Frequently Asked Questions
What Do The Numbers Or % In Nicotine E Liquid (E.G. 0 Mg, 12 Mg, 18 Mg) Mean?
The numbers on the labels of e liquid with nicotine represents the concentration, or strength, of nicotine in the e-liquid. It is measured in milligrams of nicotine per millilitre of e-liquid (mg/ml) and often shortened to mg. The strength can also be expressed as a percentage of nicotine by mass, e.g. 12 mg/ml can be expressed as 1.2% nicotine. That means the bottle
A 10 ml bottle with a nicotine concentration of 12 mg/ml will therefore contain a total of 120 mg of nicotine (10 ml x 12 mg/ml). If one ml of e-liquid is equal to about 20 drops, then there is about 0.6 mg of nicotine in each drop (12 mg/ml ÷ 20 drops). So, if you load 10 drops of e-liquid in your e-cigarette, you should be consuming about 6 mg of nicotine (0.6 mg/drop x 10 drops) if you vape away those 10 drops.
Are E-Cigarettes Cheaper Than Tobacco Cigarettes?
E-Cigarettes can save you a whole lot of money. Savings range are typically 50%-90% of your current expenses in tobacco.
Starter-Kits: These kits will save you anywhere for 72%-81%. Prices typically start at $60. A half-pack per day smoker will save at least $1,400 per year in direct savings. This is great for smokers; few cigarettes to under a pack/day.
Cloud Makers: These kits save anywhere from 80%-90%. Prices start at $110. A 1-pack per day smoker smoker will save about $3,000, at least. This option works well for Shisha smokers, medium-to-heavy cigarette smokers and cigar smokers.
10ml Bottle typically equals 180 cigs or 8 packs!
What Are Other Benefits Of Vaping?
When a tobacco cigarette is burned, combustion takes place, which in itself damages your lungs and creates smoke, tar and other harmful elements
Vaping only heats the liquid without combustion and does not produce any of the 2000+ harmful chemicals of tobacco cigarettes
Toxic chemicals leach out of cigarette butts and present a Biohazard to fresh water, wildlife and our drinking water systems.
Cigarette butts (“filters”) are made of cellulose acetate tow, NOT COTTON, and they can take decades to degrade. They have been found in the stomachs of fish, birds, penguins, whales and other marine creatures that mistake them for food. They cause a threat to wildlife.
Cigarette butts and packaging are the most littered item in the world. Cigarette Butts comprise ~50% of all litters in North America alone (statisticbrain.com/littering-statistics). As of early 2013, there are roughly 5.5 trillion cigarettes being consumed globally per year. The governments spend billions of dollars around the world on collecting cigarette butts, but is only able to collect about 10% (0.55 trillion) of the total disposed by us. (cigwaste.org). So the other 90%, roughly 4.95 trillion filters (“butts”) are not disposed properly and are deposited somewhere in the environment worldwide. That's trillions of cigarettes flicked in our neighborhoods, beaches, nature trails, gardens, and other public places every single day.
Batteries and cartridges that are used in e-cigarettes are eco-friendly and recyclable.
What Is The Life Time For An Electronic Cigarette (Disposable & Rechargeable)?
Battery
The battery component has similar lifetime as your cell phone, which is about 380 recharges. For most people, that is 1-1.5 years. You can increase battery life and consistency in voltage output by following best practices for e cigarette battery (user manual). We suggest anyone who currently smokes more than Pack+ cigarettes a day, should keep an extra battery on hand.
Atomizer/ Coils for starter-kit
Most atomizers/ coils have enough life for about 1000-1800 puffs or an average of 3-6 weeks (~ 24 - 35 packs of cigarettes). After that, they should be recycled into a metal recycling bin.
What Are Some Of The Arguments Against Switching To E-Cigarettes?
The unreasonable debates are more result of their unfortunate nick name - "e cigarette" - where the 'cigarette' part attracts automatic negative reaction from people who have unfortunate associations with that word, and rightly so, as it is the single biggest preventable cause of death. However, they are simply personal electronic vaporizers, which are mainly being used by former cigarette smokers, and hence the popular nick name, e cigarettes. We see a diverse range of customers, including former shisha / hookah and cigar smokers using these products as well.
A reasonable debate revolves less around e-cigarettes, and more around Nicotine, which is addictive, much like caffeinated teas and coffees, and certainly less addictive than sugar. We certainly do not want to get new people on Nicotine (and we equally oppose caffeine addiction, and over use of both), but for those who need it, and find value in it, and do not over use it, it can be a very valuable alternative to smoking tobbacco cigarettes, hookah or combusting herb matter. Nicotine is found in black tea (caffeinated or decaf), potatoes, peppers and eggplants. It is very addictive and same family of harmfulness as caffeinated drinks.
Most people who oppose e-cigarettes, including many "experts" and regulatory agencies do not really understand the difference between nicotine and smoke, and are making remarks based on out of context stats, fear mongering mentality and calling something guilty without it being proven so. Many of them are simply ignorant, and do not want to do something different.
Regulatory agencies have a legitimate responsibility to help make sure that products that are consumable contain what they say they contain, are manufactured with safe ingredients in safe environments, and above all to make sure that they are safe to use. Whenever government regulatory agencies are confronted with a new product, they must first properly categorize it and then make sure it complies with the standards associated with each product category.
In the case of e-cigarettes, even though nicotine is widely available in many forms, most governments are only used to categorizing them in tobacco category or drug category, which are both not applicable in this case. Currently, there does not seem to be a concerted effort to block e-cigarette products in most countries (except in countries like Canada, where Health Canada has advisory against e cigarettes with nicotine). Most regulatory bodies are behind, while consumers (smokers) have embraced this product. [Note: E-Cigarettes are legal in Canada, and its just that Health Canada considers them a drug, and as such as not approved them. They are currently conducting a study in which both Dr. Gopal Bhatnagar and 180 Smoke have taken part in thorugh end of 2014.