How e-cigarettes can help beat tobacco addiction

Many smokers would love to kick the habit, but nicotine addiction prevents them from either cutting back on consumption of tobacco products or quitting altogether.

Since electronic cigarettes were launched in China in 2004, their popularity has spread across the world and today many smokers who made valiant attempts to quit and failed have now found success by switching to e-cigarettes.

Some smokers feel the backlash against e-cigarettes has been fuelled by a tobacco industry fearful that its profits will go up in smoke if more people make the switch from tobacco to nicotine vapour, inhaled using an atomised electronic cigarette.

Governments have cited health reasons for proposing either a ban or restriction of e-cigarettes, which are not regulated and have not as yet been subjected to clinical testing or approved as a smoking cessation aid by health authorities, despite China introducing e-cigarettes to help tackle the rising number of smokers in China.

Electronic cigarettes have mainly been regarded as a leisure tool at best and an object of ridicule at worst, and yet millions of smokers have managed to quit tobacco using e-cigs, primarily because they mimic the full smoking experience, from handling a cigarette, lighting up (courtesy of the heat generated and illuminated LED “tip”) and the inhaling sensation which the e-cig atomiser offers.

Nicotine is a very powerful stimulant which acts on the nervous system and targets the “addiction centre” in the brain, releasing large quantities of dopamine, the pleasure chemical responsible for those intense and giddy feelings associated with falling in love, as well as the high experienced by drug users.

Smokers have been found to have 40% less of an enzyme which breaks down dopamine in the bran, meaning that nicotine, like other drugs, alters the chemical balance of the brain so that tobacco users are unable to resist lighting up a cigarette.

The liquid nicotine refills used in e-cigarettes are available in different strengths, from zero to high levels of around 36mg, meaning that smokers can control their own nicotine cravings by switching from one strength to another when necessary.

The nicotine liquid used in electronic cigarettes is dispatched as a vapour using an atomised “cigarette” and some sceptics have speculated that the strength of nicotine in e-cigarettes might in some cases be much stronger than advertised and therefore electronic cigarettes may actually be useless as a smoking cessation aid as they fuel nicotine addiction.

However, there is overwhelming testimony from smokers who have used electronic cigarettes as a device to help them quit tobacco that they do actually work.

The European Commission is currently revising the Tobacco Products Directive and has mooted reducing levels of nicotine in electronic cigarettes to just 4mg, which many chronic smokers say will not be a sufficient level to enable smokers to satisfy their craving while trying to quit smoking.

Whatever happens in the revised Directive, it is unlikely to come into force until 2014/15, so smokers who want to quit have a window of opportunity to try electronic cigarettes for themselves while they are still unregulated by Brussels or other governments.

It is true that e-cigarettes are largely untested and have not been subject to clinical research. They have also been available for a relatively short period of time, but in that time no user has died as a result of using them, unlike the effect of tobacco products on users.

The main advantage of using e-cigarettes is the fact that the toxic smoke produced by tobacco, which invades the lungs and other organs of the body, is completely cut out; and vapers (the name given to those who use electronic cigarettes) can enjoy using nicotine and the sensation of handling a cigarette without the risks associated with tobacco use.

The availability of nicotine refills in different strengths is also an advantage, plus the fact that e-cigarettes can legally be used in public places, unlike cigarettes. Since the smoking ban, many smokers have felt marginalised by their habit and electronic cigarettes are a positive step towards smokers being accepted once more in public places, as no toxic smoke is emitted and the nicotine vapour in e-cigarettes is targeted by use of the atomiser.

But one of the most surprising advantages of switching to e-cigs is the cost, as becoming a vaper cannot only save your health but also your budget. Leading brands of cigarettes can now costs anywhere between £7.50 and £9, but a nicotine refill cartridge is the equivalent of 40 cigarettes and they cost in the region of £5.

Not many smokers trying to kick the habit can do so with a smile on their face, but even lifelong smokers who have made the switch to e-cigarettes have found they regain their sense of taste, experience improved cardiovascular health (meaning they are able to take more exercise) and, of course, also save money; giving them plenty to smile about, while still enjoying “smoking”.