A Little History Lesson For You:
Are you a smoker that wants to find a better alternative to satisfy your cravings? E Cigs or vapes have been in the market for a little over ten years. What are vapes? How do they work? Are they safe? Smokers and non-smokers alike have a lot of questions about the validity of E Cigs and vaping. Are you a vaping newbie that’s looking for a cigarette alternative? Here’s a little background on the culture of vaping.
Where it all began:
Believe it or not, the first version of what we now know as the E Cig was first developed in the sixties by a man named Herbert A. Gilbert. In 1963, Gilbert 
patented a “a smokeless non-tobacco cigarette replacing burning tobacco and paper with heated, moist, flavored air.” It didn’t take off for two reasons: 1) because education about the health effects of smoking cigarettes was very limited (remember, it was the sixties), 2) Smoking was the cool thing to do at that time. The culture around traditional smoking was at its height, so Gilbert’s endeavor flopped. That being said, his efforts were definitely not in vain. In 2004, a pharmacist in China by the name of Hun Lik designed a “cigarette” that was highly inspired by Gilbert’s patent. His biggest difference was piezoelectric (electricity created from pressure and heat) ultrasound vaporized pressure using liquid nicotine. The result is a vapor that resembles smoke.
Hun Lik’s decision to make what is now known as the E-Cig was a very personal one. His father, who was a two-pack-a-day smoker, died of lung cancer. Hun Lik, a two-pack-a-day smoker himself, was determined to find an alternative that would not send him to an early grave like it did his father. He developed a “cigarette” that would give smokers the same feel like that of a traditional smoke. His patented “E Cigarette” was introduced to the Chinese market in 2004. Although he had a patent, Lik’s ideas were illegally duplicated throughout China and the United States. The other E Cig companies haven’t properly compensated him. Although some U.S. companies have properly paid Lik, he hasn’t gotten nearly what he is owed by the other companies that have stolen his idea.
Why do people prefer to vape?
Many smokers are making the shift from cigarettes to vaping. Vaping is more appealing because it’s safe for people around you, it’s cleaner for the environment and the smoker is fully in control of their nicotine intake. Many of you may not remember the days of sitting in a restaurant where you had to choose between sitting in a “smoking” or “non smoking” section. If you chose non smoking, you would still smell the smoke and walk out of the restaurant needing a fresh shower. After regulations passed to prohibit from people smoking indoors, the option was (if you were a smoker) to either quit, or go outside and smoke your cigarette. The overall air quality for restaurants were healthier for their patrons. Ever since the rise of the E Cig, are people daring to “smoke” inside again. The perks of being able to do this is for the people in the vaper’s vicinity. They don’t reek, and more importantly, their health doesn’t suffer because they’re sitting near a person that vapes.
The fact that vapes are not as easily discarded as cigarette butts is one plus for the environment. Let’s not forget that toxins such as lead and arsenic are in cigarettes. Discarded cigarette butts end up in the water and poison fish as well as the water itself. We consume the water and the wildlife that lives in it. That is not a concern with vaping. Since they are rechargeable and refillable, they can leave our wildlife and water alone.
The best thing about vaping is that the smoker is one hundred percent in control of how much nicotine they want to “smoke.” They are able to increase or decrease the intensity of their nicotine consumption. For people that are trying to quit smoking altogether, this is a great alternative to help lower daily nicotine intake until you are ready to quit.
Whether you want to lower your intake, totally quit, or just want a new substitute for cigarettes, vaping and e cigs are a great alternative!