It’s a new year, a time for making changes and putting effort into keeping to them. Quitting smoking is now a traditional New Year’s Resolution, and no doubt many smokers have made this resolution again this year.
Hard as it is to stop smoking, doing so brings along many benefits, from improved health to a heavier wallet. What many smokers may not realise is that making the switch to electronic cigarettes will bring the same benefits, without the nasty headache that is nicotine withdrawal.
WHAT IS AN E-CIGARETTE?
E-cigarettes or ‘electronic cigarettes’ are a general terms for vape devices - these are handheld devices that heat e-liquid - a liquid mixture containing nicotine - into an aerosol, that is then inhaled by the user, delivering nicotine into the lungs like smoking does, but without most of the harmful chemicals made when you burn tobacco - like carbon monoxide.
E-cigarettes come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including the traditional cig-a-like that resembles a cigarette; or Vape Mods that are larger, more powerful units that often produce a cloud of vapour. The largest style vaping device is known as a ‘vape mod’ or ‘box mod’, and these are the most powerful, most customisable devices on the market.
REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD CONSIDER SWITCHING TO VAPING
Making the switch from tobacco products to vaping products is actually a simple choice - Public Health England’s latest evidence review concluded that e-cigarettes are "at least 95% less harmful than traditional cigarettes".
Cancer Research UK agrees with Public Health England as well, suggesting that smokers use E-Cigarettes to get off cigarettes as they are much less harmful.
There are plenty of articles on the web and in the newspapers spread myths about vaping with reference to EVALI - this is ‘e-cigarette or vaping associated lung injury’ and the condition is being used to demonise vaping in general. The Food and Drug Administration in the USA issued an update on vaping related illness, advising vapers to not add illicit substances or buy e-liquids off the street.
These instances of EVALI are occurring in areas with less regulation of vaping products, like the USA. Where regulation is strong, like Europe and the UK, instances of EVALI are much less frequent - the link between vaping and EVALI in the US appear to be linked to two substances - diacetyl and vitamin E acetate.
Diacetyl is a flavouring used in popcorn linked to a lung condition commonly known as ‘popcorn lung’, and vitamin E acetate is used to add THC (the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis) to vape liquids. Diacetyl is banned as a flavouring for e-liquids in Europe, and there are varying levels of toleration for THC in Europe - these reasons may explain why recorded instances of EVALI in Europe are almost non-existent.
At SMOKO E-Cigarettes, we follow all of the UK and EU TPD laws, we never use restricted chemicals like diacetyl or vitamin e acetate, all of our products are 3rd party tested to ensure their safety and are registered with the MHRA. So when you select an e-cigarette or vape, always ensure you are buying from a company who is approved by the MHRA.
WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR BODY WITH YOU START VAPING
Once you have made the switch from smoking to vaping:
- The vascular system begins to improve - eliminating the carbon monoxide found in cigarette smoke means your blood cells can transport more oxygen around, reducing the risk of heart disease.
- No tar in e-cigarettes also means the cilia that line the airways of the lungs carry on working to clear debris, leading to better lung function.
- Less risk to those around you - one study examined the background levels of toxins from machine generated e-cigarette aerosol and found the levels of toxins were much lower in e-cigarette aerosol, indicating a significantly smaller risk than secondhand smoke.
HOW MUCH DO E-CIGARETTES COST?
The cost of e-cigarettes is another benefit - they work out to be much cheaper than cigarettes!
The cost of using an e-cigarette varies between vaping devices. The simple cigalikes have only two parts - the refill and the battery - that need to be replaced. Vape pen and box mod style devices require keeping more spare parts, in addition to bottles of e-liquid and spare batteries.
The extra parts for the more complex devices include spare e-liquid tanks, spare coils and even the wicking material (this is what holds the e-liquid for the coil to heat). Remember extra time spent cleaning and maintaining your device are a time cost in addition to the financial cost of the spare parts.
A great place to start is with a cigalike device; it’s so simple to use, is closest in look and feel to a cigarette, and requires the least maintenance effort of all the devices on the market - that is, aside from disposable e-cigarettes - the most wasteful and environmentally unfriendly offering on the market. The ‘one use’ devices also work out to be relatively expensive for what they are - so avoid disposable e-cigarettes!
HOW MUCH DOES AN AVERAGE SMOKER IN THE UK SPEND ON CIGARETTES?
The average UK smoker gets through approximately ten cigarettes a day - with a packet of twenty cigs costing between £9.73 and £13.60 in the UK, a ten-cigs-a-day habit will set you back between £150 to £211 a month, which works out to be between £1,800 and £2,532 a year.
Even worse, for the heavier smokers getting through twenty cigarettes a day, this works out to cost between £300 and £422 a month, or between £3,600 and £5,064 per year. Making the switch can clearly make you a tidy saving!
REASONS WHY E-CIGARETTES ARE THE BETTER ALTERNATIVE FOR YOUR WALLET
In 2021, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, increased the tax on cigarettes in the UK: the cheapest pack of twenty cigs went up by 63p, the most expensive pack of twenty increased by 88p.
One of the justifications for this was to discourage smoking - this implies that more increases are likely to be imposed again to discourage smoking in the future, leading smokers to spend even more than they currently do.
In 2020, the price of cigarettes increased twice, so a single yearly increase may be wishful thinking on the part of smokers! The cost of e-cigarettes will vary between brands and devices, but you will save money compared to smoking, in every situation.
A good example might be that in order to spend as much on e-cigarette refills as someone with a 20 cigs-a-day habit. If you spend £12 a day on cigarettes, you could expect to spend less than £2 a day - that's a whopping £10 savings a day!
Thinking about the future, making the switch to vaping could save you money in terms of your health, too. From needing special transport and needing specialised care, smoking can cause a litany of health conditions that could limit your quality of life and increase your cost of living.
TOP REASONS WHY E-CIGARETTES ARE BETTER FOR YOUR WALLET THAN CIGARETTES CONCLUSION
Recent research suggests that the use of electronic cigarettes as a form of smoking cessation could be up to twice as effective as other forms of nicotine replacement therapy, when accompanied by behavioural support.
So: not only is vaping less harmful to your health, but e-cigarettes could provide a route for many smokers to give up smoking in a less stressful way - and save a substantial amount of money while they do!
If you are a smoker and want to make this change for the health and financial benefits, SMOKO has a great E-cigarette starter kit deal that will get you started on the journey to a healthier, wealthier YOU!
