The Rise of Electronic Cigarettes

Opera singer Fiona Harrison 'vapes' an electronic cigarette on stage

There's a growing trend for smokers looking for an alternative to tobacco-based cigarettes in the USA which I first noticed in Europe while on a Ryanair flight to France in October this year. I had never heard of electronic cigarettes before then.


On the no-frills flight, many experience the sales pitch for products including J20 drinks, cups of tea, bacon rolls, scratch-cards and toy versions of Ryanair aeroplanes.

But, this time, I was offered electronic cigarettes. They are the perfect solution for those who cannot hang on for when they disembark at their destination for a drag on a cigarette. Electronic cigarettes are a product which an increasing number of smokers are switching to for the very reason that they can be smoked, or 'vaped' in public places where traditional cigarettes are banned.

Companies like Green Smoke, SmartSmoker, and eSmoke all offer a variety of types of electronic cigarette in different flavours and styles to appeal to people who want something which looks like the tobacco-based cigarettes they already smoke, or a cigarette that looks more elegant.

These 'smokeless cigarettes' are made up of three components in general, namely a mouthpiece containing a cartridge containing a liquid which is heated and vapourised when the smoker inhales, a heater and a battery to power the heater. The electronic cigarettes batteries are rechargeable and you need to buy replacement cartridges.

A 'Starter Pack' with Green Smoke costs about £70 and provides the equivalent of 7.5 packs of traditional cigarettes. Refills costs about £9 with cartridge lasting for about 360 puffs or 1.5 packs of tobacco cigarettes. So, the economic benefit for e-cigarettes appears sound (You can get a 10% discount from Green Smoke too with this code at checkout - disc10-26880) .  

With the banishment of tobacco smokers onto the streets outside pubs in the UK, will we see the rise of the smokeless or e-cigarettes and an increase in smokers coming back into public places to smoke these new, 21st century cigarettes? Who knows, but they are likely t be something we notice more as smokers look to save money.