E-Cigarettes Emerge as Better Alternative to Smoking
Finally, a place in New York City where people can smoke indoors. In fact, not only is smoking encouraged, but this particular establishment also hosts weekly events where patrons stop by after work for a quick chat over a cigarette or two. No, it’s not a cigar lounge, but close. Perhaps smoking is not quite the right word to describe the phenomenon that takes place in this trendy NYC lounge. In the midst of dim lighting, plush lounge seating, and the eclectic sounds of the in-house DJ, the atmosphere is just right to unveil New York’s latest trend: the electronic cigarette lounge.
The eCig lounge or, “Vapor Lounge” as one patron called it, is the brainchild of five young entrepreneurs from Brooklyn, NY. Born and raised in New York City, after graduating from our respective universities, we returned home and decided to start our own company, BloogLife. When I asked co-founder Tim Adams what his inspiration was behind creating the company, he said: “Growing up together, we always dreamed of partnering up in some capacity. After graduating in 2010, the constraints which we faced given the economic climate gave us the freedom to explore avenues that we may otherwise have sacrificed had we given in to social conventions.”
All five of us are former cigarette smokers, and we tried a particular eCig in an attempt to quit and instantly saw the market potential for the product. We approached a product development team and founded BloogLife – one of the most popular eCigs currently being sold in NYC.
Given the recent social trend that labels smokers as second-class citizens, and the well-known addictive nature of nicotine, the emergence of the eCig as a better alternative to smoking couldn’t come at a better time. As more and more literature exposes the dangers associated with smoking, the pressure is on for smokers to quit.
But what if there were an alternative to quitting, one that addressed the dynamic nature of cigarette addiction? Enter the eCig, a battery-powered mechanism that upon inhalation, the user ingests a vaporized form of a water-based solution infused with nicotine. The look and feel of the eCig so closely mimics the sensation of smoking that even the most seasoned smokers at the Vapor Lounge are dumbfounded with its effectiveness in reducing the craving for cigarettes. And best of all, the eCig gives users all the satisfaction associated with smoking while excluding all the negative elements. It leaves out the thousands of chemicals found in cigarettes, never leaves any odor, and never produces second-hand smoke.
As eCigs continue to establish a market presence in the tobacco industry, their ability to satisfy the behavioral and pharmacological aspects of cigarette addiction may soon force policymakers to consider endorsing them as effective smoking-cessation devices. But this is America, a country where the line between business and politics is perpetually blurred, so don’t hold your breath.
In the meantime, we at BloogLife and other advocates will continue fight the good fight against Goliath.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons