I’d be very interested in this research, since I know so little about it. My assumption would be the opposite due to the addictive nature of cigarettes causing an extremely low price elasticity; care to fight my ignorance?
Thank you!
I take exception to the implication that this [in bold] is a trivial concern. If you missed the Chinese medical products scandals in recent years, do a little research on the current status of the India pharmaceutical industry.
In fact, go to the FDA page and search on “Ranbaxy”.
If it is true that the nicotine in patches, gum, and lozenges are manufactured by the same firms that produce nicotine for e-cigarettes, that does not mean it is the same product. Companies could sell material that fails the pharmaceutical quality controls for ecigarettes.
Somehow, I doubt that the makers of an unregulated product performs the same supplier oversight as company subject to FDA, EMA, and TGA regulation.
ETA: I am strongly in favor of ecigarettes, as long as they stop perfuming the nicotine.
Here is one of many good articles.
Actually more pure than the stuff they sell to big pharma: Even Better than USP
And yes, each shipment comes with a laboratory analysis. FDA and all sorts other approvals. They have been one of only three manufacturers of extracted nicotine in the world for a long time. They expanded their extraction facility in India due to the new demand brought about by ecigs.
I know nothing against Alchem.
This does not mean what you think it means.
First, the ‘typical’ Nicotine purity is “>100%”.
The add describes “typical levels”, not specifications in the product.
The ad states that the material intended for ecigarette use is not the same as that used in pharmaceuticals.
And I did not think one could legal claim to exceed USP requirements, but I could be wrong and I don’t have a copy of the pharmacopeia handy.
And that letter they so proudly post on their website? The reason most of it is so blurry is because it references a 483 issued to the facility.
The “nicotine juice” in South Beach e-cigs is made in the USA.
Oh, I see you’ve had the nicotine gum. I’d’ve quit cigarettes years before if that more-efficient nicotine delivery system had been available. Blew my head right off and I didn’t look back at smoking.
Except every single day of the past 29 years. I stopped the gum because it was way too good and probably not healthy, but I still want a cigarette.
You sure? Thinks it’s the same material used in patches and gum? I couldn’t track it down, myself. (You’re a ringer, right? You work there.)
I repeat, I am very much in favor of e-cigarettes without perfumes. In fact, I am now in favor of them becoming FDA regulated products, primarily to regulate the quality of the nicotine, but also because I don’t know that any perfumes are GRAS for inhalation.
I hope not.
I had to quit, before going on a trip. I bought some nicotine mini-lozenges. They are horrible, make me nauseous, and I think are burning holes in my esophagus and stomach. But I haven’t had a cigarette in 4 months and have no desire to. I pop a lozenge a couple times a day. Maybe I’m addicted to them now? they seem to be working. It’s like a switch has been flipped. No urge to light up any more. Gruesome TV commercials had nothing to do with it. I know full well any damage which has been done is a given, and so be it. But at least I won’t be spending $30 - $50 a week any more. I don’t have to sneak outside, I don’t have to pick up butts in the lawn, I can take a deep breath now. Black lungs and tracheotomies? That didn’t seem to make much of an impact. I don’t know why any of this happened, but there it is.
Made in the USA of globally sourced materials.
There is no commercial nicotine extraction facility in the USA. The manufacturers of patches, gums, lozenges and ecigs all buy their nicotine from the same three overseas facilities. The biggest producer, Alchem, in India, has recently begun producing an extract specifically for the ecig industry which contains even fewer impurities than that they have been selling to the pharmaceutical companies.
There are a couple of American “boutique” eliquid sellers who extract WTA (Whole Tobacco Alkaloid), as opposed to pure nicotine. They are available only in small quantities.
Huh? I’ve never used any nicotine product.
Well, except that many years ago I sprayed Black Leaf 40 on my plants. It sure did kill bugs dead, except I became leery of using an insecticide with a warning label that said something like “may be fatal if contacts skin”.
Congratulations and I hope you stay on the good path.
I’ve read this thread with interest, and on balance I’ve reached a view the “lozenges and/or gum” delivery method is probably better than e-cigs, due to less invasive chemicals entering your lung tissue. As for patches? If they help people stop smoking that’s great too, however I can see why the “mouth delivery method” is more popular.
