Not too many people will dispute that cigarettes are likely to kill long term smokers. Not to mention that smoking gives smokers bad breath, yellow teeth, makes their clothes smell bad, and can make them really sick with heart disease, cancer, or emphysema.
So why keep smoking, if it’s so bad?
One reason people keep smoking is because tobacco contains nicotine which is addictive. There’s support for the idea that smokers that are motivated to quit smoking for health reasons will have a slightly better chance of succeeding if they use a nicotine replacement such as nicotine gum or a nicotine patch. [Real-World Nicotine Gum and Patch Quitting Rates]. If you’re a smoker trying to quit you might be alarmed to find out how many smokers relapsed within six months. However, I know first hand of several successful ex-smokers (it is possible to quit smoking for good).
Electric Cigarettes – safe alternative or gateway to addiction hell?
It’s possible that using electronic cigarettes could prolong a smoker’s addiction to real cigarettes. There’s also a good chance that e-cig users could remain addicted to electronic cigarettes.
Nicotine is poisonous and can kill an adult if too much is consumed at once. This nicotine delivery method is a relatively new technology; e-cigs appear to have been invented in Hong Kong about five years ago. They consist of a battery, a vaporizer and a cartridge filled with ‘e-juice’ (propylene glycol, nicotine, and artificial flavouring). Sucking on one will open a valve that triggers the battery to vaporize the liquid which produces what looks and feels like smoking real cigarettes. Pictured here is a USB e-cigarette with no battery, it can be plugged into a computer USB or into an electrical outlet and puff away.
Almost the same as smoking, but not quite..
A smoker will notice right away that electronic cigarettes are not on fire and don’t actually burn anything and so there’s no need for a lighter or matches. The burning part adds quite a bit to the overall smoking experience (both good and bad). Once lit, a cigarette races towards its end. There’s only so much time to consume a cigarette before it is gone. This isn’t the case for e-cigs, they’re always on and ready to use; unless the battery needs re-charging.
The vaporized propylene glycol ‘fake smoke’ has about the same density and mimics the sensation of inhaling real tobacco smoke. Blowing it out, the vapor will dissipate more quickly than real smoke but it looks quite convincing. The taste is similar to tobacco but is slightly sweet. The available flavours include artificial tobacco, menthol, strawberry, chocolate, rum, cola, clove, coffee, watermelon, and so on.
The amount of nicotine in each ‘puff’ varies depending on the e-cig brand. This is by far the most confusing aspect of electronic cigarettes. The high nicotine levels that I have tested are indeed much stronger than smoking a strong cigarette. A few puffs in a row will go straight to your head, and can make you feel sick in the pit of your stomach even if you’re used to smoking.
Also available are e-cigs without any nicotine just propylene glycol. They taste and feel the same but there’s no nicotine buzz, (except for what you imagine). From the smokers I’ve talked to about vaping, some are anxious to give it a try, while others are not interested at all and don’t plan on quitting.
Health Canada advises not to use electronic cigarettes.
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The World’s peak oil production rate is believed by many to be when we hit 77 to 88 Million of barrels per day. After that, it gets more expensive to suck oil out of the ground and we will have less of it to go around. This might mean that we could be returning to a world with less cars, less worldwide shipping, and more local production of food and products.
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