What people say about electronic cigarettes and quitting tobacco

The proposed redraft of the EU’s Tobacco Products Directive 2001 has spawned a backlash from ex-smokers

who have found that using e-cigarettes has helped them quit tobacco much more easily than other tobacco cessation aids.

Electronic cigarettes use nicotine liquid which is vaporised in the atomiser part of the e-cigarette – which is designed to look and feel like a cigarette between the fingers and in the mouth.

The e-cig heats up to dispense nicotine vapour – and the tip even contains an LED bulb which glows red.

Nicotine liquid refills are also available in different strengths, from 0-11mg – which means smokers trying to cut down on nicotine or trying to quit altogether can choose the level of nicotine which suits them best and also change between different strengths.

Electronic cigarettes are also acceptable and legal for use in public places, which means smokers do not have to feel isolated, excluded or marginalised as a result of their nicotine use.

The impact on passive smoking is also potentially huge, as electronic cigarettes do not emit tobacco smoke or tar, which are the main causes of smoking related disease and deaths, including illness and death as a result of passive smoking.

The EU is review the use of e-cigarettes with a view to classifying them as medicinal products, which would involve controlling and regulating their sale and use – as well as potentially reducing nicotine level in e-cigs to just 4mg, which many smokers claim would be insufficient to satisfy nicotine cravings and would push smokers back into using tobacco.

The backlash from ex-smokers and e-cigarette retails in the media is growing – with many unhappy that electronic cigarettes may in the future no longer be classed as a consumer item, but will be subject to stricter EU controls as a medicinal product.

Nicotine is a powerful stimulant – but smokers can currently enjoy smoking and ingesting nicotine from shisha pipes and tobacco products with any regulation, except the smoking ban in public places across the EU. It is still legal to smoke while walking along the street or outside your office block, however – although the current UK government has mooted banning tobacco products in open public places all together.

In this instance, using e-cigarettes would seem to be the natural solution – but EU regulation may mean they are not as effective at lower levels of nicotine as they are currently for smokers trying to give up or who need to quell a nicotine craving while out and about.

The only remedy would be using nicotine gum or nicotine patches, which are classed as smoking cessation aids and are currently recommended by the NHS in its smoking cessation programme.

One Warwickshire retailer of e-cigarettes who fears his business will be damaged by any EU regulation is having his case taken up by his local MP, who will raise the matter in the House of Commons.

And ex-smokers have been posting their own experiences online about how much they have been helped to quit or cut down on smoking by switching to electronic cigarettes.

An ex-smoker posting on Facebook wrote:

“Since the day we started using electronic cigarettes we haven’t touched a real cigarette and haven’t wanted to either.

“Having the ability to start on the high nicotine liquids and gently wean yourself onto lower doses is why, in our opinion, this is so successful. You can do it at your own pace, without any of the bad side effects of nicotine withdrawal, until eventually you have dropped down to zero nicotine.

“If the EU get their own way, then they are going to force people back into smoking…”, said Sam Fairgrieves.

Speaking to the publication Dublin People, Graham Byrne from Beneavin in Dublin – who started smoking at 16 – said:

“I’ve two young kids and I’d be getting out of breath when I was playing with them. I was also spending over €100 a week on cigarettes and I’d wanted to stop for a while, but kept putting it off. Lots of people were recommending them so I decided to go for it.”
Mr Byrne found out about electronic cigarettes at an online forum for vapers – the term used to describe people who use e-cigarettes – and found that using e-cigs transformed his life.
“The first couple of days were a bit strange, but I think that was just getting used to it. After that it was grand – actually I can’t believe how easy it’s been. I’ve been socialising around loads of people smoking and it just doesn’t bother me. You could say it’s transformed my life – my breathing is much easier and I can play with the kids for longer and the wife says I’m not wheezing or coughing any more. It’s brilliant.”
Mr Byrne recommended e-cigarettes to his mother, also – but has concerns over the EU’s proposal to classify them as medicinal products and regulate their sale and use.
“I finally found something that works and now they want to ban it – if they banned it I’d probably go back smoking.”

Mr Byrne and other smokers are not the only ones concerned about the EU proposals – UK public health expert Professor Gerry Stimson has written to MEPs sitting on the EU’s Environment, Public Health, and Food Safety Committee (ENVI) to add his views to the growing dissent over the regulation of electronic cigarettes. Prof Stimson supports the use of electronic cigarettes as a consumer product to help smokers cut back on tobacco use or quit tobacco products altogether.

“The electronic cigarette is a truly disruptive technology. It delivers a satisfying ‘hit’ of nicotine, but without the toxic tar and gasses of tobacco smoke, using a virtually harmless vapour instead,” writes Prof Stimson.

“This is a consumer-led, self-help initiative with many people switching from smoking to e-cigarettes, at no cost to the health service, and with no exhortation from public health experts.”

If agreed, the EU’s proposals to revise the Tobacco Products Directive 2001 are not likely to come into force until 2015/2016, giving smokers a window of opportunity to make the switch to electronic cigarettes now.