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Smoking – Physical or Psychological Addiction?

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SMOKING KILLS.
In most countries, a very big warning like this one usually sits in the front and back of a pack of cigarettes. Yet a lot of people smoke. Why? Because they are addictive. How are they addictive though? Is it more the nicotine and all extra additives in the tobacco that makes them addictive or is it the actual ritual of lighting one up after a good meal or in the morning with your “wake up” coffee? Well, most psychologists would tell you it’s the latter. That’s why people that try to stop smoking replace cigarettes with chewing gums, lollipops, chocolate, etc.

How to go on with your smoking ritual?

But how about an e-cigarette? It still gives you the illusion of smoking, so you can keep all of your “rituals” connected with it and you won’t get cancer in the process. Electronic cigarettes are a relatively new thing, they came out in the early 2000s and very quickly started taking root as a very good replacement for cigarettes. They are eco-friendly, they don’t destroy your lungs and still manage to look fashionable.

What are e-cigarettes you might ask? Well here’s the just of it. An e-cig is an electric inhaler that vaporizes a liquid solution into cigarette-like “smoke” all the while making the “smoker” have the same feel as smoking an actual cigarette. The e-cig itself is a battery-powered plastic representation of a cigarette which disassembles into smaller replaceable pieces. What you inhale is a solution of vegetable glycerin or propylene glycol mixed with some nicotine and/or different flavors. Of course, there is the option of getting e-juice without any nicotine. And the flavors are almost limitless – tastes of coffee or vanilla or cherry, or whatever another flavor the shop offers. The most important thing is the absence of tar, carcinogens, and all the other chemicals that are usually present in normal cigarettes. You know, the things that stick to your lungs and stay there forever, giving 30% of smokers cancer and all the lung capacity of a 5-year-old.

Now if we were to make a pro vs. con sheet on cigarettes and e-cigarettes, the latter would come out winning by a lot. As for costs, yes the initial cost of buying an e-cig would be higher than buying a pack of cigarettes, but the secondary costs would more than balance out that difference with you spending much less in the long run. And because of the non-harmful chemicals that are present in the e-cigs, it is not prohibited to “smoke” them in most public areas.