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E-cigarettes are all the rage these days, but are they really a tool to help you quit smoking or are they a fad? With over 20 percent of all deaths in the U.S. attributable to smoking or tobacco use, it’s no wonder that many are looking for a way to kick the habit. Here’s how e-cigs work. You decide if it’s effective.

E-Cigarettes Have Few Restrictions On Advertising

One of the biggest hindrances in the tobacco industry is the virtual ban on advertising. It’s difficult to grow a market when you can’t advertise effectively to consumers. However, the e-cig market isn’t hampered by this type of regulation.

Plenty of websites exist that can advertise liquids, the e-cig devices, and you can even read these E cigarette reviews to figure out which models are the best for casual vaping, have the longest battery life, what safety ratings they have, and so on.

Because of the different classification, or rather a total lack of classification of e-cigs, the devices have thus far enjoyed relative freedom in the marketplace.

It means that consumers have more choices and better information about the products they’re buying, which leads to better outcomes for quitting. Users can decide how much nicotine they want or need, and regardless of the product they’re buying, they can be assured that reputable dealers are selling them a product that is much safer than traditional cigarettes.

There’s No Excise Tax On E-Cigs

Right now, there’s no excise tax on e-cigarettes, which makes them cheaper to distribute than their real counterparts. Excise taxes make up approximately 40 percent of the price of cigarettes. In contrast, e-cig cartridges and liquids are only subject to nominal sales taxes, which means that an annual replacement cartridge which costs about $600 to $800 is cheaper than the $1,000 annual expense of smoking a pack of traditional cigarettes every day.

Whether this situation will last for long is anyone’s guess, but right now, it’s certainly cheaper than smoking, making it financially more attractive.

Minors Can Buy In Some States

This sounds a little scary, but minors can buy e-cigarettes in some states. How does this help people stop smoking? If the person smoking is underage, it helps a lot. Most minors that do smoke don’t have an easy way out of the habit – someone got them hooked, and now they’re stealing cigs whenever they can from whomever they can.

But, with some states allowing the sale to minors, there’s a legal cessation technique that works.

New Studies Show That E-Cigs Work

Some of the most promising research in the UK is showing that e-cigarettes are not only safer than smoking but that they actually work to help people quit. The Office For National Statistics keeps track of people who use e-cigs, and reports that almost everyone using them are either current or former smokers.

The fears that e-cigs are a gateway device to traditional smoking are largely unfounded. E-cigs are used to help smokers quit and this is how they were originally marketed. Both producers and users see them as less harmful than smoking.


As for the numbers, they practically speak for themselves. Most of the figures from the ONS are from 2013, but the trend is establishing itself, even if it might be changing.

The number of smokers from 1974 have steadily declined, but plummeted from 46 percent in 1974 to 19 percent in 2013. Many smokers and former smokers now use e-cigs as substitutes for or cessation devices for smoking.

In Europe, the device was introduces in 2006 and, while critics feared they would be used to get more people to start the unhealthier habit, the opposite has happened. Fewer than 1 in 300 (0.14 percent) non-smokers have picked up vaping with e-cigs, while 12 percent of smokers, and 5 percent of ex-smokers use e-cigarettes.

Over half of the people interviewed for the study who smoked said that their main reason for using e-cigs was to stop smoking, and about one in five said they used the device because they thought it was less harmful than cigarettes.

Whether e-cigs can gain a permanent foothold in society remains to be seen, cartridges, battery rigs, e-liquids, and accessories are changing at a rapid pace. It almost feels like the industrial revolution, spurred by incredible demand for a device that is largely seen as recreational.

Norma Schnieder is a respiratory therapist. She loves to share her experiences on the web. Her articles can be found on many lifestyle and health websites.