If You Smoke Electronic Cigarettes ....

[naomi24]

... are you a smoker or a non-smoker? Just wondering how that is viewed by the medical profession.

[naomi24]

So bearing in mind what Jom said about patches, taking that a step further, how does the medical profession view a patch addict? The same as a smoker or not - because patches don't directly affect the lungs? (Do electronic cigarettes affect the lungs? I have no idea).

[Gromit]

Isn't nicotine relatively harmless?

It is the burning and ingesting small particles that is harmful. If you cut out the burning by patches or ingesting another way, most of the danger has gone.

I would say they are non smokers.

[divegirl]

''Even if the e cig contains no nicotine, there is no guarantee that what it does contain is harmless.''

The juices use a VG or PG base liquid... for further information on what they are.... see here...

http://www.vapour-room.com/faqs/showfaq.asp?id=1

[divegirl]

To answer Gromit, as far as I know yo would have to ingest a fair amount of pure nicotine for it to be detrimental to ones health. The amount in the bottle of liquid a 'vaper' uses are in no way harmful.

Lisa x

[pixie373]

Patches are measured and go down on stages, so they can wean you off. With an ecig, you can still have as much nicotine as you like, so it's not the same- and it's not advertised as a give-up smoking aid. I think they are bound to be safer than cigarettes, but are another form of smoking.

[jomifl]

/you would have to ingest a fair amount of pure nicotine for it to be detrimental to ones health./
Actually, it is very toxic, I think there is enough nicotine in one cigarette to kill you, fortunately smoking is a very inefficient way to get it into your body. Don't eat them :-)

[jno]

what about all those cowboys chewing a quid of tobacco in films?

[DrFilth]

pixie373 >
Patches are measured and go down on stages, so they can wean you off. With an ecig, you can still have as much nicotine as you like, so it's not the same- <

they have different strengths of refill so they work the same way
start high and work your way down

[jomifl]

25mg of nicotine could kill a small woman and would probably kill a child.The average nicotine content of a cigarette is about 10mg. Larger and stronger cigarettes would easily contain a lethal amount.

[LazyGun]

Much of the dangers of smoking are directly related to its addictive qualities - the chemical addiction to the nicotine, coupled with the learned, conditioned behaviour associated with smoking.

It has found a kind of approval by virtue of the reduced harm it offers, the fact that it is odourless and does not leave unsightly dogends everywhere, thus circumventing much of the social and cultural pressures to abstain.

But the very fact that it does nothing to break either the chemical addiction or the conditioned need for a cigarette means I would consider anyone using an e-cig as a smoker, rather than a non-smoker.

[jomifl]

/what about all those cowboys chewing a quid of tobacco in films? /
They don't swallow the tobacco. They just get mouth cancer.

[jomifl]

So LG, the term 'smoker' is really an euphemism for 'nicoitne addict.

[jomifl]

or nicotine even...

[LazyGun]

@Jom "25mg of nicotine could kill a small woman and would probably kill a child.The average nicotine content of a cigarette is about 10mg. Larger and stronger cigarettes would easily contain a lethal amount"

Ermm, not quite. LD50 of Nicotine, which is a potent poison, is actually between 30-60 mg/Kg of bodyweight. The average nicotine content for your standard cigarette is indeed 10mg,, so with your average adult european weighing in at around 70Kg, you would need to be smoking roughly 200 cigs or so a day to get close to the LD50.

[pixie373]

Oh, sorry, drfilth. I didn't know that. The people i know who use them buy the same strength cartridges each time. How can you measure it though?

[LazyGun]

@Jom - That's pretty much the way I see it - smoking is just one, highly visible, highly noticeable, unpleasant- to- many delivery system with some very serious health risks.

[DrFilth]

pixie373 there are different brands tastes etc, on the box there is a strength once you are happy with that strength you then buy the lower strength , then same again get a lower one

and if all goes to plan you say sod it and just leave it alone

the nicotine 24 hour patch that you start on is 21 mg then you get the lower one the ecig works the same way

[pixie373]

Ok, thanks. I used the patches successfully myself. They suggest 6 weeks in the higher one, then the next strength down for 2 weeks and then the lowest strength for 2 weeks. I shortened it, because the glue irritated my skin, but they made it so easy. I'm just thinking that with an ecig, you could go to a lower strength, but negate it by taking more puffs? Like smoking lights really.
I have never known a non-smoker to buy ecigs. I think they are used by smokers.

[LazyGun]

I can understand the attraction of e-cigs to smokers as a means of gradually weaning themselves of smoking, but it seems to me the marketing around e-cigs is all about establishing them as a kind of social/cultural accessory now, which is not the way to go, in my view.

[DrFilth]

pixie373 see the photo in the link this is the step one patch it has info on the box the e cig refill that i have seen has the same kind of info

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2yynhpc&amp;s=8#.UugHMLTFIl0