Let's vape!!!

Last week i bought a brand new Electronic Cigarette or 'e-cig' if you will. Some might also call it a PV (Personal Vaporizer). As the name suggests, it's an electronic device used for smoking and no, it doesn't produce smoke. It produces vapor. The device contains a coil that heats up and vaporizes a liquid solution into an aerosol mist, simulating the act of tobacco smoking. So some users came up with the term 'vaping' instead. Yeah, as if it isn't enough for mails, greeting cards and books to become electronic, they just had to make electronic cigarettes as well. God knows what else would become electronic in the near future. Sex? I hope not! Hahaha! Well, whatever, as long as it is for a good cause, right? So these e-cigs are mainly used as a therapy to help people quit cigarettes/cigars/pipes or as a substitute for tobacco altogether. The e-cig produces vapor which is a much more friendly substance that doesn't carry with it the 4000 chemical compounds contained in a burning cigarette like tar and carbon monoxide. However, depending on the users' preferences, the liquid solution (e-liquid or e-juice) may contain a certain amount of nicotine, or none at all. Other than that, it only contains the basic ingredients like Propylene Glycol (which turns the vapor into a smoke-like mist) and/or Vegetable Glycerin (which has lubricating qualities and serves as a natural plant based low-glycemic sweetener) and artificial flavors. All these are in fact common ingredients in our everyday food.

Very little is known through the studies conducted surrounding the negative effects of inhaling vapor that contains these few substances. Although this 'vapor' technology isn't really new, a few years back it became commercialized and only then researchers started to conduct proper studies on it (it was 2004 if not mistaken). It takes years to come up with accurate results, which they are yet to obtain. Until then, the fate of electronic cigarettes and its reputation remains uncertain. However so, vapor is definitely not as harmful as tobacco smoke if not harmful at all. Since there are limited information regarding health and safety issues of the use of electronic cigarettes, most governments and health organizations worldwide have been raising concerns over it. Some countries even ban it and consider it illegal to possess or sell. Because it has been proven in many cases to be very effective in helping people to quit cigarettes, some e-cig users suggest that e-cig prohibition is just a mere conspiracy. That one of the main financial sources for the governments in most countries is through taxes from the sale of various things including cigarettes, by which e-cigs aren't eligible for. Yes, taxes. Less smokers means significantly less income. Whatever it is, selling it might be illegal in my country but they still sell it out on the streets anyway. So i finally bought one. I previously had another one, the older version. The one where the design resembles a real cigarette, with a mouthpiece that looks like a filter on one end, and a red LED on the other. This one wasn't strong enough. It doesn't really give enough 'kick' on the throat as a conventional cigarette would.

Unlike the newer generation of e-cigs nowadays where the strength of the voltage can be adjusted according to their taste, and many more flavors have been made available. So i think it has been effective for me these past few days. Yesterday alone i only smoked 4 sticks of Marlboro instead of the whole pack (20 sticks) like i always do. That's good right? That's actually a record for me because i have never really tried to kick the habit. So i think i want to cut it down to zero sticks a day. It might take some time but eventually i will if i put my mind to it.

Next week me and my wife are going to Krabi, Thailand for the 2nd time. This time with her best friend and the husband. I'm not sure what the status in that country is, regarding electronic cigarettes. Some countries allow vaping but ban the selling of the device. Some allow the selling of the device but only with non-nicotine e-liquids. Some countries even ban them for good, like Brazil for example. I better look it up before i actually take mine with me. Don't want to end up in jail or anything like that. In Malaysia, the fine for selling e-cigs or even it's nicotine e-liquid is not more than RM3000 or jail for two years, or both. Whoa, talk about breaking the law. Vaping is not a crime!