So what is the big deal over electronic cigarettes? Why would any public health organization or quit smoking group be against a product that doesn’t produce smoke? Why would the FDA be so determined to undermine the electronic cigarette’s current success by misleading the public with false conclusions from it’s testing?

It all started when smoking was found to kill people. Then, the pharmaceutical companies found there was money to be made by selling smokers nicotine in hopes to get them off of smoking. These companies were required to get approval from the FDA to market their quit smoking products. Approval means huge sums of money paid to the FDA.

Many public health organizations and quit smoking groups get at least some of their money from pharmaceutical companies. Whether this was the driving factor or it was their hope of less people dieing from smoking, these crusaders against smoking got motivated. Not only did they recommend smokers quit smoking (often by using a pharmaceutical product) they demonized smokers. They did a good job. There is little tolerance in America today for a smoker.

Enter the electronic cigarette. This simple little device threatens to turn the tables of years of hate speech. It is much harder to hate an action of someone else if that actions hurts only the user…..or nobody at all. Some still will, but the ads against e-smoking won’t have the same impact as those against tobacco smoking.

Left unchecked, the electronic cigarette could put a dent in the tobacco market, a dent in the pharmaceutical nicotine market, and give pause to those who feel hate towards smokers. It is obvious the pharmaceutical companies, the tobacco companies, the public health organizations, and the FDA would rather avoid some, if not all, of these outcomes.

This is about a habit and it’s social acceptance. Certain groups want to maintain the status quo. We want a practical alternative to the issue of smoking, which will continue in one form or another for the foreseeable future.

Read a recent media report from the FDA about electronic cigarettes? Please also read: Dis-ingenuousness of the FDA’s Press Conference is Concerning; FDA and Anti-Smoking Groups are Committing Medical Malpractice on a Massive Scale by Dr. Michael Siegel, Professor at the Boston University School of Public Health.

Electronic Cigarette Set with US Made E-Liquid with: 2 x Batteries 2 x Atomizers 1 x USB / AC Battery Charger 1 x Carrying tin 1 x Travel pouch 1 x 15 ml bottle of American made E-Liquid (approximately 300 cigarettes worth) 5 x Empty cartridges

Electronic Cigarette Set with Imported E-Liquid with: 2 x Batteries 2 x Atomizers 1 x USB / AC Battery Charger 1 x Carrying tin 1 x Travel pouch 1 x 15 ml bottle of E-Liquid (approximately 300 cigarettes worth) – choose from Propylene Glycol (PG) or Vegetable Glycerin (VG) base 5 x Empty cartridges

Portable Electronic Cigarette Battery Pack with: 1 x Portable lithium ion battery 1 x Cord to charge the battery pack from your computer 1 x Cord to charge the iPhones and iPods *Note: A USB e-cigarette charger is need to make this portable battery a e-cigarette battery charger, but luckily a USB charger comes with each Instead Kit! *Charge it from your computer, then charge an E-Cigarette battery up to 18 times on the go!

There are many things about e-smoking that are similar to traditional smoking but let’s not forget that it still isn’t actually smoking. Some argue that it is still smoking because the action of smoking is still present and although this is a valid argument, there is still no combustion, just vaporization. Thus, the term “vaping” has been introduced by many e-smokers.

Let’s first look at the similarities.

As mentioned above, electronic cigarettes allow the user to inhale and exhale a smoke like substance. This is important and why many smokers find the electronic cigarette to be a suitable alternative to tobacco. You can see the vapor go in and see it come out. You can even blow “vapor rings”.

Many electronic cigarettes look like traditional tobacco cigarettes. This is not true of all models, but of most. This adds to the smoking sensation and helps many smokers feel more comfortable with the product.

Electronic cigarettes deliver nicotine…..well most do. While it is true that you can easily use an e-cigarette with no nicotine at all, most are sold with nicotine. By the way, here is a pdf of research done on nicotine by M.A. Bozarth,* C.M. Pudiak, & R. KuoLee. Addiction Research Unit, Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo. As a side note, although nicotine is addictive, it has never shown to be cancer causing.

