Sometimes the best way to light up sales has nothing to do with service, price or even the product.

That’s been the case for electronic cigarette distributors who have benefited from a federal judge’s ruling in January that barred the Food and Drug Administration from stopping shipment of the devices into the U.S. The agency seized shipments of the devices last year.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Richard L eon was the spark electronic cigarette distributor Liam Ben-David needed to add a Smoking Everywhere kiosk to the Mall of Victor Valley, manager Eddie Zemach said.

Leon’s ruling gave Ben-David the confidence to set up shop in the High Desert. He set up the kiosk at the mall two weeks ago. Along with his site in the Ontario Mills Mall, Zemach said the company has tapped into one of the best markets in California.

Statistics back their hunch.

San Bernardino County’s rate of adults who smoked daily was 15.6 percent in 2005 — more than 5 percent higher than the state average and almost double the rate in Los Angeles County.

“That’s why we came here,” Zemach said. “The smoking rates are higher here than they are in L.A.”

The Top 10 Things I Love About My Blu Cigs

As I’ve blogged, I got my Blu Cig Starter Pack a few weeks ago and since then I’ve been finding all kinds of things I love about them. I’m sure the benefits of e-cigs will continue to occur to me as I go on this journey of giving up traditional cigarettes to blu cigs, but here are the top 10 things about I love about my Blu Cigs.

1. The first benefit of e-cigarettes that I truly realized was smoking at my desk in my office. The day my Blu Cigs arrived, I loaded up a blu cig cartridge, and began puffing away, without losing my train of thought. This has seriously increased my focus and productivity. Before blu cigs, I’d get up about once an hour, go outside, and light up. Generally, it wasn’t a straight trip to and from my smoking area. As long as I was up, I might as well get a snack, another cup of coffee, chat with people…I was losing about 15-20 minutes an hour by taking a “quick smoke break.” Now I puff on my e-cig, and continue working away.

2. At night, I tend to pop in a DVD and watch a movie with my family, or watch some TV dramas we’ve Tivo’d. Again, once an hour, everyone would have to stop for me to head outside and feed my nicotine addiction. Being the only smoker, this practice generally results in groans and moans from my family. Can’t you just wait until the movie is over to go smoke? Now I pull out my blu cig and never have to hit that pause button. We’re all happier for it.

3. Smoking in bed. Yes, I’m a nicotine addict. I hate to admit it, but there are times after I’ve gone to bed, even in the middle of the night, when the craving for a cigarette hits me. I’m so addicted that I’m willing to get up from my cozy bed, tramp outside and light up a cigarette. If I don’t, I know that I’ll lay awake obsessing about it. Better to just get it out of the way. Then I come back smelling like an ashtray. Aside from the fact that I don’t smoke traditional cigarettes in the house, smoking in bed is a dangerous habit. There were times back in college when I’ve actually fallen asleep with a cigarette and burned holes in the bed. I’m luck that’s all that happened. Now I can safely fire up my blu cig, and return to my slumber without ever leaving the comfort of my bed.

4. No ashtrays. I HATE ashtrays. They are gross. I keep them outside, but every time I walk into my beautiful, peaceful backyard to smoke, I admire the landscape and then my gaze inevitably falls to the disgusting pile of cigarettes and ash in my ashtray. E-cigs produce no ash, and therefore there’s no need for an ashtray.

5. The smell. C’mon, even if you’re a smoker, you have to smell it. The smell of cigarettes didn’t bother me for years, but as I’ve gotten older, I seem to notice it more on myself…my hands, my clothes, my hair. I’d actually taken to keeping anti-bacterial gel by my ashtrays to immediately quash the smell. E-cigs don’t smell, so I don’t smell, I will save money on having my leather jackets dry cleaned, etc. Big benefit of e-cigs right there.

6. E-cigs are much cheaper! At about $6 a pack for traditional cigarettes these days, most people are desperate to quit or find another solution. Blu Cigs are about 75% cheaper than traditional cigarettes. At the rate I’m saving, I’ll have a monthly payment for a boat in no time, and still get to smoke!

