Because the bar's customers no longer had to go outside to smoke, and where they weren't drinking or socializing, the customers spent more time inside and spending money. Over the course of a few weeks the bar's profits grew and grew as more and more people smoked the electronic cigarettes indoors, without annoying anyone or causing any harm to their bodies.

The electronic cigarettes have become so successful that the bar has even applied to sell them in the bar itself, as it's noticed it's cigarette machine is no longer getting used. Clearly the bar's customers have wised up to the much cheaper, healthier and more convenient methods of smoking!

The most popular electronic cigarette used was the Electronic Cigarette Mini Kit, of which they have sold hundreds, converting lots of smokers into happy electronic cigarette smokers.

As an observer it is fascinating to see so much staunch opposition to a product that has the potential to rid the world of smoking related cancers! No its not yet been tested or approved by the world health organisations, no there is not yet a piece of paper that declares the electronic cigarette "safe" but surely something with this much promise should be being embraced by one and all and the powers that be should be frantically busy with the testing so the world at large can either welcome a hero or dismiss another false dawn. 

Meanwhile, Joe Public continues to flock towards the electronic cigarette like penguins to an iceberg. As awareness of the product grows, more and more people are willing and eager to give it a try. What does this show? Personally I think it proves just how desperate most smokers are to quit smoking.

I don't really think the fact that an electronic cigarette looks remarkably like a real cigarette has anything other than an initial "wow" factor. Ill health and a despondency with some of the other "quit smoking" products available, combined with a real urgency to stop smoking is lighting the way for these e cigs. 

Let's have another look at some of the claims made by the electronic cigarette companies:

Can be up to 80% cheaper than smoking real cigarettes 

No lighting, no burning, no tar and no real smoke (only vapour)

No cancerous substances (during the burning of tobacco there are approx. 40 cancerous substances) 

No need for ashtrays, no cigarette butts, no horrible smells and no air pollution (no CO2)

Due to the various strengths of the renewable cartridges, nicotine strength can be gradually lowered to ease nicotine addiction. 

There are more claimed benefits than those mentioned above but it's clear looking at some of these why the electronic cigarette is proving to be such an attractive proposition for smokers. Also the ways these items are packaged and distributed by some companies make it easy for non smokers to make purchases as gifts for smoking relatives and friends.

Ultimately until there is some official feedback and decisions made by the health organisations other then mere speculation, then it's very much a case of making personal decisions regarding the electronic cigarette but one thing is for sure we are going to hear a lot more about them yet.

Whilst the organisations distanced themselves from the electronic cigarette, the sales have continued to grow and with the UK smoking ban now entering its second winter, the thought of standing outside the pub or office in the freezing temperatures seems to be enticing smokers to try something different. 

Some pubs and bars are now even beginning to sell the electronic cigarette, realising they are becoming more popular, sensing a potential profit and that the punters are becoming more willing to try them, not simply as an alternative to a cigarette but as a genuine reason not to stand outside and freeze for a smoke.

During this time of credit crunch, many smokers who don't actually want to quit smoking altogether but are looking for something more affordable are also turning to the electronic cigarette. 

With a little shopping around, the prices for smoking the electronic cigarette are vastly less than their standard counterparts. One such electronic cigarette company provides a table to show the significance of the savings and it goes a little bit like this:

Approximate only 

• Electronic Cigarette: 10 a day for one year = £ 122

• Real Cigarettes: 10 a day for one year = £1004

That equals a savings of more than £800 per year 

• Electronic Cigarette: 40 a day for one year = £ 487

• Real Cigarettes: 40 a day for one year = £3529

That is an incredible saving of more than £3000 per year. 

With those figures in mind it is not difficult to see why the electronic cigarette is becoming a very attractive proposition.

There are apparently no carcinogens or toxins in an electronic cigarette, immediately making them a far healthier alternative. Nicotine and flavourings seem to be the only substances present in the device. 

In summary, with none of the dangers of real cigarettes present, a massive cost reduction over real cigarettes and social benefits too, (no dangers of passive smoking and no restrictions under the smoking bans) the electronic cigarette still provides a nicotine flavour, revealing a very genuine alternative and potential aid for those who wish to quit smoking.

As the winter's harsh realities sink in, at least there seems to be some hope on the horizon, not just for smokers but for their families and friends too. Perhaps if the electronic cigarette proves itself in the next few years we may be approaching a new era and a much less smoky, healthier one at that.

Asked recently to write about electronic cigarettes, I have to confess that I had never heard of such a thing. Some internet research later and I discovered that electronic cigarettes are very much a quickly growing concern. A Google search revealed there is no smoke without fire as almost six million results just for the phrase "electronic cigarette" were returned. 

In existence for about three years, the electronic cigarette is a unique device intended to allow smokers to continue smoking but with either none or vastly reduced health concerns. According to many electronic cigarette distributers they are also very helpful for quitting smoking altogether.

Now in a fourth generation, electronic cigarettes have become much more user friendly than earlier versions which perhaps were a little too large to encourage a mass market appeal. The "mini" is the most realistic e cigarette to date with its length of 100mm being the same as a conventional cigarette. 

