Let's just imagine that you have decided to give up smoking for good because you know that if you don't you may have more chance of being hit by lung cancer, heart disease, or from suffering prematurely wrinkled skin. Now that you have decided that you will definitely quit smoking, how will you achieve it?
Your options include just stopping at a pre-determined date and relying on the support of those close to you to get you through the first few weeks, or you could use some kind of aid to let you down more gently, gradually reducing your daily or weekly intake of nicotine until your body doesn't need it any more and your done! Although the cold turkey approach or hypnotherapy works for some, it would seem that for most, the latter is the most sensible way to go. Your options then are nicotine lozenges, patches, or the latest clever idea - the electronic cigarette.
The e cigarette looks much like a normal cigarette but is in fact a small electrical device that produces a harmless vapour that can contain a pre-determined amount of nicotine. When you puff on your e cigarette the tip glows slightly red in a convincing manner and the aerosol vapour is similar to natural smoke in appearance, but not of course in its constituents. Instead of a mixture of carbon particles and cancer inducing chemicals and tars you are merely inhaling some vegetable glycerin vapour which as far as we know is harmless. You can buy the e liquid in several different strengths, either in pre-loaded cartridges or as liquid to fill the empty cartridge that comes with your e cigarette kit. If you start with a high strength and gradually reduce it over a period of 1-4 weeks you can kick the habit totally within weeks!
Another big advantage of the e cigarette as opposed to the real one, apart from the removal of the health hazard, is that you won't have to smell of tobacco and smoke because the liquids can be obtained in many delightful flavours including mints and menthols, coffee, chocolate, fruit, and others with exotic names which, like a wine, you would have to try for yourself. You can even buy unflavoured base and mix your own cocktail of flavours from concentrates.
Whether or not you would be allowed to smoke your e cigarette in a wine bar or other public place where smoking is not permitted is open to debate, but anyway, within a few weeks you won't need to worry because you won't be smoking anyway!
