It’s time to report on my opinion of e-cigarettes! The short story? Best thing ever invented, and I’ll never touch an analog cigarette again. Inhaling burning leaves is so last century! Now for the long story:
I have so few personal vices I am always loath to have to give one up, especially when it’s one I have always enjoyed … like the consumption of nicotine in the form of cigarettes, cigars, and cigarillos. I have long enjoyed the act of smoking and the self-medication aspects of nicotine, but as we all know, smoking can and will put a person in an early grave (or at least make their final years more miserable than necessary). I’ve quit a few times over the years, and each time it wasn’t so much the desire for nicotine that had me running back into the arms of the Cancer Sticks, it was the fact I enjoyed the act of smoking (not that I don’t also enjoy the calming aspect of nicotine too). But all good things –especially good things that are actually bad things– must come to an end, and I’ve known for a while that I needed to quit smoking once and for all.
Enter the e-cigarette!

While we were on vacation, Lin bought a disposable e-cig. Vanilla flavor, if I recall. He’d heard about them and wanted to try one, and it seemed like a good way to get our nic fix in situations where smoking wasn’t allowed … like inside his mom’s house. The experience was good, and it seemed like something worth looking into, and so he did. About a month ago, he bought a starter kit for himself and began weaning himself off of analog cigarettes. I fell in love with the idea of “vaping” and began whining about wanting my own. Smoking real smokes was no longer fun at all. A couple weeks later, he bought some more hardware for himself and got me my very own! It took me about two days to never want to touch an analog cigarette again. I switched easily. The lack of stale smoke smell, the cleanliness of the vaping experience, and the fact I was consuming far fewer nasty chemicals than are found in every cigarette out there, while simultaneously getting my desired level of nicotine and enjoying the act of smoking, was –in a word– wonderful.
The next thing we had to do was find a “juice” we liked. The sky is the limit on flavors. Just about any flavor one would want can be found or created. We ordered a variety of things from various vendors, being careful to only order from companies that used materials sourced in the USA (yeah, totally not inhaling anything made in China, thank you very much). There were some hits and misses, and while a couple of them were really nice and enjoyable to vape, none of them were The One Juice to Rule Them All. Either the flavor wasn’t quite right or the nicotine level was too low or they were lacking in some other non-specific way. Still, I was happy to be off the Cancer Sticks, and even vaping a less than perfect juice was better than inhaling burning leaves coated in thousands of chemicals (and that leaves my clothing, truck, and home reeking of an ashtray).
Still searching for my every day and all day juice, I read more reviews and visited more web sites. Last week I found one everyone was raving about, and since the flavor I wanted was on sale, I convinced Lin that one more juice order was necessary before we called a moratorium on ordering more juice. I am ever so thankful I made that order! It arrived yesterday, and from puff one, I knew that Kretek from Tasty Vapor was going to be one of my go-to juices! It precisely replicates the experience of smoking a clove cigarette. I used to love clove cigarettes, but on the scale of smoking implements that will kill you, they will kill you more quickly than most. Seriously, clove cigarettes are harsh on the body, and I had to give them up a long time ago. Now I can enjoy them again without all the added and excessive danger of massive lung damage! I’m not kidding, Kretek is awesome!
Now all I need to find is some sort of really sickly sweet juice to satiate my sweet tooth. We have one flavor called Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream that is rather nice, but it isn’t quite what I am looking for in the realm of sweet. Close, but no cigar (snort, giggle, snort). But for now, I’ll be vaping what we have already, because at this point, we’ve invested quite enough money in juices. LOL! But I have a few things picked out at Tasty Vapor I’ll be ordering as soon as I finish off some of the ones we already have (and when I have the spare cash). I’m thinking something with honey and vanilla may just fill my sweet juice bill.
If you aren’t already a smoker, the fact there may now be a safer way to inhale nicotine is no reason to start doing so now. No one really knows the health effects of long-term inhalation of e-juice. What I do know at this point in time is that for people who currently smoke, e-cigarettes are by far a better option than old-style cigarettes (and without a doubt better than actual clove smokes). I am already noticing some health benefits in the way of my lungs feeling much better and clearer than they have in a long time and fewer of those little annoying headaches I used to get almost daily (especially when stressed out and smoking too much). In addition to that, there’s also the benefit of my home, vehicle, and self not smelling like stale smoke (and nicotine and smoke residue coating everything in the house – still have a lot of surfaces to wipe down) … and not having to have nasty, stinky ashtrays sitting around the house (and ashes everywhere, everywhere, everywhere). So to my smoking friends I say go find a disposable one and give them a try! I think you’ll be glad you did. I didn’t expect to make the switch so easily, but it was so easy to stop smoking the real thing once I put my e-cig to my lips and started seeing the good that came of it.
Additionally, while my intention is not to stop using nicotine any time in the near future, I can see that if I wanted to do so, putting away the e-cig and never inhaling again would be possible by stepping down the nicotine level over time. In fact, I suspect that I could switch to the zero nicotine solution, and within a week be done with the cravings once and for all, while still getting to “smoke” something flavorful and enjoyable. I may just do that in the future, if my blood pressure and health status demands it … but that won’t be any time soon. I do love my nicotine. Keeps me sane, and it goes well with my caffeine. LOL!
In closing, I’m in love with my electronic cigarette, and I don’t miss smoking real cigarettes at all. Switching to an e-cig has been a huge blessing, and finally getting my nicotine fix is a thoroughly enjoyable and far safer activity (and less stinky and nasty). I can’t suggest strongly enough that my smoking friends look into them and consider them as an option to either get off the Cancer Sticks while still getting their nic fix or to quit the entire process entirely. Your body, your friends, your family, and your pets will thank you for it. Seriously, I am now a hardcore e-cig advocate.
Oh, and one last thing … it’s cheaper than analog cigarettes. We haven’t worked out exactly how much cheaper it’s going to be for us (we’ve spent a bit much trying to find just the right juices), but it is definitely going to be far, FAR cheaper than buying a carton or two of smokes every week. I can totally get behind anything that saves money. Cheaper, cleaner, healthier and more enjoyable … what’s not to love?!
I do want to note that having bottles of flavored nicotine-filled liquids sitting around one’s home is a little dangerous to pets and children. Nicotine is a poison, and it can kill even an adult human. I have enough of the stuff sitting on my desk right now to off about two people and who knows how many cats and kids. So some care does need to be taken to make sure that pets and kids can’t drink the stuff. I’ll assume adult humans are smart enough not to do so (though perhaps I shouldn’t). Just thought I should mention this, because I’m not sure how many people know it only takes 30-60 mg of nicotine to kill an adult human. That’s quite a bit, really, and I’d think someone who spilled that much on them would be running for the shower anyway, but pets and children being much smaller can be sickened or killed with far less than that, so … do be careful with the juices.
Footnotes