# E-cig (electronic cigarette) opinions, experiences, recommendations **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 12, 2009, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-opinions-experiences-recommendations/485511 "2009-02-12T09:30:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-opinions-experiences-recommendations/485511/61 "2009-02-17T19:09:23Z")
> [@neutron\_star](#): > > If you shop around on the Internet, they’re much cheaper. I got my starter kit for $28 + $11 shipping from Hong Kong [here](http://www.e-cigarette-china.com/mini-ecigarette-dse901b-starter-kit-with-5-carts-p-321.html). Takes about 7-14 days for shipping, but the price break is worth it. If I need replacement parts or cartridges (I haven’t yet, but my friend has), I go [here](http://www.vaporstix.com%5B/url) because it’s a U.S. site and the shipping is cheaper and faster, plus the customer service is great. I’ll also go ahead and note that I’m not affiliated with either of those sites - just a happy customer. > > e: also, [this](http://www.johnsoncreeksmokejuice.com/default.asp) is supposed to be the best place for nicotine juice, but I haven’t ordered from there yet. Thanks for that info. Very tempting. I’m just worried that just like it was when I tried the patch, I’ll end up using this thing and smoking at the same time. I’d love to be able to replace cigarettes completely. ---
**Author:** ![Rattlehead02](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rattlehead02/32/3944_2.png) [@Rattlehead02](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rattlehead02)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-opinions-experiences-recommendations/485511/62 "2009-02-17T19:34:09Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Slight hijack, but there was this 7-11 I bought my smokes at sometimes, and they started selling Camel Lights that clearly were different. They weren’t labeled differently and didn’t taste different, but they lacked whatever they use to keep the tobacco burning. I could go outside and have a few puffs, put the cigarette in the ashtray and it would immediately go out. I could come back later and smoke a little more. I bought all my cigs at that store until they finally circulated the regular blend back in. Those would be FSC cigarettes and are mandated by most states. They taste like shit and people have complained that they make the cherries fall out and then they get burns on their furniture or clothing. The purpose of these horrible potentially dangerous cigarettes? To help prevent fires. I’ll stop now before this gets into Pit territory 🙂 Here is a link I found with more information: [http://www.fsccigarettes.com/](http://www.fsccigarettes.com/) ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-opinions-experiences-recommendations/485511/63 "2009-02-17T19:43:44Z")
> [@GildedLily](#): > > Those would be FSC cigarettes and are mandated by most states. They taste like shit and people have complained that they make the cherries fall out and then they get burns on their furniture or clothing. The purpose of these horrible potentially dangerous cigarettes? To help prevent fires. > > I’ll stop now before this gets into Pit territory 🙂 Here is a link I found with more information: [http://www.fsccigarettes.com/](http://www.fsccigarettes.com/) Huh, interesting. I liked those cigarettes but they only sold them for awhile, then they went back to normal. That was California. I figured they were simply more like an “all natural” cigarette, which will also go out if you’re not actively puffing on it. ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Neighbor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hi_neighbor/32/494_2.png) [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-opinions-experiences-recommendations/485511/64 "2009-02-17T20:43:42Z")
Does one have to be 18 years old to purchase an e-cigarette? ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-opinions-experiences-recommendations/485511/65 "2009-02-18T11:03:30Z")
I would imagine so since it contains nicotine. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-opinions-experiences-recommendations/485511/66 "2009-02-18T11:57:28Z")
I’m surprised these aren’t yet regulated by the FDA as drug delivery systems. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-opinions-experiences-recommendations/485511/67 "2009-02-18T12:06:49Z")
They don’t even have a real U.S. distributor, it seems, so perhaps it’s under the FDA’s radar. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-opinions-experiences-recommendations/485511/68 "2009-02-18T13:23:50Z")
