By Nick Melillo

What do we know about electronic cigarettes? Well, the plain truth is that we do not know all that much quite yet because E-cigs are a relatively new alternative to analog smoking. That being said, I had smoked analog cigarettes consistently for about two years before making the switch to E-cigs, so I can provide some anecdotal evidence, which should obviously be taken with a grain of salt.

For starters, I’ll give my take on the noticeable physical differences between analog cigarettes and E-cigs. For those who have never smoked cigarettes, lungs change as a result of smoking; we’ve known this for decades, but non-smokers have never actually felt the effects of long-term smoking.

The summarized effects of smoking can be described as this: you generally feel worse than you did before you started smoking, but the addiction outweighs the negative effects as far as your brain is concerned. To elaborate, my lungs felt more closed off as a result of my smoking. What I mean by that is that I would become out of breath as a result of something simple like climbing a flight of stairs or taking a light jog down the road. To dispel any suspicions, I am not exactly very athletic, but I am by no means overweight; I’m about 5’ 9” at about 168 lbs., so I am relatively average. Within a week of switching to E-cigs, my lungs opened up noticeably; I was able to do more than climb a flight of stairs before feeling out of breath.

On the subject of breath, one of the most noteworthy differences that comes with switching from analog cigarettes to E-cigs is the smell. It’s almost objectively inarguable that cigarettes smell bad. In the 1950’s, cigarettes were sexy, but any 21st century smoker is well-aware that they smell bad. One of the most obvious benefits of vaping is the overwhelming change in the smell of breath, clothes and car.

Now, we’ve gone through a couple of reasons to consider switching over, but cost is most definitely a huge selling point for E-cigs. Depending on where you live, a pack of cigarettes can cost over $10 a pack, though the average price is around $5 a pack. It’s a no-brainer that cigarette cost can seriously dig into one’s pocket; E-cigs can easily help alleviate some of that financial strain. Though the start-up cost for a simple E-cig starter kit may seem steep at first, the average $60 cost has much more longevity than its worth in analog cigarettes.

Again, the intention of this article is simply food-for-thought for cigarette smokers that want an alternative to traditional cigarettes. We may not know the long term health benefits and deficits of vaping, but anyone that has already switched over can tell you the differences that they’ve experienced physically, socially and financially.