7. Reduction in cigarettes. I won’t say that I’ve completely given up traditional cigarettes, but in just a few weeks I’ve reduced the amount of cigarettes I smoke by half, without any discomfort.

8. No pressure to smoke a full cigarette. As much as cigarettes cost these days, when I light up a traditional cigarette, I feel pressured to smoke the full cigarette, even if I just want a couple of puffs. With an e-cig, I can take my puffs and not waste anything else.

9. Long car drives. I have about a 75-minute commute to work, and I don’t smoke in my car (because of the smell.) I do, however, enjoy smoking in the car. I get restless, and smoking calms me down. Now I can have both, firing up my Blu Cig as I travel down the freeway. No muss, no fuss, no smell.

10. I just feel better. Logically, I know that smoking blu cigs reduces the amount of tar and carcinogens that I’m putting into my body. But I also feel better. I’m not as winded, I have more energy, and I just feel better. That’s the best benefit of blu cigs I’ve found so far.

Try Blu Cigs for yourself!

RALEIGH — As the government tightens regulations on tobacco and smoking, some people have found a new way to get their nicotine fix without smoke and ash: electronic cigarettes.

E-cigarettes, which deliver nicotine that users inhale along with a nearly odorless vapor-mist that mimics smoke, are practically unregulated and have not been rigorously tested in the United States. That doesn’t faze users such as David Moss.

Moss, 55, smoked traditional cigarettes for 40 years, but quit about six months ago after discovering a battery-operated version that provides the nicotine his body craves without the tar-filled smoke.

Moss, who lives in Durham and once smoked three packs a day, wasn’t bothered by the lack of studies on the e-cigarette.

“It’s unproven,” he said, “but I have no fear because I’m not smoking cigarettes.”

E-cigarettes are available online as well as in a number of gas stations and at least one mall in the Triangle.

Earlier this year the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began cracking down on the import of the devices, stopping shipments at the border. Most e-cigarettes are manufactured in China.

“Basically, we don’t have any data on these products,” said Karen Riley, an FDA spokeswoman.

E-cigarette starter kits can cost $100 or more. The cigarette, which is legal to possess, is often made of three pieces: a replaceable nicotine cartridge, an atomizer and a rechargeable battery. The cartridges come in a variety of flavors, including strawberry cheesecake, chocolate and tobacco, and nicotine-free versions are available. The atomizer, or heating element, warms when the user inhales and uses propylene glycol, a liquid used in theatrical smoke machines, to create the smokelike vapors.

The odor, nearly undetectable, is not immediately offensive to those nearby, the way cigarette smoke can be to nonsmokers.

Does FDA have a say?

President Barack Obama has said that he will soon sign legislation to give the FDA power to regulate tobacco. But that new law includes no guidance specific to electronic cigarettes.

North Carolina lawmakers recently passed their own smoking law — a ban on smoking in most bars and restaurants, starting next year.

N.C. Sen. William R. Purcell, who sponsored the legislation, said that he had not heard of e-cigarettes until last week. The law defines smoking in part as “any lighted tobacco product,” so Purcell thinks the new law, which takes effect Jan. 2, would not apply to e-cigarettes.

Former smokers such as Moss and his friend Wes Clark of Morrisville like the way e-cigarettes provide an experience akin to smoking a regular, or what they call an analog, cigarette. Nicotine gums and patches deliver the nicotine, but without the routine that comes with traditional smoking, said Clark, 37. After years of smoking, the behaviors that go with it, including stepping outside for a cigarette or watching the exhaled smoke, become a big part of the habit.

Unlike nicotine gums or patches, e-cigarettes have not undergone the clinical testing required for FDA approval. The agency thinks that e-cigarettes are a “drug-device combination product” and fall under its regulation, said Riley, the FDA spokeswoman.

One of the biggest American e-cigarette importers recently sued the FDA in an attempt to loosen the import restrictions.

For smokers only

Matt Salmon, a former Arizona congressman and current lobbyist who serves as president of the Electronic Cigarette Association, emphasized that his group specifically markets its product to committed smokers and only as an alternative to traditional smoking. Although some smokers say e-cigarettes have helped them quit smoking, the ECA does not claim its products can help people kick tobacco.

But “it’s clearly a product that doesn’t carry the known carcinogens that are in combustible tobacco,” Salmon said.

Jed Rose, director of the Duke Center for Nicotine and Smoking Cessation Research, said his lab has done some testing of e-cigarettes that focused on the way they deliver nicotine. E-cigarettes don’t deliver all the cancer-causing agents that tobacco cigarettes do, but it’s not clear exactly what they put in the user’s body.

When asked whether e-cigarettes were safer than tobacco-filled ones, Rose said the required studies have yet to be done: “That’s a tough question to answer without safety data.”

Moss and Clark met at a coffee shop last week with a couple of other e-cigarette fans to swap flavored nicotines and discuss their hobbies. Both men are concerned that e-cigs might eventually be taken off the market.

Moss said he used to spend more than $600 a month for cigarettes for himself and his wife. The e-cigarette habit costs only about $150. And because the vapor has almost no smell, he has smoked his e-cigarette in a movie theater as well as on an airplane.

If e-cigarettes are declared illegal, he said, “we’ll go underground like anything else.”

Article found at: http://www.thetimesnews.com/news/cigarettes-25890-smoke-nicotine.html

I came across this article today:

The Rise and Rise of Electric Cigarettes

One of the most controversial topics currently rumbling on and on is the future of electronic cigarettes. I don´t think it´s unreasonable to suggest that these ´smoking´ devices are polarising the population, or at least the part of the population that is aware of their existence.

The jostling arises because the electronic cigarette companies claim their product is much ´safer´ and ´healthier´ than a traditional cigarette, which if you take a moment to look through an e cigarette´s ingredients does appear to be the case. For a starter, there is no tobacco present, so immediately this sets itself apart from tobacco smoking.

Apparently during the burning of tobacco there are known to be 40 substances that are potentially cancerous and the distributers of electronic cigarettes claim that none of these are present in their product.

The passionate opposition to electronic cigarettes, at least to me, seems a little odd. I read recently that in the United Kingdom alone, one in five deaths during 2005 was smoking related!

Even if this statistic isn´t accurate, the major dangers of smoking tobacco cigarettes is commonly known, so when a product is launched that claims to be much safer and when common sense would say that if all these dangerous toxins have been removed, even if the electronic cigarette cannot be proved officially ´safe´, surely it does actually have to be ´safer´?

Of course these electronic cigarettes need to be tested and proved and of course it is only fair that they have to go through the same channels and procedures as any other new product but why it would receive such a hard ride when its potential (if proved) could change the face of the planet as we know it, is simply a mystery!

Try as I may, my cynical mind cannot help but think this mystery is a matter of money. Not just any old money either, but millions upon millions of it! The moment the headlines might read ´Electronic Cigarettes Declared Safe´, a mighty tornado is likely to rip through the offices of Mr Tobacco and friends, leaving a giant hole in their pockets!

Yes, it´s that BIG a deal! If electronic cigarettes are not safe or at least safer then let´s put them behind us quickly and start looking for the next thing that might be. Equally though, if e cigs do possess this world changing potential, then whoever is in charge, get your act together, get them tested, get them approved and market them vigorously like you once did with traditional cigarettes. Surely they deserve a chance?

Although I originally began writing about electronic cigarettes for professional reasons, I soon discovered that my personal interest would be great also. My father was a non smoker and died from passive smoking related, lung cancer. I became interested in the debate and its many complexities.

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/105550

I came across this article on electric cigarettes from a news station in Palm Springs. They actually took the e-cigs into a restaurant to see how patrons reacted to the smoke-like vapor coming out of the e-cig:

It looks like a fancy pen but it’s a smoker’s craving. It’s a battery-powered cigarette. No matches or lighter, instead just plug it in, charge and puff.

A small cartridge inside gives the smoker a hit of flavored nicotine. With each drag, the end lights up but doesn’t burn. Instead of smoke, an odorless water vapor is released.

“I feel a lot of nicotine,” says smoker Tony Leong upon trying out the device.

The high-tech device is designed to get around smoking bans. It’s tobacco-free and doesn’t cause secondhand smoke.

News Channel 3 put the battery-powered cigarette to the test, taking it inside a restaurant where smoking isn’t allowed. Most customers didn’t seem to mind.

“It didn’t affect me because I couldn’t smell anything,” says non-smoker Joe Appolito.

“It bothers me,” says restaurant customer Leslie Grenfell. “When I saw him, I thought ‘oh, my heavens! There is smoke coming in people’s faces.’”

See the rest of the article at http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=9389654&nav=menu191_2

KTAR, a local radio station here in Arizona, just posted an article about E-cigs.

Her’s an excerpt:

Have you seen people smoking what appear to be cigarettes in places where smoking is banned? There is an explanation.

In bars, restaurants — even in workplaces — electronic cigarettes are becoming more common.

“No smell on your hands, your fingers, your clothes, your hair, your breath, when you smoke in your car or in your house,” said Tom Novalsky, who manages Smokeless Vapor. “Mind you, when I do say ’smoke,’ it’s water vapor.”

The “e-cigs” run on batteries and use replaceable nicotine cartridges — no tobacco or cancer-causing agents, said Novalsky.

“We have a high nicotine and also a zero-nicotine cartridge.”

There’s no flame, either.

http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=1175770

In the article, the mention it will cost you $120 for the starter kit at this place in the mall. I’ve heard some horror stories about the e-cig kiosks. It seems they double the price of just about any starter kit. Your best bet is to definitely get them online for about $60.

From WebWire:

A hip new brand of electronic cigarettes have recently hit the market called Blu Cigs. There are many different types of e-cigarettes and each one brings something unique but none have created as much buzz and excitement as Blu Cigs.

A few of the reasons electronic cigarette smokers are so excited about Blu Cigs are:

- They can smoke Blu Cigs anywhere
- the blu pack they come with charges the cigarettes while you’re on the go.
- They contain absolutely NO tar, tobacco, ash, and produce no unpleasant smell.
- They look and feel just like a regular cigarette
- And most of all, they are 75% cheaper than traditional cigarettes.

To top it off they are the most affordable high quality electronic cigarettes at just $59.95 for the Blu Cigs Starter Pack which includes FREE shipping.

They’re cartridges are another huge advancement with the amount of vapor they produce and the delicious flavors you have to choose from. The vapor production is one of the most important factors of an e-cigarette feeling real because the thicker and more vapor they produce the more better it simulates a traditional cigarette drag.

For the Blu Cigs cartridges you have a variety to choose from when you place your order. You can have Classic Tobacco, Magnificent Menthol, Java Jolt, Vivid Vanilla , Cherry Crush or you can choose the variety pack which includes all 5 so you can find out which one you like best. They also each come in various nicotine levels ranging from high Full Flavores to Non nicotine.

When it comes to charging your electronic cigarette you have the option of a USB charger as well as a traditional wall charger but their best innovation is The exclusive blu packs that charge your e-cigs on the go! Simply charge your pack as needed and it will charge your batteries up to 6 times.

To Get Blu Cigs, Click Here.

E-Cig has these listed as the benefits from switching from regular cigarettes to e-cigarettes:

* E-Cigarette is the healthiest alternative smoking product you will ever get!
* E-Cigarette has no fire, no tar, no carbon monoxide, no ash, no stub.
*
E-Cigarette lets you enjoy and satisfy those tactile taste sensations without any risk on smoking and on tobacco.
* Actually, you can smoke E-Cigarette healthily without environmental pollution.
* E-Cigarette can help you to quit nicotine without giving up the smoking habits.