Now the differences.

Electronic cigarettes use vaporization, not combustion. Burning causes a chemical reaction that can produce many known cancer causing agents including tar.

The e-cigarette can be used over and over again. The cartridges are refillable using e-liquid and the battery is rechargeable. This is quite the opposite of a tobacco cigarette which is used up then tossed.

Tobacco cigarettes contain tobacco….obviously. This is not the case with electronic cigarettes. The liquid that is vaporized contains a base of propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin, water, nicotine (optional), and flavoring. Further testing of the vapor is underway to determine other compounds in the liquid and in the vapor.

It is common knowledge that smoking tobacco cigarettes causes cancer and may eventually lead to death. To date and to our knowledge, no cases of e-smoking related cancer have been reported. To date there are zero cases of e-smoking related deaths. Although there are limited studies (right now), if you would like some users opinions, visit the electronic cigarette petition.

Contrary to what many health organizations advocate, smokers do have rights…..they just don’t have the right to harm others. They do have the right to choose an alternative to a product that is sanctioned by the government and known to kill. We encourage any legal age smoker who is thinking to trying an electronic cigarette to do their research, compare the products, and make an informed decision for themselves.

With many public health organizations and certain politicians making claims that electronic cigarettes are marketed to children, we decided to put together some numbers about the demographics of our customers. We do require all buyers to be of legal smoking age in order to purchase an electronic cigarette, but we wanted to answer the question if this product is more appealing to the young or the old.

Dealing with our customers on a regular basis has obviously given us some insight into the demographics of our e-cigarettes. Based on these interactions we are comfortable saying the majority of our customers are older smokers who have been smoking for a least 15 years. These seem to be the individuals who find the electronic cigarette a suitable smoking alternative after having tried to quit smoking with various methods over the years with no success.

But what do the number suggest? Although we are still working to put together the average age and the bell curve, we can easily pick out the mean age of our customers: 45 years old. That’s right, the mean year of birth for our customers is 1964. This was not surprising considering all the anecdotal evidence.

So who should use the electronic cigarette? That’s easy…..legal age smokers who have tried to quit smoking multiple times with no success. That’s it. Kids should not e-smoke. Non-smokers should not e-smoke. Pregnant women should not e-smoke. Anyone with any medical conditions should not e-smoke until they have talked to their doctors about it. Smoking, whether burning tobacco or the electronic cigarette, is an adult activity.

This is probably the coolest accessory that INSTEAD has to offer for your electronic smoking experience. Never be caught with a dead battery again and never have a pocket full of batteries on the go!

The portable electronic cigarette charger can charge your battery 18 times before the unit itself needs to be charged again.

This is the ultimate accessory for those on the go. Perfect when you are camping and cannot get to an electrical outlet.

For a limited time only, we are offering the portable electronic cigarette charger for $49.95. This unit will charge both the INSTEAD Electronic Cigarette and for those of you who have the previous model electronic cigarette we used to sell, it will charge yours too!

And don’t forget, you can use this portable USB charger to not only charge your e-cigs, but also your iPod, your iPhone, or any other device that is recharged vis USB!

The Instead Portable Electronic Cigarette Charger:

Electronic Cigarettes have now been on the worldwide market for about 6 years and in relative full force on the US market for about 2 years. Many companies are popping up to sell the electronic cigarette to the many smokers in the US. Even though we have our own brand, Instead Electronic Cigarettes, we believe that competition is good.

I mention this as an example of an emerging market in the US. In these times of financial fluctuation it would seem more important than ever to have new and innovative businesses. Before we discuss that, let’s first get this out of the way: The electronic cigarette has not been proven to be safe or an effective smoking cessation device. There was the e-cig study in New Zealand done by Murray Laugesen and some general manufacturers info here and there are currently at least 2 vapor tests being done in the US and to date there have not been any reported side effects from users, but nonetheless there is not enough evidence, according to the FDA, that the e-cigarette is safe or even safer than tobacco cigarettes. Now that we can all agree to move past the “is it safe” question, let’s look at the market.

