SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) –By now you’ve probably seen the commercial for Blu Cigarettes. They’re just one type of electronic cigarette, or E-cig.
They release the same amount of nicotine that you’d get smoking tobacco cigarettes. A battery operated heater turns special fluid, flavor, and nicotine into a vapor.
Karen Carey swears by them. “I smoked for 36 years and I had given up on quitting. I had tried the patch, gum, given up cold turkey and nothing worked. I stared to use it and it was like, this could actually work. Within a week I had no desire to ever smoke,” she said.
There are some advantages to using these electronic cigarettes. There’s no smell, there are no ashes, and few carcinogens.
Buckeye Brothers Smoke Shop owner David Glantz says he didn’t want to sell them at first but he had to supply them to meet the demand. “I’ve seen a lot of people actually transition from smoking cigarettes to going to the electronic cigarettes very easily and wean themselves off tobacco completely. I’ve seen a big uptick in sales because of the e-cigs,” he stated.
However, they’re not exactly good for you. In fact, you could run into the same short-term health problems smoking e-cigs as you would with regular cigarettes. “There’s one study showing the expired Nitrogen Oxide Concentration and it affected air movement through the lungs. a definite thing is if you’re not already a cigarette smoker, please don’t start with the e-cigs because they have nicotine, which is very addictive,” said Dr. Douglas Johnson, at Baystate Medical Center’s Pulmonary Care Unit.
Dr. Johnson suggests that if you are looking for a way to stop smoking, it might be best to stick with patches and gums that are already on the market because the FDA has not yet approved the use of e-cigs.
Long term respiratory effects of e-cigs are unknown.
It’s also unknown if e-cigs have encouraged young people to try other tobacco products as well.
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If electronic cigarettes help you quit smoking, shouldn’t electronic gambling help you stop losing money, and electronic first-person shooter games help you stop killing people?
Sure. If one sticks to a quit schedule and drop the dosage in the liquid use.
I quit cold turkey 18 years ago. Stop being a baby and just quit!!!!!!
Kudo’s on quitting cold turkey, but saying that people who can’t are “babies” isn’t very supportive of their attempts at quitting. Not everyone can quit cold turkey or with the so called “approved” methods.
Ecigs are not a stop smoking product but a less harmful alternative.
With a whopping %5 success rate with cold turkey, congrats to you!
Patches have a reported %5.2(blind)-%8.6(open) published success rate.
E-cigs have shown anywhere from a %31 to a whopping %86 success rate (American Journal of Preventative Medicine, Wiley, other various surveys/studies)
Isn’t that a good thing? Shouldn’t it be researched more?
Have a friend who used one to help her quit cigs .. now she puffs on that .. HAHA
I don’t think so. My husband tried everything including the Electronic cigarette. He smoked for 18 years. Then last year he got so sick he didn’t want to smoke then when got better he went to have one and just threw the pack away, then he quite cold turkey , it was very hard but its been a year and still fighting the urge.
debbieg^^^ If I can quit cold turkey anyone can. Its a cop out to try Supplements, pills, etc they are just crutches, if you don’t have the willpower to quit none of that stuff will help you. I smoked over 15yrs when I quit. Woke up one day and decided I was done, threw away the pack. I still have cravings for them to this day 18 years later. But its mind over matter, I refuse to be controlled by a cigarette. Besides for what it costs to smoke a pack a day now, you can afford a VERY nice brand new car payment! Good incentive to quit if the health benefits aren’t enough for ya.
I know all about will power–I am over 10 years clean and 7 years sober. I don’t WANT to quit using nicotine and really why should I have to? Many studies have been done that show nicotine can help with memory and cognitive reasoning. I have saved enough money by using ecigs to go to both Florida and Virgina last year.
The real reason the FDA and the anti-smoking organizations don’t “approve” of them is that they get no money from them.
The FDA get 1/2 is funding from the pharmaceutical products that they approve (most of which are being recalled at an alarming rate)and the anti-tobacco people benefit from grants from the same companies.
Since when did tobacco free become nicotine free–would you rather that myself and thousands of others went back to smoking?
I’ve been using an electronic cigarette for almost two years. Am I still using one with nicotine–yes but really what’s the big deal? I smoked for over 30 years and have chosen something that will do me and those around me less harm. As far as the so called approved methods, they don’t work for most.
Tobacco free and nicotine free are two different things, something I wish people would really start to understand. Should some one who has never smoked use them-probably not, but for those who have failed time and time again it’s just on more tool to help them.
As to the Dr.’s comments about air restriction-many things affect air movement in your lungs–humdity, cold weather, perfume. The study I believe he is talking about was co-authored by a woman who received grant money from Pzfier, if I am remembering correctly–no conflict of interest there I’m sure!
With respect, quitting any addictive substance is not a one-size-fits-all process. While I am glad the cold turkey approach works for many, others cannot manage that. It’s a little insensitive to assume that everything that is easy for you is also easy for others; your experience is unique to you.
