The Indoor Revolution

Tuesday, 27 April 2010 10:57

After being kicked around for years, smokers finally get the last laugh.

By Jon Silman

The First Time:

I was 11 when I had my first cigarette. A kid I looked up to asked me if I wanted to get a buzz behind a pizza shop on the army base where mom would buy our groceries. He told me to pull out the filter with my teeth, pull as hard as I could and hold my breath. My vision chinked, my head swam and my whole body felt like hummingbird's wings. I smoked like that for the next 15 years.

The Premise

At the end of March, I was given the opportunity to try the NJOY electronic cigarette under the condition that I write about it. Unwrapping the thing was like Christmas morning considering it costs $79.99 retail. As an ex-smoker myself, I was dying to try this new advance in nicotine delivery therapy.

The Test

Cigarettes and coffee go together like cops and doughnuts, so what better place to try out the electric cig than at Starbucks. As an added bonus, I ran into a good friend, a smoker, and we found a spot the obligatory distance away from any buildings on campus.

My friend made his appeal about why he smokes, and he talked about the reward system. He's a writer by trade, so every ten pages or so he'll give himself a break and make the trek outside to light one up. Smoking is a ritual to him, and he enjoys that aspect.

I told him that the beauty of the NJOY is that he wouldn't have to get up to smoke - he could just do it the whole time while he wrote. He said maybe that wasn't a good thing.

So we sat on the bench in the shade and I puffed away and he smoked two cigarettes in the ten minutes we sat there. I explained to him that we could be sitting inside in the AC having our coffee instead of out here so isolated. He agreed that the idea of inside smoking is possibly the most tantalizing thing about the whole ordeal.

The Lesson

Smoking a real cigarette is a process. You have to pick the right time and give yourself at least a few minutes. You have to light it and inhale it and then deal with the smell of it on your hands and on your clothes. You get that shame and guilt from all the hateful eyes around you. It bothers your self esteem.

The electronic cigarette is not like that. You feel confident again, because you can do it anywhere, and it doesn't make you smell, and no one even notices because you can hold it in long enough to dissipate the vapor. The problem is that there's no stopping point because you never "finish" it unless you run out the battery or out of juice. These "problems" are solved easily because you have two batteries and extra cartridges.

I ran through all the cartridges in about three days. Of course I immediately ordered more online, and they came in the mail pretty quick. Not having to smell like smoke or wondering if you stink is worth the price of admission on its own.

I've used it in class (the big ones), and I've used it on the street and on my bike and people usually want to try it, and not tell me that I'm killing myself (the go-to response when I'd tell people I was a smoker). If you, like me, are too young to have ever smoked indoors, this is your moment. This is your revolution. This is your time.