e-Cigarettes for safe smoking

Smokeless cigarettes are creating a rage in London. A British pub, Chinawhite in Soho, is trying out Britain's first e-cig, which incidentally is a China-made device that fakes smoking. The six-inch white plastic stick uses a battery-powered atomizer to create realistic puffs of smoke, while the tip glows red with each suck. And that isn’t all. The smoker gets a strong kick of nicotine from a nico-filter cartridge. The filter will provide enough nicotine for about 350 puffs, equivalent to about 30 cigarettes, said a report.

Manufactured by the Golden Dragon Group, a Chinese company, a £50 starter pack includes the cigarette, one filter and a recharger for the battery. Replacement packs of six filters cost £10 each, the report said.

Said to have no side effects as there is no smoke or tar, the device is being tried out by the London pub to see if its members are really positive about the whole experiment.

People who tried it once are in fact asking for a second round, said the report. As one of the clients pointed out, it is elegant and easy to hold and it doesn't make the smoker’s hands smell like a cigarette does.

While some certify that the e-Cig tastes like apple tobacco, some expressed reluctance saying that the device was a bit too feminine for a man to use.

Though the price tag might be a put off, the feel of nicotine and the zero side effects are sure to make the e-Cig a success, feel many.

Explaining how the device works, experts said that it delivers a dose of nicotine equivalent to a strong nicotine patch. However, the device has been criticized in China for containing 18mg of nicotine compared with 1.2mg for a typical cigarette. However, the makers write the ridicule off saying that it would take much longer to get through one filter than a cigarette.