Tina, apparently you are just so wonderful. I have great respect for anyone who quits, but you are obviously one of those obnoxious reformed smokers. Kicking the addiction is very difficult for many of us, and no one is the same. All that I can do is keep trying, and maybe one day I can be as great as you!
first off ive been vaping now for almost 3 years and im 21 years old, i smoked a pack a day for 4 or so years granted it isnt nearly as long as many others but i gave up smoking within 1-2 weeks after buying my first ecig at a gas station. Im heathier than ever and I love vaping and enjoy nicotine, i have zero health problems and you should see how much better u can breath even after a week or 2 of vaping it amazing…any anti vaping propaganda is clearly people paid by lobbiest for FDA and other big tobbaccoo companies, do any reasearch and you will find this out yourself….and secondly about the ignorant narrow minded women saying that these methods are a cop out and people just dont have enough will power, im 2 years sober from being an opiate addict, and dont appreciate people who are uneducated and ignorant you kno nothing of will power my friend, and addiction is a challenge for all kinds of people and nothing works for everyone, if something like quiting an addiction was easy for you it was because of circumstance and your genetics and what it was you were addicted nothing more nothing less…unfortunetly you are to narrow-minded you probably would of never figured that one out…not to mention rubbing it in anyones face is pathetic, your doing it for attention or most likely your suffering or hurt inside and it makes your pathetic soul feel better…anyways give vaping a try you wont be sorry, it doesnt make quiting easy but if u want to quit you will be able to with the right ecig..also do some reaserch on them first and get some info, good luck and happy vaping
first off ive been vaping now for almost 3 years and im 21 years old, i smoked a pack a day for 4 or so years granted it isnt nearly as long as many others but i gave up smoking within 1-2 weeks after buying my first ecig at a gas station. Im heathier than ever and I love vaping and enjoy nicotine, i have zero health problems and you should see how much better u can breath even after a week or 2 of vaping it amazing…any anti vaping propaganda is clearly people paid by lobbiest for FDA and other big tobbaccoo companies, do any reasearch and you will find this out yourself….and secondly about the ignorant narrow minded women saying that these methods are a cop out and people just dont have enough will power, im 2 years sober from being an opiate addict, and dont appreciate people who are uneducated and ignorant you kno nothing of will power my friend, and addiction is a challenge for all kinds of people and nothing works for everyone, if something like quiting an addiction was easy for you it was because of circumstance and your genetics and what it was you were addicted nothing more nothing less…unfortunetly you are to narrow-minded you probably would of never figured that one out…not to mention rubbing it in anyones face is pathetic, your doing it for attention or most likely your suffering or hurt inside and it makes your pathetic soul feel better…anyways give vaping a try you wont be sorry, it doesnt make quiting easy but if u want to quit you will be able to with the right ecig..also do some reaserch on them first and get some info, good luck and happy vaping!
sorry double posted somehow…
“It’s also unknown if e-cigs have encouraged young people to try other tobacco products as well.”
Actually a survey has just been done in which 200+teenage boys were asked if they had ever tried ecigs. Of that number 2 had and they were already smokers. Kids aren’t interested in ecigs–it’s much easier to light a cigarette if they want to try smoking. This “think about the children” approach is really starting to wear thin–how about we think about the children who will watch their parents die from smoking because some doctor who doesn’t have all the facts tells them to not try an electronic cigarette even after all other methods have failed.
Who writes this stuff: “However, they’re not exactly good for you. In fact, you could run into the same short-term health problems smoking e-cigs as you would with regular cigarettes.”???
Here’s a quote for ya:
“The electronic cigarette is up to 1,400 times safer than the leading brand of cigarettes” -Prof. Michael Siegel, MD, Boston University
I quit using e-cigarettes, what better example can you come up with?
See this guide on how to quit smoking specifically using e-cigarettes:
http://e-cigarette-review.net/new-year-resolution-to-quit-smoking-in-2013/
I have been vaping for two years after having been a two pack a day smoker for 25 years. I feel better , I breather better,
The only way to quit smoking is to have the government outlaw the growing of tobacco.
neal , actually first person shooter games have shown to curb agressive behavior in people . just like porn for people that have overly sexual urges
Smokers deserve to be told the truth about Tobacco Harm Reduction. There are many resources for people who cannot quit smoking. The best place to start is the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association. Read antiTHRlies.com, and excellent blog by Dr. Carl http://rodutobaccotruth.blogspot.com/2013/01/a-call-to-action_29.html
Good for u Tina! Sorry but calling people who can’t quit cold turkey babies is just another form of being a bully! Are u like that about everything u can do better than someone else? Good for u to all who have chosen a more healthier way of smoking. And thank u from a non smoker who doesnt have to breath in your second hand smoke. Wish more people would change to them.
I am not a bully, far from it. I am so sick of people whining they “can’t do it”. That’s ****. You can DO anything you put your mind to. Period end of story. That doesn’t make me a bully, its the cold hard truth.
Vaping has changed my life.Iv smoked since i was 13 years old and never thought about quitting seriously till e-cigs got offered to me.Its been only a week and a half and i feel great and have found support with others like myself at VapeTv.com. Im 21 years old now and will most likely live much longer… all thanks to e-cigs
If u ban e-cigs might want to ban smoke machines 
and asthma inhalers 
… its the same thing. Learn more about e-cigs if your a smoker and watch smells taste and even breathing come back into your life. Never looking back at cigarettes.
Everyone is is different , while cold turkey worked for my husband ( its still a work in progress) not everyone can do it. Maybe E cigs or the patch can work for others who knows. I know chantix is supposed to be the worst. They give you nightmares. Point is; one person shouldn’t insult or belittle another for their struggles and lack of “strength” to quite !