An electronic cigarette contains a taste of tobacco but none of the harmful substances found in normal cigarettes allowing smokers cravings to be satisfied without inhaling the many dangerous toxins. Is it all smoke and mirrors? Or can this item really be the saviour it wants to be?

A battery, an atomiser and a renewable nicotine chamber allows the smoker to hold and smoke the electronic cigarette just as they would any other cigarette, even creating a "smoke" like vapour and glow at the end as they draw. The nicotine chamber proves very useful as cartridges are available in different strengths, permitting the user to reduce the amount of nicotine they intake until if they wish, can quit completely. 

At a time when money is tighter than ever, distributors of electronic cigarettes have estimated that a huge eighty per cent saving can be made compared to smoking normal cigarettes, as a typical nicotine cartridge lasts as long as fifteen to twenty normal cigarettes.

Appearing to be a much healthier alternative at least on the surface, dig a little deeper and more benefits seem reveal themselves. Smoking legally in public is one that particularly stands out. As there are no known harmful substances being emitted from the electronic cigarette it does not fall into the same legal trappings of normal cigarettes. Smokers could remain in their warm office, restaurant or pub and smoke their electronic cigarette. 

None smokers also will benefit, as their worries about passive smoking are rendered null and void by the electronic cigarette. A much more sociable environment then!

Upon reflection the electronic cigarette is a healthier, cheaper and environmentally friendly alternative to smoking and as the awareness and the market grows they have great potential to successfully replace the harmful cigarettes we have all come to know and many of us have come to dread and fear.

Many thanks for your e-mail. I can understand that many smokers will assume that ASH is "anti-smoker" but from where I sit, the opposite is true and the "Electronic - Cigarette" is a good illustration of that.

E-Cigarettes

First let me say that I agree that "electronic cigarettes" could take off in a big way and I am as pleased about that as you are. Nicotine is one of the least harmful components in tobacco but it is the one that gives most of the pleasure. Far from campaigning against this kind of product, we have been campaigning for some time for products that give smokers the rewards they seek from smoking without the harm they cause themselves and those around them.

Secondhand smoke

I don't know how you feel about the evidence on secondhand smoke but the scientific and medical consensus is that it is harmful. At the very least it causes asthma attacks in people with asthma (Asthma UK estimate that there are around 4 million adults with asthma in the country) but there is also good evidence that it has a role in cot deaths, in causing asthma in childhood and most recently, in triggering heart attacks in adults.  One of the great things about these new nicotine products is that they don't involve smoke.

Fire risk

We've been campaigning for the last couple of years on a simple design change to cigarettes that will make them go out if they are left unsmoked and so reduce fire risk somewhat. At the moment almost all cigarettes in the UK are manufactured in such a way as to ensure that they will burn their full length. That is good for the tobacco manufacturers but I can't see how it helps smokers. At best it wastes your cigarette and at worst it could cause a fire and smoking related fires are the largest cause of domestic fire deaths in the UK. Smokers and their families are of course, most at risk particularly those who live in over-crowded housing. We've been campaigning for "reduced ignition propensity" cigarettes as they are called, but the E-cigarette is safer still as it has no burning end.

Businesses that struggle in a smokefree environment

We have long been of the view that smokers who are required not to smoke (mostly in the interest of others) should get society's support in return. One way to do that is to make it easier for them to stick by this new law by making safer nicotine products like the E-cigarette more widely available. Current Nicotine Replacement Therapy is designed and marketed to help smokers quit, that is fine for smokers who want to quit but smokers who don't want to quit need something different. A patch can take an hour to take effect and lasts all day, that might help a smoker who is on a long haul flight (or one who wants to get through Christmas day with the kids without going out into the cold for a cigarette) but it doesn't help with the need for a quick fix in the pub or while taking the kids to school in the morning. For these smokers, stronger, faster acting products are needed. Some argue that these are more addictive than the existing products but, let's face it, they are still less addictive (and much less harmful) than cigarettes. Pubs and bingo halls could find a lot of merit in selling these products in vending machines or behind the bar.

Freedom of choice

The generally accepted rule is that we should be free to do what we like as long as it doesn't harm others. The reason the "smokefree debate" turned out the way it did was because increasingly people recognise that smoking harms those around us. The same cannot be said of these products but at the moment they are pretty expensive and not a choice that is open to poorer smokers. ASH would like to see the price of safer nicotine products fall so that they are within every smoker's reach.

Finally, as I said above, smokers who replace an occasional cigarette with one of these products are reducing the harm they cause themselves from smoking. Who knows, some might even decide that they can quit completely after all - and that the nicotine products can help them.  Naturally, I would see that as a bonus.

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That was an email from ASH, commenting on stopping smoking, electronic cigarettes and some of their campaigning information.

The manufacturer, commented, "We are pleased to have Dr. Laugesen publish these results, validating the safety of our groundbreaking products and this relatively new product category".

They went on to note how important these tests are expected to be to distributors, retailers and consumers of the products. "Given how critical ingredients like flavorings and scents are to the overall safety profile of the product, we believe that it's very important for distributors, retailers and consumers to demand this kind of information from anyone claiming the right to market or sell similar products."