(Photo: jphilipg/Flickr/CC-BY)

If you were to ask smokers why they smoke, you would find a variety of reasons and answers. Yet, there are many answers that would be similar. The reasons can be associated with the everyday normalcy of a person’s routine. Some of these include, but are not limited to, things such as stress, eating, drinking and socializing with friends.

Nicotine – a very addictive drug

Nicotine in tobacco can become very addictive to people without them person even noticing. Before they know it they are hooked. It is much easier to start the habit of smoking than it is to break it, and it takes extra willpower to conquer it. Besides the damage it can cause to your physical well being, it can put a huge dent in your finances. It could take short term loans online or a ThinkCash installment loan to cover the costs!

Quitting smoking can bring great benefits

There are many things to consider in terms of how quitting smoking can help in many facets of your life. First and most importantly is your health, as well as the damage it is causing to your overall welfare. At first you may not notice a difference, but in time you will find that even the simplest things like running as fast or long as you used to are much harder than they used to be. Your ability to enjoy the taste of food is also affected, as smoking negatively alters your taste buds. By kicking the habit, you will find significant improvements in your health, especially with respiratory problems like colds, bronchitis and asthma.

Smoking is an expensive habit

Another thing that can be a great motivator in your endeavor to quit smoking is the cost of cigarettes these days. Quitting smoking can save you hundreds of dollars a year, maybe even thousands depending on how many packs a day an individual consumes. Consider, too, the joy you can experience after overcoming something that has had a major control over you and finally come out the victor over this deadly habit. The self-confidence you experience will be worth every single obstacle you face during the process of quitting smoking.

The FDA has told e-cigarette companies to stop claiming their products help smokers quit and stop making them with poisonous chemicals. Image: CC Ed Yourdon/Flickr

Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigs, have been called the future of smoking. The Food and Drug Administration wants to show a group of electronic cigarette companies what that entails. The FDA has issued a warning to five electronic cigarette companies for making unproven claims that e-cigs will help people quit smoking. Some of the e-cigarette companies were singled out for unsafe manufacturing processes and adulterated products. One electronic cigarette manufacturer was called out for products containing drugs for erectile dysfunction and weight loss. According to the agency, these electronic cigarette companies are violating federal law until their products undergo clinical trials for FDA approval as drug delivery devices.

FDA says e-cigs don’t help smokers quit

Five electronic cigarette companies found nasty letters from the FDA in their mailboxes Thursday. WebMD reports that the letters warned the e-cig firms that their products violate drug safety laws. The FDA has given them 15 working days to revise “practices which violate various provisions of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.” The FDA said all five companies falsely claim their e-cigs help people quit smoking. In a separate letter to the Electronic Cigarette Association, the FDA said e-cigs are legally defined as drug delivery devices and need agency approval to be sold. WebMD said that to get FDA approval, e-cig firms need to conduct lengthy and expensive clinical trials to collect data proving the products are safe. The companies that received FDA warning letters are:

1. Cixi E-Cig Technology Inc. Ltd., Las Vegas, Nev.
2. E-Cigarette Direct LLC, Parker, Colo.
3. Gamucci America/Smokey Bayou Inc., Jacksonville, Fla.
4. Johnson Creek Enterprises LLC, Johnson Creek, Wis.
5. Ruyan America Inc., Minneapolis, Minn.

Inhaling antifreeze from e-cigs

The FDA has done testing of its own on electronic cigarettes. Med Page Today reports that in June the agency  published results of lab tests showing e-cigarettes contain carcinogens including nitrosamines and diethylene glycol, a poisonous ingredient in antifreeze. Unlike tobacco cigarettes and FDA-approved nicotine patches and gum, e-cigs have no health warnings on the packaging. The FDA said no e-cigarette company has yet submitted an application to the agency for evaluation or approval.

E-cigs hook a huge following

Electronic cigarettes emerged globally in 2002 and were touted as a safe alternative to tobacco cigarettes. USA Today reports that e-cigs made their first splash in the U.S. in late 2006. Last year the FDA directed customs officials to block entry of imported e-cigs into the country. A federal judge ruled that the FDA overreached by stopping the shipments. The FDA appealed and won a stay of that ruling, pending litigation scheduled for later this month. Meanwhile, the e-cig industry has grown to millions of users worldwide. The industry estimates that another 20,000 to 30,000 people start inhaling their vapors every week.