4 Your Health: E-Cigarettes
MILWAUKEE - Want to kick the habit, but afraid of withdrawal? Now there's a new alternative to smoking: E-Cigarettes.
After 17 years of smoking a pack of day, Tamara Johnson calls it her saving grace.
"No, I have not touched a single tobacco cigarette since I started doing this on April 17," Tamara exclaims.
Peg Steuber smoked nearly two packs a day for over 20 years. She says it has help her kick the habit for good.
"This is my Holy Grail. This is what I was looking for when I lit up in the 80's," she recalls.
Both Tamara and Peg say they no longer crave tobacco... thanks to electronic or 'E-Cigarettes.'
They're not alone. More smokers are discovering E-Cigarettes...buying them online, or at places like a kiosk in Southridge Mall. It's an electronic nicotine delivery system that delivers controlled levels of nicotine to the body.
The device is made up of three parts: A battery, an atomizer, and a cartridge. The atomizer just heats up the liquid, causes a water vapor and that's what comes out-- water vapor. The liquid is actually liquid nicotine that comes in different flavors like vanilla, chocolate, or Turkish delight. No tobacco smoke is involved.
Tamara and Peg say they feel the difference.
"I feel a lot healthier, I breathe a lot better, I exercise a lot better, I don't stink all the time, I don't smell up anything else," Tamara says.
"My sense of taste has come back. Things taste good again instead of just blech!" Peg adds.
But the E-Cigarette really isn't a smoking cessation device. It's actually marketed as a healthier alternative to smoking.
We spoke to Dr. Bruce Campbell at the Medical College at Froedtert. Campbell is a cancer specialist. He says if it can help you quit...go for it! "Any time we can get people to cut down on smoking, it's a good thing."
Dr. Campbell compared E-Cigarettes to a prescription smoking cessation device. He says the problem with E-Cigarettes is that its makers have avoided regulation by the Federal Trade Commission, and the Food and Drug Administration...possibly because of the cost and paperwork involved.
"So as a result, what's in the cigarettes is completely up to the manufacturer and there's no way for anyone to check and know the purity, the grade or even whether the product contains what it says it does," Dr. Campbell warns.
Tamara and Peg say they couldn't be happier to be tobacco free. They hope E-Cigarettes become more widely available, so other smokers can also break free.
"I have stopped smoking entirely. I have no desire to go back. I don't want to go back," Tamara says.
E-Cigarettes users do have to take into consideration that they're still using nicotine, an addictive drug that affects the nervous system.
Wisconsin-based 'Johnson Creek Smoke Juice' produces the liquid refill for cartridges.
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