Anyone had an elecronic cigarette?

Bottle_of_Smoke

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7658603.stm

Fears are being raised about the boom in sales in the UK of so-called electronic cigarettes.

The cigarettes use replaceable cartridges with shots of nicotine, but have become popular because they are not covered by the smoking ban.

While the products do not contain tar, tobacco or carbon monoxide, experts are worried as users inhale a fine heated mist and there is a lack of regulation.

But retailers said they were healthier than normal cigarettes.

Since the smoking bans came into force, smokers have been forced to go outside to light up.

Companies selling the electronic cigarettes have responded by marketing them as a way of getting round the ban.

And in recent months they have reported a rise in sales with some selling over 1,000 of the £40 starter-packs a month.

However, campaigners including the World Health Organisation, have raised concerns, pointing out there was a lack of knowledge about the products.

Douglas Bettcher, of the World Health Organisation, said there was a "regulatory blackhole" which meant no-one knew just what these products contain.

"We are facing a new product. We do not know what is in these cartridges besides nicotine. What are the effects of heating and vapourising the nicotine and inhaling it?"

And Deborah Arnott, of anti-smoking group Ash, pointed out that many of the products were made in China where quality control was "not very good".

"I think our concern is that we would really like smokers to use safer nicotine products but there is a regulatory gap.

"The advice is to use products that have been tried and tested such as nicotine gums and patches."

0ubliette

May aswel go the whole hog and shoot up some smack in the pub too while youre at it, probably no law against doing that indoors either

c - 13

I'm sure a main indicator as to wether these will take off or not will be price of the inhalable stuff versus regular tobacco.

I'm sure if the inhaled stuff is cheaper a lot of people will go about trying it at the very least.

Interesting - I just did some further reading and it appears each cartridge for the e-cig is supposed to be the equivalent of a pack of normal smokes, you can buy a package of 50 cartridges for about £29.95, if its a similar product (it may taste like arse) then that would be a fairly big saving for smokers and could persuade a lot of them to change over, regardless of the fact that the substances havent been clinically tested.

I wonder if thats the real concern though and not the fact that smokers wont be spending a bunch on taxes if they do switch ?

ScumLord

I hate these reactions.

"We are facing a new product. We do not know what is in these cartridges besides nicotine. What are the effects of heating and vaporising the nicotine and inhaling it?"

The first assumption is it's really bad for you (worse than cigarettes? Really?). It's panic stations, something we don't understand and might not approve of is being used by people we don't know and may not like. Ban it! Criminalise everybody to save the children.

Gran Hermano

I've seen these on Dealextreme. Haven't ordered yet but I might
give them a try on my next long-haul flight.

jackdaw

I don't understand how this is legal ? .. it's still a health hazard to other people in the bar as its releasing smoke in the air ??

Dyr

omgz ppls are finding wayz to circumvent the nanny brigades attempts to impose their morals on everyone else! halp halp! wont somebody PLEASE think of the taxes?

They'll be trying to drink in pubs and all unless we stamp this out now!

Turd Ferguson

I've tried them and they're pretty shyte. I cant see them catching on at all to be honest.

anniehoo

jackdaw wrote: »

it's still a health hazard to other people in the bar as its releasing smoke in the air ??

Its not tobacco smoke...but some "fine mist" of heated nicotine!Tobacco smoking is banned not nicotine itself and its tobacco not the nicotine that causes health problems!

jackdaw

ah !! so it's not smoke thats released into the air then,

Nehaxak

Just bought the 60 pound black ecig kit. Will see how it goes, to be honest I'd try anything at this stage to try give up the demon cigarettes as I haven't the willpower left in me at this stage and the price of smokes are always on the rise.

Dinter

Nehaxak wrote: »

Just bought the 60 pound black ecig kit. Will see how it goes, to be honest I'd try anything at this stage to try give up the demon cigarettes as I haven't the willpower left in me at this stage and the price of smokes are always on the rise.

Let us know how it goes.

I'm seriously tempted to get these so I can smoke in the office.

c - 13

To be honest though i'd still doubt a lot of pubs/offices etc. would allow these to be used on the premises, at present anyway.

They're still largely unheard of and good luck explaining to the barman/boss that that cloud you're exhaling isn't smoke !

phantom_lord

c - 13 wrote: »

To be honest though i'd still doubt a lot of pubs/offices etc. would allow these to be used on the premises, at present anyway.

They're still largely unheard of and good luck explaining to the barman/boss that that cloud you're exhaling isn't smoke !

it's a fine mist that disapates really quickly, you'd barely notice it tbh.

Prof.Badass

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

"We are facing a new product. We do not know what is in these cartridges besides nicotine. What are the effects of heating and vapourising the nicotine and inhaling it?"

*sarcasm* hmm... I don't know, it's not like people have been heating and vaporising nicotine by means of smoking for hundreds of years.*sarcasm*


Don't give out about something through the media unless you know what you're talking about.

smk135

I just g ave up smoking three hours ago.
yes, only three hours, but that would mean quite an amount to already not smoke at this stage.

