Toronto, ON -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/02/2014 -- Even in these days of strict indoor clean air laws, you can still legally puff away in movie theaters, restaurants or even on a plane. You just have to use a cigarette that runs on a battery, not tobacco.

Electronic cigarettes — battery-powered devices that deliver a fine spray of nicotine without any flame or smoke — have been sold in this country for about three years now. Some people use them as a way to quit smoking real cigarettes. Unlike gum or patches, the devices mimic the sensation of smoking while providing the nicotine rush. Other people use them to get their cigarette fix in places where smoking is not allowed.

The Food and Drug Administration hasn't approved electronic cigarettes as an aid to quit smoking or for anything else. The agency has tried to stop the products from entering the country, but its authority over e-cigarettes is still being hashed out in courts. Meanwhile, the gadgets have developed a devoted fan base. On message boards and blogs, e-cigarette users have loudly and clearly proclaimed their allegiance to the devices.

E-cigarettes — sold without age restrictions online, in some bars and clubs, and at the occasional mall kiosk — come with replaceable cartridges containing various levels of nicotine. The regular cartridges for NPRO cigarettes from NJOY, for example, contain 18 milligrams of nicotine, but you can also get a light version with 12 mg., an ultralight version with 6 mg. and even a nicotine-free version. The company says that, for a typical smoker, each cartridge would last about as long as a pack or pack-and-a-half of cigarettes. For comparison, a smoker would get about 20 mg. of nicotine from a single pack of regular cigarettes. Each cartridge also contains water and propylene glycol, a chemical that helps disperse the nicotine. (Propylene glycol also is a key component of fog made by fog machines, should you be curious.)

The cartridges come with a variety of flavors. Users of the No. 7 cigarette from SS Choice, for example, can choose from tobacco, menthol, blueberry, vanilla and other options — as well as a range of colors. The Hydro Imperial from Crown7 comes in white and black.

A starter pack of NPRO cigarettes containing 10 cartridges costs about $80. A starter pack of No. 7 cigarettes with five cartridges containing 16 mg. of nicotine each costs about $70. A starter pack of Hydro Imperial containing two cartridges with 18 mg. of nicotine each costs a little less than $40. All brands offer replacement cartridges of various strengths and flavors.

Claims: The FDA does not allow e-cigarette companies to market the devices as aids to quit smoking. But both Ron MacDonald, president of Crown7, and Jonas Joiner, marketing director of SS Choice, say they know of plenty of ex-smokers who used e-cigarettes to wean themselves off the real thing. (A spokesperson for NJOY declined to comment because the company is currently in litigation with the FDA.) Some users manage to give up nicotine completely, but others just switch from one source of nicotine to another, MacDonald says. "A lot of people continue to use our product instead of regular cigarettes, and they feel better," he says.

The NJOY website says that an e-cigarette provides "all the pleasure and sensation of smoking without all the health, social and economic problems." The SS Choice site says that its cigarette is more convenient and cost-effective than a regular cigarette and doesn't contain "the thousands of additives and chemicals" found in cigarettes. The Crown7 site says that its cigarettes are "the latest way to get a nicotine fix without most of the harmful effects associated with smoking."

Ecig Canada Zone TTE
Ecig Canada Zone, (http://www.ecigcanadazone.com), based in Toronto, ON, is a leading provider of Ecigs In Canada and distribution services for small to mid-sized businesses worldwide. Our online services focus on business making this place a better place.