and buy it, however mean it may sound. After all, the money factor cannot be easily neglected. Good luck with your purchase!

• E-cigarettes are a stop smoking device
• E-cigarettes are not a stop smoking device
• E-cigarettes can sometimes help people quit smoking and other times – not

The first position relies on the information that smoking e-cigarettes involves only nicotine inhaling, without the other 4000 poisons in a regular tobacco cigarette. The defenders of this position say that this is the most user-friendly device for smokers, because it doesn’t bring them excessive stress by forcing them to leave cigarettes somewhere out of their bag. Just the opposite, it is a simulation, in fact, a very good simulation also for those that are more in love with the habit than are nicotine addicted. Besides some models of e-cigarettes (electronic cigarettes)let the user adjust the quantity of nicotine he/she will inhale, he may also choose an option of “no nicotine inhalation”. By this mild method of approach to the nervous smoker’s conscience by which he has the choice to control his habitual manifestation, could be achieved a lot. E-cigarettes may come out to be the perfect middle way that leads to permanent results in the quit smoking therapy.
The second position represents the arguments about e-cigarettes not being smoking devices. Its defenders believe e-cigarettes are only another way to inhale nicotine and maintain the habit without the actual involvement of tobacco. Users of the device in fact don’t quit consuming nicotine, they just replace the usual way of intake with a new modern one. This is one of the main concerns of health and governmental organizations who blame the e-cig companies that they might deceive willingly or unwillingly the clients of offering help in quitting smoking. Yes, there are people who claim having done so after they’ve started using the device, but defenders of that position say it is unlikely that the reason is e-cigs. According to them smoking e-cigs is very different from smoking traditional cigarettes and doesn’t satisfy the wanted smokers’ feeling of relief and enjoyment. Sometimes the nicotine rush may be even stronger than that of the real cigs. It’s believed they’re rather designed for one-two drags than they resemble traditional puffing.
The third position resembles THE MIDDLE WAY. In other words it accepts that e-cigarettes are non-quitting devices, although the very fact that a smoker is turning to them may stimulate his goodwill to stop smoking. But this is quite a personal matter.
Therefore to conclude it’s always unknown what would be the effect of e-cigarettes on human body, mind and smoking habit. The habit may find another form– less harmful and a lot more comfortable, in order to help smokers quit or reduce the poisonous effect of tobacco usage.