Up in smoke

Wednesday I finally picked up my electronic cigarette kit from Smokeless Smoking in Bloomington. They are on my CityPages route so for the past three weeks I have been telling them that I would be making a purchase once I got some money. That time has come.

I love it. It’s a much better system for me than the Blu eCig system I had been using. The new system has been keeping me vaping pretty constantly. My goal is to keep myself so hopped up on nicotine that I can’t even imagine lighting a cigarette. For the most part this has worked.

I did have one cigarette Wednesday night but that’s just me being incorrigible. I don’t like being told what to do – even if it’s by me. My morning cigarette with coffee and after diner smoke are still tripping me up but that should be pretty easy to manage. Considering that I spent my entire months tobacco budget on an e-cig system, eventually smoking tobacco won’t even be an option. I’m not trying to eliminate my addiction to nicotine, just reduce the harm that addiction is causing me.

That is key is having an alternative that I actually prefer. I try to be as healthy as possible but if I don’t enjoy what it takes to get healthy, I’m not going to do it. Electronic smoking is a superior experience to tobacco smoking in many ways. I like that you can do it constantly and everywhere. Cigarette smoking is an event. I roll a cigarette, go outside and smoke it – then it’s done. The e-cig I can keep with me all the time, have a couple puffs, put it down, go back to what I’m doing and then when I want another puff it’s right there. It’s still just as addictive but it’s a much less disruptive addiction. Sometimes, disruptions are good, even necessary, but you don’t want to develop an addiction to one.

Other benefits are that they don’t smell, they can’t burn anything, and there is no ash or cigarette butt to deal with. There is no mess and you don’t even need a lighter. As a nicotine delivery device, e-cigs are much more efficient. I actually get a buzz off of it but I expect that will diminish with continued use.

I will miss the ritualistic act of rolling a cigarette but e-cigs have rituals of their own. There is also all sorts of paraphernalia and addicts do love there paraphernalia.  The fact that it looks like smoking and kind of freaks people out I also conciser a benefit.

The biggest downside is that you have to keep the batteries charged but in the age of smart phones, that doesn’t seem like such a big deal. Also, I still find the nicotine solution tastes rather synthetic compared to my 100% organic tobacco from American Spirit. However, I do have some nicotine solution from Vermillion River that I really love. As long as I can keep myself stocked in that, I’ll be happy. I guess that is the other disadvantage to e-cigs; they are still not as ubiquitous as tobacco cigarettes. If anything brakes or you run out of fluid, you’re screwed.