Electronic Cigarettes Now Used by 1 in 40 Smokers

Tax burdens may be one strong indicator as to why the popularity of the electronic cigarette continues to grow. Since the e cigarette has no known adverse health effects to date, it is not easily taxed at the current sin tax rates that are imposed on smokers for the use of tobacco cigarettes, and with the political climate of spending and taxing in these political times, it may be a way for smokers to ease the tax burden placed on them, therefore saving the smoker much needed cash.

The electronic cigarette is still making headlines across the U.S. as the industry continues to grow at almost unbelievable rates considering the economic downturn the U.S. is currently under. This brings quite a few questions to the forefront as to why this product has become so popular over the last year.

Tax burdens may be one strong indicator as to why the popularity of the electronic cigarette continues to grow. Since the e cigarette has no known adverse health effects to date, it is not easily taxed at the current sin tax rates that are imposed on smokers for the use of tobacco cigarettes, and with the political climate of spending and taxing in these political times, it may be a way for smokers to ease the tax burden placed on them, therefore saving the smoker much needed cash.

This makes perfect sense considering that the taxes that tobacco cigarette taxes were supposed to be used for are not used in that manner, and smokers may feel like they are being taken advantage of by federal, state and local governments to fund other projects that were not intended to get these tobacco revenues.

Calculating the actual cost of electronic cigarette use by the smoker shows another advantage. Some are making claims that the use of the e-cigarette cuts a smoker's monthly bill down by 50% or more in relation to cost of tobacco cigarettes.

Most believe the major and strongest factor is a superior product when compared to traditional tobacco cigarettes. The e cigarette has 4,000 less chemicals when used than tobacco cigarettes and smokers across the U.S. and the world are opting to continue smoking without all of the toxins that cigarettes produce and put into the body.

"They love it because smokers are a lot smarter than the government and special interest groups give them credit for," states Tiffany Ellis of E Cigarettes National. "They see through the scare mongering and are seeing a difference in their wallets and purses after they make the switch, along with other benefits of making the decision to move over to electronic cigarettes."

Electronic Cigarettes Are Tobacco Products

The American Association of Public Health Physicians has petitioned the FDA to change their classification of electronic cigarettes from 'drug-device combination' to 'tobacco product,' stating that the change would promote harm reduction.

The American Association of Public Health Physicians submitted a petition to the US Food and Drug Administration on February 23rd in response to their official stance concerning electronic cigarettes. They cite many concerns, including legal, ethical, epidemiological, medical, and the impact on public health the products could have in the future.

The AAPHP's recent petition dealt with their request that the FDA reclassify the products from a "drug-device combination" to a "tobacco product." They are currently urging all supporters of electronic cigarettes to leave the FDA comments on the docket for their petition so the will of the people may be made known . The AAPHP believes in and promotes harm reduction, unlike other mainstream health organizations who reject the concept.

According to the AAPHP, all tobacco products are "nicotine delivery devices" and that the largest portion of illness and death from conventional cigarettes is due to the products of the combusted tobacco, not the chemicals and other substances found in tobacco cigarettes. The carcinogens are not what cause the majority of the health problems; the smoke causes it when it is inhaled deeply into the lungs and held there.

"E-cigarettes, more than any other tobacco or tobacco-related product, satisfies both the habituation and nicotine addiction," says the organization in their petition. They state that they believe that many smokers struggle with a second addiction to smoking, which is the habit of carrying a pack of cigarettes and lighter, holding the cigarette when it is lit, and the act of smoking it. It is said in their report that there is a significant number of electronic cigarette users who have been successful in switching over to e-cigarette liquid which contains no nicotine while they continue to perform the ritual of "smoking."

Continuing on through the petition, they state that electronic cigarettes, unlike conventional cigarettes, produce no sidestream smoke; that is, smoke that is emitted from a cigarette when it is not being puffed on. The fact that electronic cigarettes also have no combustion is mentioned again, this time in reference to the amount of property damage done every year due to fires caused by lit cigarettes.

Electronic Cigarettes By SmokeStikUSA

In the summer of 2009 a novel smoking cessation pilot study was conducted. The aim of the pilot study was to examine overall cessation rates after 12 weeks in a multi-modal cessation program as well as test the safety of electronic cigarettes in terms of propylene glycol levels. This pilot represents a major first step in moving forward with a much larger randomized clinical trial testing whether the combination of multiple interventions has a positive effect on smoking cessation rates.

The current study combined 3 unique smoking cessation interventions; varenicline, cognitive- behavioral group therapy and a SmokeStik® electronic cigarette. At the end of the program all participants had quit smoking. Qualitative self- report data revealed that all participants found a multi-modal approach helpful in the smoking cessation process, including the use of an electronic cigarette.

All of the hubbub about electronic cigarettes doesn't seem to be dying down anytime soon as smokers and non-smokers alike are talking about the products from coast to coast.

"Word is spreading about them like wildfire across the United States," says Tiffany Ellis of E Cigarettes National. "And it's not so much because of our marketing efforts as it is just simple word of mouth from customer to customer. One customer refers a brother or a sister, they refer their in-laws, cousins, parents, grandparents, friends... the chain just seems to continue. People are excited and they should be."

Smokers are switching to the products in droves for a number of reasons, whether it's the cleanliness issue of having ashes and smoke stains everywhere when they use traditional cigarettes or that e-cigarettes are cheaper and produce less waste.

"Cigarette butts are one of the single largest sources of pollution on the planet when you're talking about the number thrown away per year," says Tiffany. "Birds eat them, fish eat them, the chemicals caught by them leech into the ground after they get wet... our e-cigarette refill cartridges are equal to at least 10 tobacco cigarettes each, depending on your smoking habit. If we could reduce the amount of cigarette butt litter to one tenth of what it is now... imagine the environmental contribution that would be."

The products have been available in the United States since 2006, but their popularity has only begun to soar in the last two years since they have started appearing on nightly news programs and on news websites.