Day 32: Electronic WHAT?

Well, my quit has passed the one month mark. Who the hell knew I would make it this long without causing bodily harm to my husband and co-workers? I'm not sure my colleagues would agree, but to me, lack of scratched out eyes and bruises is an impressive feat.

Becoming a non-smoker has caused me to notice the multitude of quit smoking aids out there. Never noticed them before now since I was staunchly in the 'Smokers Camp.'

For the record, I'm not discounting any method of quitting. To quit smoking, you should use what works for you.

Lately, I've seen ads for ridiculous devices known as electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes. I found a diagram of how it works (shown below) and marveled that something that supposed to help you quit should be so confusing! Seriously, I'd rather re-program my universal remote than try to use an e-cigarette to help me quit. I bet the instruction manual is longer the Bible. There's a battery and cartridges, cables and heating element - all of which have the making of an Christmas-Eve-toy-assembly nightmare!

You actually inhale nicotine via the cartridges, which come in various concentrations and provide as much nicotine as the various 'steps' of the patch (6 mg - 28 mg.) The e-cig batteries need to be charged (which you can do conveniently via USB cable,) and even the end of the contraption lights up to indicate that its functioning.

Rather than making your run to the corner store or newsstand, you would need to charge your cigarettes before leaving the house. What do you do if you run out of batteries? Spiral into a nicotine fit and wish you had quit using a more traditional method? And in some states, the use of an e-cig is subject to the same ban as real cigs. So even though the device allows you to inhale nicotine in vapor form, it's still nicotine and could be consumed by non-smokers in the same manner as second-hand smoke.

The patch is designed to be used as a gradual method of weaning you off nicotine. The e-cigarette seems to be an alternative method of getting nicotine in your system, not a quit assist. No one has been able to determine the effects of an e-cigarette on the body, so there's no way of knowing if its safer for the consumer. And who in their right mind would want to put something electronic in their mouth? Would you put a battery in your mouth for energy? I think not. So why put a battery operated cigarette in your mouth for nicotine?

Personally, I much prefer the use of the patch. No batteries, no cartridges, no cables. Just a freakin' sticker.