I’ve read alot of blogs and articles on smoking recently. In some ways, it helps me to focus on why I am giving the bloody things up and seeing other people go through the same pain is strangely comforting.

There is one thing that rubs me up the wrong way. And that is negative articles about e-cigarettes. Now I feel reasonably qualified to comment on them. I smoked between 20 and 30 cigarettes a day for nigh on three decades and have tried a variety of the e-cigarettes on the market. In essence, they are a nicotine delivery system that aims to imitate the activity of smoking a cigarette which ought to bring some relief to those packing in the weed.

I think they perform a reasonable function. I dislike the weight of some of them. And you have no indication of when you have smoked the equivalent of a cigarette so how do you know when to stub it out/put it away. Other than that, I have no issue with them.

I know there has been the odd occasion of people stacking multiple e-cigarette batteries together and blowing them up in their own faces, but let’s face it, there’s always some loony who wants to pimp his ride. They probably customise and fiddle with everything they shouldn’t in an effort to make it better/faster/bigger. Some people cannot be protected from themselves.

There are no properly researched reports that I can find that conclude that e-cigarettes contain significant amounts of any harmful chemicals other than nicotine.

I suspect the tobacco companies are real unhappy at this growth of e-cigarettes. Perhaps they missed a trick there. Call me a cynic, but given their track record of spreading confusion and doubt about the dangers of smoking, I cannot help but feel that those negative reports about e-cigarettes have the feel of a press release from the tobacco companies. Who funds these reports?