Need help picking a good E-cigarette that will get people talking.

May 28, 2009 7:29 AM

I need some advice about a first time e-cigarette buy. I really want to get my smoker friends all switched to electronic cigarettes over regular ones because they straight up stink and are grose. I used to smoke myself and quit just fine under the cold turkey method. But I don't mind buying one for myself smoking non nicotine content cartridges to kind of set up a sort of "Viral Marketing" campaign to my friends. I have been looking into stick style ecig's like the "M 401" and the "Janty Mini" I heard the Janty series have a cartridge that can hold a huge number of refill drops as well (although I don't recall the name of the carts or for what specific Ecig it works with). Any advice on this is appreciated. I would love to buy the Janty because you know where its coming from but if there are any other sources please let me know in the reply's.

Im not trying to get these people to quit I just want them to choose a healthier and better for your local environment (people nearby and friends and family) option.

We have a smoking ban here in Canada and yes i realize a better time of year to start this campaign would have been in the dept of winter when they don't want to dress up to go out for a smoke, but maybe more people will get into this and i can start hanging out with some of my old buddies again.

posted by Chamunks to health & fitness (11 answers total)

I think your intentions are good, but unless your friends are initiating the switchover themselves, trying to foist it on them isn't going work as well as you might hope.
posted by ripple at 8:00 AM on May 28, 2009

Any advice on this is appreciated.

My advice is, do not push this on people who have not decided themselves that they would like to quit. You will not have successful results here, and will alienate your friends.
posted by Meatbomb at 8:04 AM on May 28, 2009

Yep. Former smoker here. This would not have gone over well with me.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 8:17 AM on May 28, 2009

[removed the pitch from the end of this question - please make sure your AskMe questions do not, themselves, look like advertisements or money making schemes.]
posted by jessamyn at 8:22 AM on May 28, 2009

In a related question, is there any evidence to their superiority over traditional cigarettes? I realize processed tobacco has added filler, but couldn't I smoke American Spirits and avoid that?

The wikipedia article does not paint this is a positive light due to it's lack of information.
posted by teabag at 8:24 AM on May 28, 2009

Get the one you enjoy the most, because you will likely be stuck with them.
posted by Houstonian at 9:42 AM on May 28, 2009

Okay i should clarify I am only looking for advice on where to buy and what to buy.

I didnt realise I was inviting a lecture from people. If i had known people were going to get upset about somethig they were intentionally left uninformed about I wouldnt have asked the question in the first place.

My apologies about the money bit that was removed it wasnt in my intentions to scheme anything or anyone.
posted by Chamunks at 9:52 AM on May 28, 2009

A similar question was asked and answered here.

Also, you have Mefimail (or will in about 5 minutes).
posted by K.P. at 11:33 AM on May 28, 2009

If I wanted a healthier option, I wouldn't smoke. No offense, but I get kinda annoyed with the reformed smokers who think that because they quit, I should be ready to as well.

I've been smoking since I was fourteen. It stinks and empties my wallet. And you know what? I really, really enjoy it. I have cut back a lot (from about 25 cigs a day to about 5), I smoke outside, away from other people, and make sure my butts end up in the garbage. But I downright CHERISH my after work/sex/meal smokes. Sorry.

As for your question, I found this article, which you might want to take into consideration along with the above advice.
posted by futureisunwritten at 2:58 PM on May 28, 2009

teabag wrote: In a related question, is there any evidence to their superiority over traditional cigarettes? I realize processed tobacco has added filler, but couldn't I smoke American Spirits and avoid that?

There haven't been any long-term clinical trials of ecigs, or any studies of human users at all to my knowledge (although I have read that there are one or two getting off the ground now). The assertion that they are a healthier alternative is an educated guess based on a few fairly non-controversial ideas:

1) Nicotine by itself is not that bad for you. It's highly addictive, yes, strains your heart, constricts and contributes to clogging your vessels, and inhibits your muco-ciliary elevator (your lungs' self-cleaning process). But, as unhealthy lifestyle-choices and vices go, it's not high on the list of the worst. Except for a very few rare cancers, it's not believed to be a carcinogen.

2) Most of the bad effects from smoking tobacco come from other chemicals in the tobacco already, additives that are added in the growing and manufacturing process (particularly the radioactive pesticides that are sprayed and then inhaled into the lungs that stay there being radioactive for the rest of your life), and those that are created during the combustion process (eg carbon monoxide).

3) Ecigs use only nicotine, propylene glycol or glycerol to create the smoke, and common food flavorings.

So it's just an educated guess that inhaling nicotine plus a small handful of generally recognized as safe chemicals is better than the thousands (including a few dozen known carcinogens) that you get from smoking cigarettes.

It's entirely possible that inhaling lots of propylene glycol over the long-term will prove to be unhealthy, but this article in Time makes it seem unlikely. It might even be good for you.

Choosing American Spirit may help you escape many of the additives other companies use, and their 100% organic variety will eliminate the radioactive pesticides that stay in your lungs (and, according to C. E. Koop, probably cause most smoking-related lung cancer)), but the biggest problem still comes from the chemicals created by the smoking itself (inhaling something that has been burnt as opposed to vaporised). (previous AskMe about American Spirit)

(Nearly everyone here reports feeling healthier after switching to ecigs, but, y'know, confirmation bias and all that.)
posted by K.P. at 5:00 PM on May 28, 2009

Ok let me clarify here, I'm not trying to push anything. Im not a shill or a scammer. I just think that if i were to smoke these things some people might ask me questions about it, and I will gladly inform them about the ecigarettes.

I was hoping before my post got censored I could refer them to someone who would allow me to give them a special deal as almost a customer referral program more than earning a salary from selling these.

I am the last person on the planet who would impose my beliefs or desires upon other people.

You shouldn't get offended by this and if you do I'm sorry you feel this way.

To be honnest I enjoyed smoking when I had smoked. The only reason why I quit was because it became a huge hindrance to my physical fitness. I love being able to run to the bus stop thats 30 seconds run down the street and not feel like dieing. If someone would have lead me to find these a long time ago I know this sounds somewhat bad but I think that I would still be a "e-smoker" till today.
posted by Chamunks at 7:18 AM on May 29, 2009