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E-cigarettes: Clever Marketing or Wonder Cure

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An E-Cigarette is the tool to help people kick the nicotine addiction. It looks like a cigarette and glows like one. The electronic cigarette is an individual nicotine vaporizer. The most harmful thing about smoking real cigarettes is the tar and other chemicals that you consume while smoking. The E-Cigarette is supposed to be healthy and safe compared to the real butt. The real question is, are e-cigarettes really a wonder cure or there is just clever marketing behind it?

The pressure to kick the butt is intensified due to smoking bans in many developed countries and also the family pressure as awareness increases. This nicotine addiction is the toughest addiction to give up. Many products are available in the market as alternatives to cigarettes. There are nicotine patches, nicotine gums, prescribed drugs that are widely available, but these have not been very successful and not much written about. The latest smoking cessation way is the e-cigarettes, made in China. Also called the e-cigs have been named electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) by the World Health Organization (WHO).

They look like the real thing in size and its looks but are longer or shorter than cigarettes. Some call the e-cigs as ST, which stands for smokeless tobacco. But St has chew tobacco and snuff. E-Cigarettes are also commonly known as Nicotine inhalers, Smokeless smokes, Vapes, E-puffs. The e-cigarette has an atomizer and when you take a drag on any electronic cigarette it will activate a sensor that will set in motion a heating element in the tube which is the atomizer. Inside the electronic cigarette, there is a cartridge that has liquid nicotine. There are various types of cartridges that can be interchanged, from Kangertech tanks to smaller tanks. The other end of the e-cig has a LED light which acts as a mode indicator. This stuff glows when the device is in use. The heating element in the cigarette turns the nicotine into vapor with is taken in by the smoker. The liquid nicotine is available in many flavors like chocolate, cinnamon to strawberry.

The e-cigarettes have been marketed as healthy, risk-free, green, and cool alternate. They also do not account for passive smoking. They work effectively because it lets the person quit nicotine, without actually giving up smoking. The marketing gurus and manufacturers also claim that e-cigs are tar free, carcinogens free, and free of toxins present in the real cigarettes. Another plus point about them is the absence of health problems accredited to second and third-hand tobacco smoking. They also control the craving and withdrawal symptoms faced by smokers who try to quit.

E-cigs have recorded sales figures of $100 million across the world. The marketing of this product has been belligerent. The marketing has led to this technique of smoking cessation to be successful. The FDA though tried to ban the e-cigarettes but lost the case. When the e-cig user profiles were studied, it was noticed that 70% were former tobacco users, whereas 97% used e-cigs with nicotine, and the majority of them believed e-cigs had helped them quit smoking.

As of now, the e-cigs seem to be a godsend for the people who are trying to quit the butt. There is very little information and data available to contradict what the manufacturers say. The health authorities do have their doubts because of the limited knowledge about this latest product. They are also unaware of the potential risk of the product over a longer period of time. FDA says that consumers are not aware of the type of concentration and chemicals found in e-cigs. Many parts of the world are banning the use of e-cigs as they have not been evaluated for safety and quality.

Many researchers from Stanford have said that vapors from these e-cigarettes are complex mixtures and are not pure nicotine. The inhalation of such complex mixtures might not be safe. There are also unexpected side effects of these smoking products like, exogenous lipoid pneumonia which is a chronic inflammatory reaction due to glycerin-based e-cigarettes. There is no proof that e-cigarettes really are effective for nicotine addiction.

They have been marketed very strongly as safe alternatives but these products may have the risk of nicotine poisoning and addiction. So it is still undecided if it really is a wonder cure or just a marketing tactic.

This novel product means different to different people. For some it is a great alternative, for regulators, it is a mystery, for medical professionals, they are more on the better side and for manufacturers, it is way to cash in. But one thing is for sure, they are here to stay approved by regulators or not. Earlier even cigarettes were considered a remedy for stress and concentration but we all know better. The e-cigarette may take the same path once its effects are studied and understood. In the meanwhile, the big company manufacturers are making big bucks and customers feel they are kicking the nicotine addiction.