Some people remember the times when smoking was not just fashion, and it was seen to be the lifestyle. Doctors promoted it – Governments endorsed it – Pharmaceuticals made money from it – and then the bubble burst … People died from it. People are still dying from it. The evidence we now see on a daily basis on our news programs and in our papers is that smoking is the biggest killer of human life ever invented by a man how times have changed. Now smoking is equated with less fortunate souls – addicts of nicotine, who need a crutch to support themselves and can’t do without it.

And then there was a ray of sunshine. From the anguish of seeing a father die of lung cancer caused by smoking, a Chinese pharmacist by the name Hon Lik furthered the work of Herbert A Gilbert, who submitted a patent application in 1963 for the original concept of an electronic cigarette – Hon Lik was the first person to turn this vision into reality in 2003 by submitting his own patented e-cigarette that actually worked and Vaping as its know today was born.

Vaping – What is vaping? Well, let me put my penny in here and be bold and tell you first what it is not –  Vaping is not smoking. When a person vapes, they inhale like a cigarette and exhale like a cigarette, but that’s really where the similarity ends. Vaping, by its very definition, is to give off vapour evaporated from liquid, unlike smoking which is smoke from a burning plant extract (tobacco).

Vaping is not a health product either – it’s an alternative seen as “tobacco harm reduction” that is being more widely and officially recognized by governments, doctors and health authorities worldwide and lastly by the general public as a whole. A healthier alternative, yes, since smoking will eventually kill you, and so far as is known, no one person has actually died from vaping e-cigarettes. (I stand to be corrected here, but if, to the contrary, you know of someone who has died from vaping, please provide your evidence!)

In recent times statistics show that the number of smokers has declined significantly, which is very good news (bad news for Big Tobacco and the Pharmaceutical industry) – do all of this ex-smokers vape? Many smokers and now ex-smokers (myself included) have used vaping as a way of quitting smoking, and in many cases, it has been the only method that has been successful. A good proportion of these ex-smokers may still vape, which bothers some as they see it as ‘giving up one habit for another. Whilst this may indeed be true, and while my own health has significantly improved from my former state of being, that of an unfit breathless couch potato, to being able to chase after my kids, walk the dog and do more than I could before – I see no reason to criticize the medium by which I have potentially benefited my life and that of my family.

It is a sad facet of our society that these past couple of years, many have tried to ridicule vaping by ignorance and ban vaping into the darkest pits of memory with inaccurate research based on unfounded or biased opinion and hearsay. AND to make matters worse, many still believe that e-cigarettes are worse than smoking, cause cancer etc., not realizing that the reality right now is millions of people are living healthier and safer smoke-free lives, all thanks to Vaping.

And now we go full circle – back to the beginning where doctors and dentists, governments and tobacco companies told us what we could have to fulfil our lives and here lies the real irony (you might want to sit down for this) Philip Morris International (PMI), one of the major Big Tobacco companies worldwide, one of the biggest tobacco hawking companies worldwide, has placed an anti-smoking advertisement in a number of UK newspapers.

There’s never been a better time than Now… Vape on