Healthier Cigarettes

As tobacco users continue to be pushed further to the edges of society or become more aware of the health consequences of their habits, the demand for alternative nicotine-delivery products will continue to grow. Products like electronic cigarettes from CigRed offer a close approximation of smoking and allow users to participate in the social aspect of smoking—things lacking from the traditional nicotine gums and patches.

Smoking has been banned at the workplace in California since 1998, and some cities have or are considering banning it in areas used by the public. I would be lying if I denied taking some pleasure in the looks I received standing inside Borders Books & Music while taking long drags off of what appears to be a common white and tan cigarette, replete with exhalations of "smoke" and a glowing red tip that lit up with each drag.

The aforementioned "smoke" is in fact flavored, vaporized nicotine, which carries no scent or dangerous carcinogens. There are 55 carcinogens in tobacco smoke that alter DNA and lead to cancer, and nicotine can cause problems in individuals with heart conditions or high blood pressure. None of these are present in the e-cig's vaporized nicotine.

I thoroughly enjoyed the five flavors I received in my starter kit. "Chocolate Love," "Apple Hookah," and "Mr. Menthol" were surprisingly good and spot-on as far as taste goes. The "Redboro tobacco" flavor wasn't bad, but didn't taste like a true cigarette; it was almost like a "clean" cigarette. My palette could very well be too damaged from real smoking, but I couldn't taste the blueberry in "Blueberry Skies." There are 10 flavors in varying strengths ranging from 16, 10, 8, and 0 milligrams of nicotine per cartridge. I had 16mg cartridges and overuse of the product gave me sensations I had experienced before when chewing my nicotine gum too fast (slight nausea and dizziness). However, these overdose effects were minimally annoying and dissipated as quickly as the vapor I breathed out. The flavor tips come in black or the tan of a traditional cigarette filter. Each flavor pack is listed at $4.95 and has five cartridges. The cartridges saw a lot of action from me, and seemed to last for a little longer than a day. This means the average smoker would eventually see a savings compared to buying $6 or $7 packs of real smokes.

The E-Cig is made up of three simple parts. There is a battery which powers an atomizer that in turn heats up and vaporizes flavored nicotine suspended in the end of the flavor cartridge.

The CigRed battery resembles the white part of a typical cigarette (comes in black as well), and can be juiced up in the charging pack or via USB. If the light on the tip flashes 10 times then you are smoking too much and effectively "burning out" the battery, and it will literally feel hot. It flashes twenty times if it needs a recharge, which will occur with just about every day of use. The CigRed Web site claims its E-Cig has "20 percent better battery life and 50 percent more juice than other brands," but this can't be verified because I have nothing to compare it to.

According to the CigRed Web site, the atomizers "are hand-made using copper, stainless steel, and ceramics." The heating element on the atomizer pierces the aluminum foil seal that covers the materials in the bottom of the flavor cartridge. This heating element submerges into the liquid flavor and nicotine, thus the atomizer requires occasional rinsing with water in order to avoid mixing flavors.

The charging pack resembles a pack of cigarettes both in shape and size. This pack is made of a hard plastic shell and contains foam inside. The foam has seven hollowed-out cylinders. Five of the cylinders are shallow for the small flavor cartridges, one deep cylinder is for a fully assembled auxiliary E-Cig, and one cylinder has a threaded post at its base to screw the battery into while charging.

Your E-Cig will come with a one-year warranty.

Getting the product to market was a bit of a struggle. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration considered banning e-cigs after conducting some tests deemed unreliable by other members of the scientific community. The results yielded by the FDA studies showed e-cig products to be equally as safe as other FDA approved smoking cessation products; yet the FDA attempted to portray e-cigs as delivering dangerous levels of toxins and carcinogens. A federal judge lifted the ban on products imported from China and told the FDA they had overstepped their regulatory power.

This technology is in its infancy but will most likely advance to the point where the vapor produced by an e-cig and the smoke from a real tobacco cigarette will become virtually indistinguishable to users.

CigRed does not claim the E-Cig is a smoking cessation aid; it simply claims to provide "smoke without the smoke." This is a safe alternative way to satisfy the nicotine joneses and allow you to smoke in places you otherwise wouldn't: work, school, or inside your house. If you are a dedicated smoker looking to improve your health, get rid of the smell, get your fix in more places without annoying others, or perhaps even quit then this is a worthy investment … and I'm not just blowing smoke.

Included in the CigRed starter kit:

1 CigRed CigPack- charges one battery "on-the-go," holds five flavor cartridges and one extra E-Cig

2 Batteries- come in solid black or white

2 Atomizers

5 Flavor Variety Pack- 25 cartridges in 10 flavors and varying strengths

1 USB Charger- will charge one battery through your computer

1 USB Cable- goes from a USB port to the CigRed CigPack

1 Wall Charger- standard 120V wall charger for CigRed CigPack

1 CigRed User Manual