The tobacco market is vast. For instance “the company [Phillip Morris] sold 235 billion cigarettes in the United States for a profit of $3.3 billion” (from Big Tobacco’s Global Expansion). With the new FDA Tobacco Bill, competition within this huge market may be limited.

In economic terms, the electronic cigarette would be considered a substitute. Some would argue it is a complimentary product to tobacco cigarettes because many smokers use both. However smokers don’t use them at the same time and one doesn’t make the other better. The e-cig is an obvious substitute for a tobacco cigarette.

A product that is an economic substitute to tobacco cigarettes, contains no tobacco, and is sold by small American businesses. Sounds like just what the doctor ordered? Not according to many at the FDA. They believe it should be a pharmaceutical quit smoking device. Why? I am sure the answer is more complicated than this, but the FDA is funded by the Pharmaceutical companies. “More than half of the FDA’s budget is now funded by the pharmaceutical and device companies it is supposed to regulate.” (from Healthcare Reform on About.com)

Why not just do the testing to prove that it is safe? Well, that is not what the FDA wants. They want clinical trials to prove that not only is the e-cig safe, but that is helps people quit smoking. First, I believe the electronic cigarette is too much like smoking to help people quit. Many smokers may move to only using their e-cig, but this is not what a quit smoking product is. For instance, nobody suggests that smokers should continue using nicotine gum for years and years. It is meant to ween smokers off of nicotine until they no longer use cigarettes or nicotine gum.

Second, the clinical trials they want cost millions of dollars and take years to complete. Not only does this mean that the product would be taken out of the hands of those who currently use it, but it would virtually eliminate any small US company from being in the market. Instead, it would be a profit center for large pharmaceutical companies.

Lastly, making electronic cigarettes only available in pharmacies would limit it’s market potential. Products in pharmacies are, for all intensive purposes, not subject to market influences. They have a monopoly. Nicotine gum is expensive. Not to make, not to ship, but to buy. The cost of paying the FDA for the right to sell it is so high that it limits who can sell them. Thus, using nicotine gum is more expensive then smoking. And of course, like any business would do, the pharmaceutical companies do everything they can to keep substitutes off the market. Can you image if someone came out with nicotine gum that was sold in gas stations for $2 a pack? The stuff sold in pharmacies would be sitting on the shelf for a long time.

So why is this bad? The electronic cigarette is the first product ever that has the potential to significantly cut into the tobacco market. Putting it into a pharmacy means a disadvantage. Raising the price of e-cigarettes and drastically limiting where they can be sold will mean less smokers will use it.

Reasonable regulation is necessary and will occur, one way or the other. But having a government agency place restrictions that are so tight and expensive they only allow large corporations to play in the market is just about as Un-American as it gets.

With the increasing publicity the electronic cigarette is receiving, many people are out there stating some misconceptions regarding the electronic cigarette. Today, we would like to address those common misconceptions, and hopefully, put an end to these wild tall tales.

1. “Electronic Cigarettes are being Sold to Kids” – While there may be some unscrupulous sellers out there who are not checking age, most suppliers are treating the sale of electronic cigarettes, just as they would a tobacco product. Many of the reputable companies selling electronic cigarettes were created by smokers who know how hard smoking is on the human body, how hard it is to get the habit out of the system once it has started, and just don’t think that the electronic cigarette is a product for children. INSTEAD has a very strict policy on who we feel are reasonable customers and if you have any questions regarding this, please feel free to read up on our Electronic Cigarette Smoker Qualifications.

2. “Candy Flavors are Marketed to Children Specifically” – Guess what? Adults like candy flavors too. Why else would they have had to add flavors like Fruit Chill to the nicotine gum? One could argue that this is a way to market nicotine to children, but we certainly don’t hear that coming from any anti-smoking campaigns.