But I'm not stressing. I'm not edgy. I'm happy I finally made the decision to do it. Cause I don't really want to smoke. (sweat sweat.)

And no gum, no patches etc so defo no electrnoic cigs - i rekcon I would just end up getting frustrated cause they wouldn't be the same / as satisfying as a real smoke and end up buying a pack when I'm drunk instead.

anniehoo

c - 13 wrote: »

To be honest though i'd still doubt a lot of pubs/offices etc. would allow these to be used on the premises, at present anyway.

They're still largely unheard of and good luck explaining to the barman/boss that that cloud you're exhaling isn't smoke !

I think the blue light at the bottom of it would be a fair give away thats its not a real ciggie.

ScumLord

These look pretty cool, at the very least they'd cut out the harmful effects of tobacco.

Now if only there was a way to put weed in them.

Nehaxak

ScumLord wrote: »

Now if only there was a way to put weed in them.

You can, cannabis oil. They already sell refill oils on their website, 3 or 4 drops they say refills the cartridge so don't see any reason why you couldn't drop some Cannabis oil in there instead

Nehaxak

Dinter wrote: »

Let us know how it goes.

I'm seriously tempted to get these so I can smoke in the office.

Yeah will do. Actually very impressed with the website and service, ordered around lunctime and it's already been dispatched in the post complete with sending me the tracking code. Hopefully get it on Friday or if not then next Monday.

dreamer_ire

Nehaxak wrote: »

Just bought the 60 pound black ecig kit. Will see how it goes, to be honest I'd try anything at this stage to try give up the demon cigarettes as I haven't the willpower left in me at this stage and the price of smokes are always on the rise.

Would love to know how you get on with this... I'm giving up on November 4th but if these would start to ween me off between now and then I'd def try them!

Blisterman

How is this different to nicotine inhalers, usualy used to get people off smoking?

I know a guy who's hooked on them. To get a better hit, He snorts them. I like his thinking.
Cigarettes are £6 a pack, nicotine inhalers, you get for free off the NHS.

Krieg

How the hell did I not hear of these 'til now?
Sounds like a great product to me

Looking forward to your review Nehaxak

Ciaran500

Blisterman wrote: »

How is this different to nicotine inhalers, usualy used to get people off smoking?

No smoke off an inhaler.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyC_6ubvjFQ

jetsonx

I find this article hard to believe that electronic cigarettes are in someway "taking off"

I was at a retail trade event in London last year and i think I saw one person in the whole 3 days - talking to the "electronic cigarette" company that was attending.

Everyone else was just passing their stand...and sniggering.

c - 13

anniehoo wrote: »

I think the blue light at the bottom of it would be a fair give away thats its not a real ciggie.

True but try explaining to the bar staff/boss that its not releasing any second hand smoke and that. Where I work anyway I doubt i'd get away with it.

phantom_lord wrote: »

it's a fine mist that disapates really quickly, you'd barely notice it tbh.

It looks a pretty noticeable in the video on the BBC website. It looks pretty much identical to a person exhaling after a normal cigarette drag, maybe the cloud is a bit more inclined toward white but thats about it.

ScumLord

Nehaxak wrote: »

You can, cannabis oil. They already sell refill oils on their website, 3 or 4 drops they say refills the cartridge so don't see any reason why you couldn't drop some Cannabis oil in there instead

I did a bit of looking up and apparently the nicotine is in a water based mix so it can be vaporised and of course cannabis isn't water soluble. Might be possible if you mix the cannabis oil with alcohol. Mmmmmm

Run_to_da_hills

The "electronic Joint" is born.

Dealers will now be offering you an assortment of tailor made hash refills to suit these devices.



They will have their advantages..........

No "give away" roach ends lying about in ash trays.

The authorities will have a hard time distinguishing them from normal electronic cigarettes.

Hash cassettes will look exactly like tobacco cassettes and will be sealed in vacuum packs.

There will also be a minimum of wastage unlike using conventional joints.

Danbo!

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

The "electronic Joint" is born.

Dealers will now be offering you an assortment of tailor made hash refills to suit these devices.



They will have their advantages..........

No "give away" roach ends lying about in ash trays.

The authorities will have a hard time distinguishing them from normal electronic cigarettes.

Hash cassettes will look exactly like tobacco cassettes and will be sealed in vacuum packs.

There will also be a minimum of wastage unlike using conventional joints.

You know that stuff can make you paranoid?

Run_to_da_hills

noblestee wrote: »

You know that stuff can make you paranoid?

:eek:

Nehaxak

It never arrived today in the post so will probably (hopefully) be Monday now at this stage before I can try it out. Pity as I was hoping to give the demon up this weekend.

ronbyrne2005

There's hundreds of compounds in cigarette smoke apart from nicotine and some of these are thought to have mood altering effects by affecting serotonin and other neurotransmitter levels so it's not just nicotine that smokers dereive pleasure from.

Holsten

They've gone and made smoking even cooler!

