Is the electronic cigarette for Me?
Yes, if:
- You are a smoker and you can't quit.
- You are a smoker and you don't want to quit.
- You want to enjoy a nicotine hit without having to inhale the tar, arsenic, formaldehyde, ammonia, acetone, hydrogen cyanide, carbon conoxide and other unecessary carcinogens and chemicals contained in cigarettes.
- You are sick of subsidising the government to the tune of several times the cost of treating smoking diseases and paying an unfair and unjust tax.
- You want to be able to smoke in the office, pubs and planes.
- You want a satisfying and enjoyable alternative to smoking cigarettes.
- You don't like the smell of stale cigarettes.
- You don't want to stain your teeth.
- You don't want people around you to suffer from passive smoking.
No, if:
- You are under 18.
- You don't smoke.
- You are a social smoker.
- If it means you won't quit.
- You are pregnant or nursing a baby.
If you don't smoke, you really seriously do not want to take the risk of becoming a nicotine addict. All of us at ECigarette Direct either smoke or have smoked and if you start using nicotine there is a good chance you will become a lifelong addict. If you do take up smoking cigarettes, there is a one in three chance that it will kill you.
Can it help you quit?
There is no evidence that the electronic cigarette can help people quit. Nicotine replacement therapy by itself does not have a good record at helping people to quit for the longer than twelve months.
What do the experts think?
Read our interviews with Tobacco Harm Reduction Experts.
David Sweanor: former tobacco advisor to the WHO on the subject of tobacco.
Dr Joel Nitzkin: Chair of the Tobacco Control Group of the American Society of Physicians.
Paul Bergen: Research Associate of the Tobacco Harm Reduction Project at the Alberta School of Public Health.
Also see Health New Zealand's Report on the safety of the electronic cigarette.
Please add any comments or questions you may have below. Alternatively, email us with your queries.