http://www.worldedit.org/memes/140-electronic-cigarette
Last week, I was having dinner with some friends in a pub not far from my house. One of these friends is a smoker of electronic cigarettes. Even though I’ve seen him smoke his electronic cigarette dozens of times, and asked all the usual questions about how the thing works, every time I see this strange little device puffing away, I feel as curious as the first time I saw it. At the table, I asked again what exactly it was in the device that allowed it to emit smoke. His lovely girlfriend said that he’d actually made a printed copy of FAQs to give to people who confronted him in bars with precisely the same stupid questions (especially, the rather forward perfect strangers who asked rather confrontational stupid questions). When I asked the friend whether this was really true, he pulled a folded-up piece of A5 paper from his pocket and handed it over.
Here then, for your amusement, are the 17 FAQs of an electronic-cigarette smoker.
Stick with it until the end.
1. What is that? An electronic cigarette.
2. Does it work? It delivers nicotine and an experience very close to smoking analogue cigarettes, so yes, it does work.
3. How does it work? The device comprises a battery (the main body) and a cartomiser (the part that resembles a filter). The battery supplies power to a small heating element in the cartomiser, vaporising the e-juice that is soaked into a fluffy material inside the cartomiser.
4. What is in it/how does it make smoke? Vaporised e-juice. E-juice contains water, nicotine, propylene glycol and/or glycerine and propylene, and a few flavourings. It is also available without any nicotine. Some of these chemicals are the same as those used in smoke machines.
5. Is it safe? There has been little research so far, but the smoke-producing chemicals in e-juice are also used in asthma inhalers and similar oral drug delivery devices. Nicotine itself is a poison, and taken in small quantities like this it tends to promote atherosclerosis and therefore has been linked to heart disease and high blood pressure. However, e-cigarettes do not contain tar or the other 2,000 or so chemicals in tobacco smoke that are thought to be responsible for nearly all of health problems associated with smoking, including lung cancer. As a very rough guide, e-cigarettes can be considered 99% safer than analogue cigarettes. It is possible to overdose on nicotine using electronic cigarettes, but it is also possible to do that smoking Marlboro Reds, which was my analogue cigarette of choice.
6. Have you stopped smoking? Yes, in September 2012.
7. How long does it last? A full cartomiser contains around the same amount of nicotine as a 20 pack of cigarettes, and a fully charged battery gives around 200 puffs, which again is about the same as a 20 deck.
8. How much does it cost? Batteries are around £12, cartomisers around 50p, and e-juice costs around 50p for each refill. The total cost is about 10% the cost of smoking analogues.
9. Where did you buy it? Online.
10. Why are there different colours/a blue light/a red light? Style, i.e., no reason.
11. Does it come in different flavours? Yes, you can get.make e-juice in pretty much any flavour that can be concocted with normal flavouring additives, and there are many companies dedicated to doing so. Some flavours are purported to resemble tobacco, but my favourites are vanilla and a juice that tastes a little like cinnamon.
12. Are you planning to stop smoking the electronic cigarette as well? Yes, hopefully in the next few months. [editor's note - this has definitely not happened]
13. Can you use it anywhere? Pretty much. Some airlines don’t like it, but it is easy to cope on the d-lo even there because the smell is not noticeable. In bars, clubs and restaurants some staff have a problem with it, but usually they leave me alone after an explanation.
14. Don’t you end up smoking more? Yes, I have roughly doubled the amount of nicotine I consume daily.
15. What is that silver case you have for it? A silver case I have for it.
16. Why did you give me this FAQ? Because almost everyone asks exactly the same questions every time I go anywhere or meet anyone, and having to give an impromptu press-conference multiple times a day is tiring and deeply boring.
17. Are you a bit of a ****? Yes.
Last week, I was having dinner with some friends in a pub not far from my house. One of these friends is a smoker of electronic cigarettes. Even though I’ve seen him smoke his electronic cigarette dozens of times, and asked all the usual questions about how the thing works, every time I see this strange little device puffing away, I feel as curious as the first time I saw it. At the table, I asked again what exactly it was in the device that allowed it to emit smoke. His lovely girlfriend said that he’d actually made a printed copy of FAQs to give to people who confronted him in bars with precisely the same stupid questions (especially, the rather forward perfect strangers who asked rather confrontational stupid questions). When I asked the friend whether this was really true, he pulled a folded-up piece of A5 paper from his pocket and handed it over.
Here then, for your amusement, are the 17 FAQs of an electronic-cigarette smoker.
Stick with it until the end.
1. What is that? An electronic cigarette.
2. Does it work? It delivers nicotine and an experience very close to smoking analogue cigarettes, so yes, it does work.
3. How does it work? The device comprises a battery (the main body) and a cartomiser (the part that resembles a filter). The battery supplies power to a small heating element in the cartomiser, vaporising the e-juice that is soaked into a fluffy material inside the cartomiser.
4. What is in it/how does it make smoke? Vaporised e-juice. E-juice contains water, nicotine, propylene glycol and/or glycerine and propylene, and a few flavourings. It is also available without any nicotine. Some of these chemicals are the same as those used in smoke machines.
5. Is it safe? There has been little research so far, but the smoke-producing chemicals in e-juice are also used in asthma inhalers and similar oral drug delivery devices. Nicotine itself is a poison, and taken in small quantities like this it tends to promote atherosclerosis and therefore has been linked to heart disease and high blood pressure. However, e-cigarettes do not contain tar or the other 2,000 or so chemicals in tobacco smoke that are thought to be responsible for nearly all of health problems associated with smoking, including lung cancer. As a very rough guide, e-cigarettes can be considered 99% safer than analogue cigarettes. It is possible to overdose on nicotine using electronic cigarettes, but it is also possible to do that smoking Marlboro Reds, which was my analogue cigarette of choice.
6. Have you stopped smoking? Yes, in September 2012.
7. How long does it last? A full cartomiser contains around the same amount of nicotine as a 20 pack of cigarettes, and a fully charged battery gives around 200 puffs, which again is about the same as a 20 deck.
8. How much does it cost? Batteries are around £12, cartomisers around 50p, and e-juice costs around 50p for each refill. The total cost is about 10% the cost of smoking analogues.
9. Where did you buy it? Online.
10. Why are there different colours/a blue light/a red light? Style, i.e., no reason.
11. Does it come in different flavours? Yes, you can get.make e-juice in pretty much any flavour that can be concocted with normal flavouring additives, and there are many companies dedicated to doing so. Some flavours are purported to resemble tobacco, but my favourites are vanilla and a juice that tastes a little like cinnamon.
12. Are you planning to stop smoking the electronic cigarette as well? Yes, hopefully in the next few months. [editor's note - this has definitely not happened]
13. Can you use it anywhere? Pretty much. Some airlines don’t like it, but it is easy to cope on the d-lo even there because the smell is not noticeable. In bars, clubs and restaurants some staff have a problem with it, but usually they leave me alone after an explanation.
14. Don’t you end up smoking more? Yes, I have roughly doubled the amount of nicotine I consume daily.
15. What is that silver case you have for it? A silver case I have for it.
16. Why did you give me this FAQ? Because almost everyone asks exactly the same questions every time I go anywhere or meet anyone, and having to give an impromptu press-conference multiple times a day is tiring and deeply boring.
17. Are you a bit of a ****? Yes.
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