> [@neutron\_star](#): > > That’s vapor. It dissipates pretty much instantly and leaves no discernible smell behind. > > e: a lot of the companies selling these say that you’re even allowed to smoke them in non-smoking areas. I’ve found that the vapor goes away so quickly that I can discreetly smoke it in the large datacenter where I work without anyone even noticing. No discernible smell, or no smell discernible to a smoker? I’ve found that smokers’ idea of what the rest of us are aware of is wildly off-target. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-opinions-experiences-recommendations/485511/69 "2009-02-18T17:43:04Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > No discernible smell, or no smell discernible to a smoker? I’ve found that smokers’ idea of what the rest of us are aware of is wildly off-target. No smell that anyone has mentioned after I smoked them all night in a very, very non-smoking datacenter. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-opinions-experiences-recommendations/485511/70 "2009-02-18T18:09:40Z")
> [@neutron\_star](#): > > No smell that anyone has mentioned after I smoked them all night in a very, very non-smoking datacenter. There are people who will be offended if you wear the color blue, if you let them. Just the way it is these days. I know at least one person with a sensitive nose who would bitch about it, just because. If I bitched about her perfume, she’d get indignant. If I bitched about her cooking with onions & garlic, she’d get indignant. Way it is. Anyone who decides to start using these things should be prepared to start complaining about everyone else’s smells. “Your coffee stinks. It offends me.” ---
**Author:** ![nevermore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a587f6/32.png) [@nevermore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevermore)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-opinions-experiences-recommendations/485511/71 "2009-02-19T04:37:32Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Shit, how much do you drink? :eek: Like two nights a week, average? Tonight I had 4 beers and 3 smokes. Saturday night I’m likely to have 6-8 drinks and about as many smokes. So I guess I’m at about half to 3/4 pack a week, really, but I give nearly as many away as I actually smoke, so I _buy_ about a pack a week. > [@](#): > > And I’m not so sure it’s better for your lungs than regular smoking (though how a pack a week isn’t “regular smoking” is beyond me); recent studies have shown that [even one cigarette per day](http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare/Smoking/1782) is enough to fuck your shit up, and “light smoking” (1 to 4 per day; you’re smoking 3 a day) triples your risk of dying from heart disease. There are also some other numbers I don’t understand that might mean it triples your risk of dying from lung cancer too; at any rate it increases it. > > In my college biology lab, the professor seemed to think that cancer was something that cigarettes “turn on” in your genes moreso than something they “give” you (it was a little more complicated than that but I’m not a biology professor.) If he was right, the amount you smoke wouldn’t make much of a difference. Yeah, I wasn’t really basing that guess on anything scientific; just a feeling. I used to be what I consider a “regular smoker”, meaning I smoked every single day, anytime or anywhere, on breaks, in the car, just whenever I was bored or wanted a minute to myself. Back then I coughed a lot, had a lot of chest congestion, got sick more often, and so on. I just feel healthier now than I did then, so I figured that my social smoking was better for me than the smoking habits I had before. Obviously it isn’t harmless; that’s why I’m interested in the e-cigarette. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gorgonzola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e480ec/32.png) [@Gorgonzola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgonzola)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-opinions-experiences-recommendations/485511/72 "2009-02-19T06:55:35Z")
Has no one used the [Nicowhatever inhaler](http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/images/_39650_inhalor300.jpg)? She looks like she’s trying to smoke a tampon. Recommendations for nicotine replacement therapy in mental health settings (where heavy smoking is common, and the addicts are ill-equipped financially to cope with the burden) advise using multiple methods (patch, gum, inhaler, meds like Zyban) at the same time, for longer periods than recommended by the manufacturer. I have a binder laced with studies promoting this practice (some admittedly sponsored by manufacturers of pharmaceutically pure nicotine) in my office from the “make all hospitals smoke-free” changeover days, but I have yet to see anyone put this into actual practice. Most people are simply not comfortable prescribing multiple off-label use of these products, and will go with a couple at most. There is little question that pharmaceutically pure nicotine delivered via these methods is “better for you” than inhaling the random and wanton detritus that accompanies the nicotine in cigarettes. But weaning oneself from an addiction to large doses of pharmaceutically pure nicotine delivered via multiple streams can’t be much fun, either. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-opinions-experiences-recommendations/485511/73 "2009-02-24T18:45:08Z")