This has always been an interesting debate because many discuss that flavors target market children specifically. They always seem to leap to this idea that only kids like flavor. While we currently do not stock any flavors but menthol and tobacco flavor, in the future if we ever did offer flavors, it would be because we market our product to adults, not to children. If adults didn’t like flavors, there wouldn’t be 12 current flavors of vodka available from one manufacturer.

3. “The Electronic Cigarette is Banned” – No. The electronic cigarette is not banned. What is happening right now is there are some hard core anti-smoking groups who honestly believe that the only philosophy available is the “Quit or Die Smoking” philosophy. In having this philosophy, they feel the only products that should be on the market are either tobacco cigarettes or FDA approved quit smoking devices.

They also feel that all nicotine products should be regulated by the FDA so that they can become harder and more expensive to obtain. Currently, there are two US suppliers of the electronic cigarette who have sued the FDA, noting that the electronic cigarette shipments that were stopped from importation into the United States were done so unjustly.

How could the FDA have done this? Well, the FDA has every right to stop any product that makes any specific health claims. For example, stating that the e-cig is a healthier way to smoke is a health claim. Also, stating that the e-cig will help you quit smoking is a promise of results which is also a claim. These types of marketing claims are in fact the jurisdiction of the FDA. INSTEAD has noted several times that we agree with this philosophy. However, several shipments were stopped against companies who weren’t making these claims and therefor, the FDA did not have the right to stop said shipments.

When the media and the anti-smoking groups heard that the electronic cigarette was taking the United States by storm, they decided to latch onto this idea that they are a banned product and it is illegal to import them. The philosophy was if we make people think they are illegal, then maybe they won’t buy them. Our argument is that if they were in fact banned, there would be mention on the FDA website somewhere of this and in fact, there is not. No official statement has been made by the FDA, other than they are looking at the electronic cigarette on a case by case basis.

4. “We Have No Idea What Is In the Electronic Cigarette”. All of our eliquid comes with proper labeling that identifies the ingredients. Every bottle we sell tells you exactly what is being offered. We only purchase from trusted manufacturers that we have spent years with. They have provided us with lab reports to include a list of ingredients. Currently, we are offering two types of eliquid: That manufactured here in the US and that manufactured overseas in China.

5. “These are made in China!” – Yes. The hardware is made in China. And currently, as we noted just above, we have two different types of liquid of which one, is manufactured right here in the United States. What we find extremely interesting is that many “American Made” products are actually manufactured in China and do no harm to consumers. Likewise, there are also many products made right here in the United States that do hurt consumers. We need not revisit the Peanut Butter fiasco that has occurred over the past several years. A problem that was well documented and completely ignored.

So what we all have to remember is that it isn’t countries that do bad things and it isn’t companies that do bad things. It is bad people doing bad things.

6. “The Electronic Cigarette will help you Quit Smoking” – This is an interesting one. While you may eventually exchange your tobacco cigarette or a whole pack of tobacco cigarettes for your electronic cigarette, are you really quitting smoking? The definition of smoking varies and in the past, has included the burning of something or the combustion, for our purposes we will stick to tobacco as the example as there are many things that are actually referred to as “smoking”. But definitions have changed over time to include more meaning and “smoking” may have included combustion in the past, but in the future, it should also include “vaporization”.

As many smokers know, smoking as a habit includes more than just the burning of the tobacco, it includes the hand to mouth, the inhalation, the exhalation. It is a process. Now, the FDA approved nicotine replacement therapies like the nicotine gum, the nicotine patch, even Chantix, those help you quit smoking as they do not include any of the other portion of the smoking activity. You are given the nicotine and that is it. The electronic cigarette on the other hand does only one thing: It removes the burning of the tobacco. You still receive nicotine (or not if you choose to go with the no-nicotine liquids). You still bring your hand to your mouth, over and over. You still take a drag to inhale and exhale. You are still participating heavily in the action of smoking.

