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Tags: health, wellness, quit smoking, electronic cigarette
 Chris Williams had been smoking for forty years.
"I thought I would never quit. I had tried many expensive products to try cut down or stop - nicotine gum, the nicorette, patches - and nothing had worked."
Like many other people, Chris tried nicotine cessation therapy to quit smoking. However, what's not displayed on the packaging of nicotine cessation aids is their very poor 5% long-term success rate.
In the end Chris, under pressure from his family, found a solution to his problem - and it didn't involve quitting.
An alternative to smoking
The electronic Cigarette contains nicotine, but without the associated tar, tobacco and combustion found in cigarettes.
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The devices are not perfect.
Nicotine is still addictive, and it is thought that nicotine may exacerbate some smoking-related diseases if a smoker has already developed these.
However, the UK National Health Service maintains that nicotine does not cause smoking diseases, while scientists such as Professor Carl Phillips, an expert in tobacco harm reduction, point out that nicotine alone can not match the danger of nicotine mixed with tar, tobacco and combustion:
"..long term use of nicotine poses a small, a very small but non-zero risk of some cardiovascular diseases so I suppose you could call that a side effect which is predictable for the long run, but that's a total risk which is down in the range of drinking coffee, nothing remotely similar to the risk from smoking cigarettes."
A threat to established interests.
Thousands of smokers have already turned to the electronic Cigarettes, but they still represent a small fraction of all smokers.
Some estimates suggest this could change over the next ten years, wiping out the tobacco companies and destroying the nicotine cessation industry run by pharmaceutical companies.
In turn, the device would be likely to reduce government revenue from tobacco taxes and destroy a major source of the anti-smoking lobby's income - much of which is provided by the pharmaceutical industry.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, there has been a vigorous campaign against the electronic Cigarette, with one of the key points being that the e-cigarette is not 100% safe.
Scientists who support the device argue that the anti-smokers are missing the point; the point being not that the device is safe but that it is safer.
"Everything has risks, so simply pointing out that something is ‘not safe’ shows a person to be either ignorant or disingenuous," points out David Sweanor, a former advisor to the WHO on the topic of tobacco control. "Despite the risks associated with soccer, I would, for instance, prefer my children play soccer rather than play with live hand grenades."
For Chris, the answer is clear.
"Not only do I smell better, but I am sleeping better and I can breathe more easily.
"And, perhaps best of all, my family is happy."
For more information about the e-cigarette see the free e-book, The Electronic Cigarette
About the author
The author of this article Rose Windale is a Health and Wellness Coach who has been successful with several natural health programs for many years. Rose recently published a step-by-step guide on how to lose weight the EASY way and become totally healthy and happy. More info on her life-changing eating habits plan HERE.
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