I just went ahead and ordered from that place in China. They’re doing free shipping now so it was only $28. I didn’t like creating a paypal account, but oh well. Fairly painless. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-opinions-experiences-recommendations/485511/74 "2009-02-24T18:48:40Z")
> [@nevermore](#): > > Yeah, I wasn’t really basing that guess on anything scientific; just a feeling. I used to be what I consider a “regular smoker”, meaning I smoked every single day, anytime or anywhere, on breaks, in the car, just whenever I was bored or wanted a minute to myself. Back then I coughed a lot, had a lot of chest congestion, got sick more often, and so on. I just feel healthier now than I did then, so I figured that my social smoking was better for me than the smoking habits I had before. Obviously it isn’t harmless; that’s why I’m interested in the e-cigarette. 🙂 Yeah, the short term effects definitely scale up and down with the amount you smoke. I used to wake up the morning after parties coughing up brown shit and feeling like my mouth was scrubbed out with the inside of a donkey’s butthole. neutron star - are you still liking the ecig? Are you done with your bag of tobacco yet? ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-opinions-experiences-recommendations/485511/75 "2009-02-24T19:26:35Z")
My atomizer died a week after I got it. Luckily, it was soon enough that they were willing to exchange it, but I’m still waiting on that, so I had to buy more tobacco. **levdrakon** , cool! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-opinions-experiences-recommendations/485511/76 "2009-02-24T19:35:11Z")
> [@neutron\_star](#): > > My atomizer died a week after I got it. Luckily, it was soon enough that they were willing to exchange it, but I’m still waiting on that, so I had to buy more tobacco. > > **levdrakon** , cool! 🙂 Wait, I just bought something that’s going to die in a week? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-opinions-experiences-recommendations/485511/77 "2009-02-24T21:05:03Z")
Well, the one my friend got a month ago is still kicking. But yeah, like I said in the OP, reliability can be a problem for these things. Most people keep spare atomizers and spare batteries on hand, and just treat it as a necessary expense. Replacement atomizers are $10 apiece and batteries $15. From what I’ve read, you might have to replace each every month. But at least the cartridges are cheap, and refillable. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-opinions-experiences-recommendations/485511/78 "2009-02-24T21:21:32Z")
But what’s a pack of cigarettes these days? When I quit, Marlboro’s were pushing 6 bucks, and that fall a new state cigarette tax was passed here in AZ. I doubt cost is a good reason not to get the e-cig. ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-opinions-experiences-recommendations/485511/79 "2009-02-25T08:09:28Z")
> [@Declan](#): > > So to clarify , as a non-smoker you would be fine with these devices inside buildings where you are likely to be at anytime or on flights. Theoretically, yes. If they don’t smell very strong (which I know can be hard to judge, but no worse than an average cup of coffee, say), and if the vapor is harmless to someone sitting right next to the person emitting it. That would mean _completely_ harmless; even if I breathed in the vapor an e-cig smoker blew into my face, I would not be getting any nicotine in my system. Then yes, I wouldn’t have a problem with these in a traditionally non-smoking space. If there were some chance of absorbing nicotine into my system by being close to an e-cig smoker, then I’d prefer there be a separate “smoking” section (ie. the back of the plane) but I wouldn’t have a problem with it being in an enclosed space. ---
**Author:** ![Mojo\_Pin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mojo\_Pin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo_Pin)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-opinions-experiences-recommendations/485511/80 "2009-02-25T18:26:32Z")
> [@Gorgonzola](#): > > There is little question that pharmaceutically pure nicotine delivered via these methods is “better for you” than inhaling the random and wanton detritus that accompanies the nicotine in cigarettes. But weaning oneself from an addiction to large doses of pharmaceutically pure nicotine delivered via multiple streams can’t be much fun, either. And depending on how “bad for you” this pure nicotine is, one might not need to be weaned from it any more than people need to wean themselves off of coffee or masturbation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-opinions-experiences-recommendations/485511.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-opinions-experiences-recommendations/485511.md?page=5)