Something for the Smokers…

We all have our little vices which give us a degree of satisfaction and pleasure in our day-to-day lives. Mine, as previously discussed in this blog is a really good cup of coffee. For me this is merely an essential way to start the day. Many of you however they also enjoy a good smoke with your morning cup of Joe.

Before I continue however, I really should qualify this post by saying "I am not a smoker". Okay. Now that's out of the way, I can get on with the story…

On a recent visit down to the ALS clinic at the Montréal Nero, I got involved in the discussion with the occupational therapist there and she was telling me about an older woman who'd really enjoy being able to continue smoking but was having significant difficulty in holding the cigarette. This conversation reminded me of something some of my friends had tried, which is the E–cigarette. Also known as an electric cigarette.

I personally can't vouch for the taste, but I know my friends who tried it quite enjoyed them and they found them to be very practical. So after telling the occupational therapist about that E–cigarettes, I decided to look into them. The following is copied from the e-mail I sent to my occupational therapist on the matter.


These might be very interesting for people who wish to continue smoking with motor disabilities for a couple reasons. 

• you don't have to light them. They are battery-operated and rechargeable. I even saw some that operate without a switch, the "tobacco flavor" is activated when you inhale.
• They burn cold and this is a big deal because if the user happens to drop them, they cannot set themselves on fire
• They appeared to be much cheaper than regular cigarettes. One drop of flavoring is good for about 250 cigarettes and it costs about $10-$12
• electric cigarette is reusable, so the initial purchase might seem a little bit expensive. But you make up for it over time.
• This seems to be huge number of flavors to choose from as well.
• There is no secondhand smoke. Electric cigarettes simulates embers on the end (glows Orange with an LED) and even provides a smoke effect when you exhale which is just water vapor.
• For people who have motor disabilities holding a small items such as this, because it does not burn hot you can put all sorts of foam expansion rings onto it to make it easy told on two… Like the ones I have on my shaving razor and tooth brush ;-)

a YouTube video with David Letterman and a "smoking demonstration" 

There's a very large number of Canadian E-smoking sites selling these. Here's an example of one
http://esmokercanada.com/e-cigarette-starter-kits. I must admit, given the costs and benefits over regular cigarettes I'm almost tempted to try one myself. I'll let you know if I do, but in the meantime if you do please post a comment and let me know how you like them. I'd be very curious to know.

You can also read about them on the wiki here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_cigarette