Yes, it’s true these methods maintain the nicotine addiction. Yes, the statistics show the vast majority of successful quitters are people who stop cold turkey (hard as that is, obviously). As a non smoker who wants our kids to grow up with the least chance of lung tissue damage, anything which can help people to stop smoking tobacco is a good thing I reckon. Either that, or ban the shit. For the life of me I can’t stand the double standard on that score.
My theory has always been that people who CAN stop cold turkey are less addicted some how. The recent Neanderthal DNA study may support this; people who can quite cold turkey may lack the Neanderthal tobacco addiction allele.
The link you provided earlier does not establish that. Do you have other information you can share?
It’s probably just your experience. When I quit almost two years ago, I used a combination of the patch and a structured professional coaching program offered through my local VA hospital. The nicotine patch helped me get over the physical addiction and the coaching program helped me deal with the emotional and behavioral addiction.
Any time you have an addiction, be it to nicotine, alcohol, other drugs, or what-have-you, you have to find something or a combination of somethings that work for you. Some people find just using nicotine replacement therapy (e.g. patches or gum) or non-nicotine drug therapy (e.g. Zyban or Chantix) alone works. Others can get over the physical addiction just fine, but they need the emotional and behavioral support to learn coping skills to help them stay away from smoking. Some (as I did) benefit from both. I don’t use either the patch or the coaching anymore; there’s no need for either one. All a study says is that x people found something that works for them to help them stop the addiction, not that y or z intervention is better or worse unless that intervention does or doesn’t help a significant population. It’s very difficult to generalize when it comes to addiction because motivations, behaviors, and the underlying reasons for the addiction are individual.
That being said, I agree with those who think that nicotine juice shouldn’t be perfumed. Basically, I think it comes down to common civility versus how e-cigs are marketed. Someone who douses themselves in perfume or sprays air freshener in a confined space is considered boorish, but e-cigs are marketed as a way to get a fix without having to leave the room. So it’s acceptable to inject a smelly gas in a closed space because, hey, it’s better than secondhand smoke! :rolleyes:
I’ve long thought (as a former smoker, now no nicotine vaper myself) that we should be pitching the *positives *to provide motivation, not harping on the negatives. The human psyche is very good at going numb with repeated exposure to horror. When I listen to actual former smokers or vapers like you, I hear a lot of the positives; that’s what we tell each other, and that’s what seems to motivate people in my anecdotal experience. I would very much like to see a study done on positive marketing impact on smoking rates compared to negative marketing.
Positive things include:
Saving money. Oh! So much money! Even with my new vaping hobby supplies and liquid, I’m now spending in two months what I used to spend in a week.
No more gunky hacking cough every morning when I wake up.
No more persistent irritated cough all day.
No more chest pain.
Far fewer infections each year - seriously, my last winter of smoking, I had 12 “colds”. This year I’ve had none. And so there’s more savings on cold remedies!
Food tastes so good!
I can walk up three flights of stairs without getting winded!
Flowers smell like flowers should smell!
Can we define “closed space”?
On a bus, I would tend to agree. At a bar? not so much.
I quit smoking and now use e-cigs, but only when I drink alcohol. I’m actually in favor or regulating e-cigs. I’d like to know exactly what’s in the juice.
However, what worries me, this isn’t about regulation. This feels more like a witch hunt to me. As if smokers, even reformed ones smoking e-cigs, are somehow inferior and deserve to be admonished at every turn.
A closed space is any place where people are in close proximity, and where smoking is discouraged or otherwise not allowed. Smoking is enough a part of the bar culture that it’s probably not an issue there, but at a movie theater? Not so much.
I’m not arguing in favor of regulation banning e-cigs as much as I am advocating in favor of some etiquette lessons. Owners of private establishments can ban or restrict the use of e-cigs on their premises if they so choose, and as e-cigs become more popular, I can see a return to “smoking” sections. Basically, it just comes down to teaching where they’re acceptable and where they’re not.
Indoor spaces (such as offices, retail establishments, mass transit).
What demographics and experience of the last decade or so should have taught smokers is that’s it’s not all about you, and expecting everyone else to cater to and accept the inconveniences and health hazards that go with your addiction.
If you can keep your smoke and “vapes” out of my respiratory tract, I don’t really care what you do.