Finally, those who find the electronic cigarette and go in with the mindset to quit smoking, will be greatly upset when they find out that they enjoy their electronic cigarette just like they enjoy their tobacco cigarettes. God forbid anything happens to your e-cig like you forget they are in your pocket and go jump into the lake with your friends. ESmokers find that they can easily go from tobacco cigarettes to electronic cigarettes and back to tobacco cigarettes. Now, most e-cigarette users we have talked with find that their tobacco cigarettes no longer taste good and they prefer their e-cig. However in a pinch, they will switch back. How in the world is that quitting? It simply isn’t.

7. “We Have No Idea What Is In the Vapor!” – Yes we do. And we know what isn’t in the vapor. We know that since there is no combustion, many of the toxins produced from combustion are not present. A recent study was done by Dr. Murray Laugesen of Health New Zealand on the vapor and his results were very positive. Considering that the base of the vapor is made up of what goes into a fog machine or these particularly interesting vapor toys, if “vaporization toys” can be sold safely to children, then they should be legal for sale to adults.

Now, many refuse to acknowledge that such testing has in fact been done. Why? Because it wasn’t done here in the United States. Furthermore, they are now arguing that these tests are not valid as they were funded by the manufacturers. Our question back would be who funded the testing for all of the FDA approved products? It certainly wasn’t some advocacy group who wanted to make sure that men with ED could continue to perform. It was the manufacturer.

So there are some common misconceptions regarding the electronic cigarette. Whether this is the product for you is up to you to decide. Most people love it and there are some who would rather stick with tobacco. But either way, no matter what you choose, you should have that right to choose.

If you are interested in further information regarding the electronic cigarette, please feel free to paroose our blog.

5) We have fabulous customer service. If you have any issues with your batteries, atomizers, or charger, just email us or call us at (321) 256-0486 and we will troubleshoot the problem and get you out replacement parts. Even if you are just not sure how everything works, contact us and we will help out.

4) The Instead Electronic Cigarette Kits are unique. We are e-smokers and know what is needed to have a great e-smoking experience. We include 2 batteries and 2 atomizers so you will always have what is needed to smoking your e-cig. Our kits also come with a water resistant storage tin and a velvet carrying pouch, not to mention small zip lock bags to store parts or cartridges that you fill up!

3) ELiquid! The Instead ELiquid is made in America. Each bottle is approximately equivalent to 300 tobacco cigarettes. The bottles are glass with a childproof cap, proper labeling, and a separate dropper. Each kit and each bottle we sell comes with 5 brand new empty cartridges. Curious about prefilled cartridges? We are e-smokers and are not big fans of prefilled cartridges. Read about why we no longer carry prefilled e-cigarette cartridges.

2) Instead works hard for the industry. We are very active on industry forums and with the ECA. We believe every smoker should have the freedom to choose an alternative to a known killer and will fight to that end. We also believe there needs to be standards in the industry and are working to make that a reality.

1) Experience! We have been using electronic cigarettes for about 2 years and selling them for almost as long. We know about the different styles and models and which are good and which are not so good. We know e-cigarette tricks and tips (many of which we share on this blog) to make your e-smoking experience satisfying. We know how to trouble shoot problems when they do arise. This experience is your assurance that we are up on the latest technology and that our e-cig sets contain some of the best products on the market.

Buy Instead Electronic Cigarettes

Our good friends at ecigarettedirect UK have teamed up with Tobacco Harm Reduction.org and would like for all ecig users to participate in an electronic cigarette online survey.

About a 1/4 of the way down the page, you will be able to enter your email address. Once you have done this, you will be emailed a unique ID link to participate in the study.

PLEASE! Help out in this great survey by taking it!

Analysis will be done by scientists at the University of Alberta School of Public Health in Alberta, and shared with all other interested parties.

PS. It is painless. Takes less than 8 minutes when you get your link.