The bastards!

Fanny Cradock

ScumLord wrote: »

The first assumption is it's really bad for you (worse than cigarettes? Really?). It's panic stations, something we don't understand and might not approve of is being used by people we don't know and may not like. Ban it! Criminalise everybody to save the children.

No, it's a responsible attitude expressed by a member of the WHO (and I'm not talking about Roger Daltrey). If a new product is being released into the market - one that could potentially be used by millions - it is up to the appropriate authorities to test it for any damaging effects to anyone exposed to it.

Captain Darling

noblestee wrote: »

You know that stuff can make you paranoid?

Godammit, i've used up all my thanks. Thanks anyways!!!!

jaffa20

Nehaxak wrote: »

It never arrived today in the post so will probably (hopefully) be Monday now at this stage before I can try it out. Pity as I was hoping to give the demon up this weekend.

I'm just wondering where you bought it I found some on ebay for not a bad price at all.

Blisterman

Fanny Cradock wrote: »

No, it's a responsible attitude expressed by a member of the WHO (and I'm not talking about Roger Daltrey).

Pete Townsend?

Nehaxak

Well it arrived this morning and I've been using it since then.
First impressions are that it's grand but just a bit heavy, couldn't be walking down the street with it hanging from your lip. Either have to grip it between the teeth or just hold on to it while taking a drag.

I spent about ten minutes puffing on it while reading the little manual, only to realise I had been using the blank/empty cartridge/filter with no nicotine

So, out with the empty and in with the high nicotine tip.
Simply all screws together, first end part is the battery with neon blue light.
Middle part is the Atomiser (which did get a little hot at times, probably cos I was blocking the little filter hole which intakes air) and the tip then is of course the part you put in your mouth. These tips are disposable. They're saying that each tip is equivelant to 20 cigarettes in regards the amount of nicotine.
Each tip is said to be able to take 300 puffs before running out of nicotine and they say that 14 to 16 puffs is equivelant to having a full normal cigarette.

Takes a bit of getting used too and the vapour that comes off does look like smoke, so you will get a few funny looks and comments about it but it is all perfectly legal and fine.

Tastes fine and you do get a very small "hit" or feeling down the back of your throat when you inhale.

I've attached a picture of the Ecig itself, beside a normal smoke for comparison purposes...

I'll give it a go anyway, see how it all works out

Would be nicer though if it were lighter so you could hang it from the lip rather than have to hold and puff on it.

Krieg

Thanks for the update Nehaxak

I know you said you smoke a lot, but is there a longer time between needing a smoke? (ie: say you smoke every hour, is it the same with the ecig?)

Nehaxak

No, seems to me anyway to be a longer time needed between puffing on the ecig and a normal smoke.

I would usually smoke 15 a day (not including evenings at home which could be another 10 easily) so only smoked 2 normal smokes today so far, which isn't too bad considering.
Those 2 were only because I missed the hit (which I do like) of a normal smoke on the back of the throat/down the chest, even if it does make me cough :cool:

ukonline

I've had one of these, (they're called the DSE901 Mini by the way), for 2 days now and haven't smoked a real cig since it arrived.

This is a fantastic product. I've been a smoker for over 30 years and never tried to quit before. With this, it's been easy. It tastes just like a mild cigarette, even better, sometimes.

It's a bit temperamental though, and this is a bit frustrating as sometimes it works brilliantly and other times it doesn't work at all and needs tinkering with. It came with a spare battery, for example. The two batteries seem to perform differently. (The batteries contain an automatic pressure-sensitive switch that powers the atomizer when you puff.) One of the batteries gives good vapour and 'hit' while the other gives a smaller amount of vapour and sometimes stops working altogether until I give it a tap or remove it and blow through it a couple of times.

Seems the switch is prone to sticking.

By the way, there's a growing community of 'vapers' or 'e smokers' out there and many, many different models of electronic cigarette and flavours of cartridge, and top up 'juices' to choose from.

The forum voted the Mini DSE901 the best out of dozens of other brands and models.

I think the tech will only improve on reliability and performance in the future, so I'm going to stick with it.

A good forum for more info is:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/

As for the risk....I'd rather smoke a 'risk unknown' product than smoke tobacco which is *definitely* known to cause health problems. At least until W.H.O declare it as unsafe.

Other advantages are cleaner teeth, no smoke smells, no ashtrays, lighters, etc. Just pick it up, and puff.

gino85

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w23O-RO_oY0

briandy

The "electronic Joint

big b

Fair few people on the askaboutmoney site who say they're getting good results from these.

ponderingfurthe

Hi
Do any retail outlets stock these, specifically the Mini DSE901 in Galway or dublin?
Thanks
The ponderer

Oswald Osbourne

gino85 wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w23O-RO_oY0

Wow! Fat, a smoker and likes dance music. It's like the unholy trinity all rolled up in one big wet butterball.

AckwelFoley

I wont be replacing my ciggy with this plastic pce of crap.

I like to get my cancer the good old fashioned way.