When I was fifteen-years-old, I started smoking for the wrong reasons.  I wanted to be able to hang out with my sister in the smoking section of my high school.  She didn’t really want me to hang out with her, so her friends told me that because I didn’t smoke, I didn’t belong in the smoking section.  I decided to start smoking.

I had an eleven year addiction that I couldn’t get rid of.  When I was nineteen-years-old I tried to quit smoking with this system where you put a plastic filter on the filter of your cigarette that was supposed to keep you from getting the harmful chemicals.  Every pack of cigarettes had a new filter and that seemed to work and I actually quit smoking.  It was difficult to remain a non-smoker when everyone around me was telling me it wasn’t going to last long.  Instead of encouraging me, they mocked me and even blew smoke in my face.  It didn’t last very long and I took up the bad habit because I was shamed back into it.

In 1996 I was living in an encouraging environment with my partner Darrin.  He never discouraged me from doing anything that I wanted to do.  I told him that I was sick of smoking and we both decided to go to the drug store and buy the Nicotrol patch to help me, and I finally quit smoking and I haven’t smoked since.

I have told that story to everyone that I know who still smokes and they tell me that the patch hasn’t worked for them, or it’s too expensive, or this excuse, or that excuse.  Listen, you don’t have to quit just because I am telling you, because believe me, I hated all those ex-smokers who tried to get me to quit smoking when I didn’t want to.  I vowed when I quit smoking that I would never become the typical preachy ex-smoker.

However, I have found something that will be worth listening to.  There is a relatively new technology out there called an e-cigarette, and I know you have heard of it, but haven’t bought it because it’s “not the same” as a “real” cigarette.  Well, let me just try to show you something you probably already know, but don’t want to know.  These are the harmful chemicals that are in your “real” cigarette.  There are 4,000 chemicals that you are exposing yourself, your spouse, your co-workers, your children and your pets to every day.  Here is just a handful.

• Benzene (petrol additive)
  • A colourless cyclic hydrocarbon obtained from coal and petroleum, used as a solvent in fuel and in chemical manufacture – and contained in cigarette smoke.
  • A known carcinogen associated with leukemia.
• Formaldehyde (embalming fluid)
  • A colourless liquid, highly poisonous, used to preserve dead bodies – also found in cigarette smoke.
  • Known to cause cancer, respiratory, skin and gastrointestinal problems.
• Ammonia (toilet cleaner)
  • Used as a flavouring, frees nicotine from tobacco turning it into a gas
  • Often found in dry cleaning fluids.
• Acetone (nail polish remover)
  • Fragrant volatile liquid ketone, used as a solvent, for example, nail polish remover
  • Found in cigarette smoke.
• Tar
  • Particulate matter drawn into lungs when you inhale on a lighted cigarette. Once inhaled, smoke condenses and about 70 per cent of the tar in the smoke is deposited in the smoker’s lungs.
• Nicotine (insecticide/addictive drug)
  • One of the most addictive substances known to man, a powerful and fast-acting medical and non-medical poison.
  • This is the chemical which causes addiction.
• Carbon Monoxide (CO) (car exhaust fumes)
  • An odourless, tasteless and poisonous gas, rapidly fatal in large amounts
  • The same gas that comes out of car exhausts
  • The main gas in cigarette smoke, formed when the cigarette is lit
• Others
  • Arsenic (rat poison)
  • Hydrogen Cyanide (gas chamber poison)

So that is what you are getting when you smoke a cigarette.  What do you get when you vape with an e-cigarette?  You are still getting the nicotine, but when you buy (or make) your e-liquid, you can order it with less nicotine every week or every month (it’s your decision how fast or slow you want to quit) until you are no longer dependent on the nicotine.

The chemicals you are getting in an e-cigarette aren’t harmful compared to a real cigarette because you are most likely exposed to them on a daily basis, but let’s take a look at what they are.

Propylene glycol is used as a ‘humectant’ which means it maintains moisture levels in food products, cosmetics and tobacco products. Humectants are what make hair conditioning products work as well as create the ‘moisturizing’ effects of many common cosmetics and consumer products we take for granted such as: make up, mascara, hand creams, body lotions as well as shave creams, shampoos and soaps. Additionally, propylene glycol is used as a solvent to enhance the ability of artificial flavorings to remain suspended in solution in products such as toothpaste and mouthwash.

Vegetable glycerin is also known as vegetable glycerol. It is a carbohydrate that is usually derived from plant oils. It is used as a sweetener and as an ingredient in a number of cosmetic products. Vegetable glycerin is also used in place of alcohol to extract botanicals.

You can read more about Propylene Glycol and Vegetable Glycerin at the Zeus E-Juice website.

When they mix your e-liquid for your e-cigarettes, they generally mix 50% of PG with 50% of VG, depending on how you like it, and they add whatever amount of Nicotine for the milligrams you request.  The final ingredients are food flavorings to give it a pleasant taste like Strawberry, Banana, or even Chocolate or Vanilla Ice Cream.  The list of flavors is long, but you get the idea.

Zeus e-Juice is a great website for buying e-liquid.  Why?  Because you are saving a crapload of money, that’s why.  Consider this.  You are paying $4 or $5 per pack of cigarettes.  A 5ML bottle of e-liquid is only $2.49.  1ML of e-liquid compares to 1 pack of cigarettes which means you are only paying .50 cents.  A 30ML bottle of e-liquid is only $10.49 which breaks it down to .35 cents a pack.  If saving money doesn’t convince you then I am at a loss.

So when you switch to e-cigarettes, you are moving away from the dangerous chemicals that can basically kill you, to something that tastes good and doesn’t kill you.  You will also prevent the weight gain by continuing the motion of smoking long after your addiction has faded.  When I quit smoking, I gained 50lbs and have gained another 50lbs since because I replaced smoking with food.  You can keep that from happening because the sweet flavors will keep your taste buds satisfied long after you’ve kicked the habit.

Does this convince you to quit smoking and switch over to e-cigarettes?  I hope so, because I don’t like knowing that friends, family and heck, even strangers that I don’t know are getting cancer, emphysema, leukemia, heart diseases and even dying because they refused to kick the habit.

For more tips on kicking the habit, please visit http://www.stopsmokingtip.us.

Image Source http://www.stopsmokingtip.us.  Other sources http://www.stop-smoking-programs.org and https://www.zeusejuice.com