Smokeless cigarettes are an innovative alternative to tobacco that rely on electronically powered vapor instead of harmful smoke to deliver nicotine to the user.
The question remains, are these electronic cigarettes actually as harmless as the companies behind them claim?
One of our readers, Merideth, is considering using this technology to socially smoke amongst friends, but wants to know if they are safe. To get the facts, she wrote FitPerez Smoking Counsellor Craig Nabat for advice, asking:
Dear Craig,
I quit smoking completely four years ago. Prior to that, I weaned myself from being a full fledged smoker to only smoking in social situations after I had a drink or two. Smoking socially is an urge I still fight to this day. Recently, I have seen friends of mine who still smoke socially with “smokeless” cigarettes. I run, swim, and visit the gym at least 5 days a week and do not want to lose my lung power. Could you explain how smokeless cigarettes work and the side effects on both the lungs and body?
According to the expert:
Hello Merideth,
The smokeless cigarettes do not contain the 4,000+ toxic substances that are found in a real cigarette. These products are much safer than tobacco, and there is no publish data I’m aware of showing the vapor harms your lungs. I am personally not a big fan of these smoking cessation products, because behaviorally they are too closely similar to the act of smoking. They may in fact cause you to miss smoking a real cigarette. If you make the choice to use smokeless cigarettes never purchase a brand that has refillable nicotine cartridges this will only prolong your nicotine addiction.
Nine out of ten former addicted smokers will resume to their same level of smoking if not more when they pick up again. The best decision is to not smoke socially at all. Bare in mind smoking is no longer the norm in our society. 3 out of 4 people don’t smoke.
For more tips to quit smoking, feel free to tweet Craig questions @freedomlaser or write to tips@fitperez.com!