Electronic cigarette
An electronic cigarette or vape is a device that simulates tobacco smoking. It consists of an atomizer, a power source such as a battery, and a container such as a cartridge or tank. Instead of smoke, the user inhales vapor, often called "vaping".
The atomizer is a heating element that vaporizes a liquid solution called e-liquid that cools into an aerosol of tiny droplets, vapor and air. The vapor mainly comprises propylene glycol and/or glycerin, usually with nicotine and flavoring. Its exact composition varies, and depends on matters such as user behavior. E-cigarettes are activated by taking a puff or pressing a button. Some look like traditional cigarettes, and most kinds are reusable.
Vaping is less harmful than smoking, but still has health risks. Vaping affects asthma. Limited evidence indicates that e-cigarettes are less addictive than smoking, with slower nicotine absorption rates.
E-cigarettes containing nicotine are more effective than nicotine replacement therapy for smoking cessation, but have not been tested as rigorously as nicotine replacement therapy products.
Description
An electronic cigarette consists of an atomizer, a power source such as a battery, and a container for e-liquid such as a cartridge or tank.E-cigarettes have evolved over time, and the different designs are classified in generations. First-generation e-cigarettes tend to look like traditional cigarettes and are called "cigalikes". Second-generation devices are larger and look less like traditional cigarettes. Third-generation devices include mechanical mods and variable voltage devices. The fourth-generation includes sub-ohm tanks and temperature control. There are also pod mod devices that use protonated nicotine, rather than free-base nicotine found in earlier generations, providing higher nicotine yields.
E-liquid
The mixture used in vapor products such as e-cigarettes is called e-liquid. E-liquid formulations vary widely. A typical e-liquid is composed of propylene glycol and glycerin and a combination of flavorings, nicotine, and other additives. The flavorings may be natural, artificial, or organic. There are many e-liquid manufacturers, and more than 15,000 flavors.Many countries regulate what e-liquids can contain. In the US, there are Food and Drug Administration compulsory manufacturing standards and American E-liquid Manufacturing Standards Association recommended manufacturing standards. European Union standards are published in the EU Tobacco Products Directive.
Coils
Vaping cannabis usually involves higher temperatures than nicotine.Use
Popularity
Since entering the market around 2003, e-cigarette use has risen rapidly. In 2011 there were about 7 million adult e-cigarette users globally, increasing to 68 million in 2020 compared with 1.1 billion cigarette smokers. There was a further rise to 82 million e-cigarette users in 2021. This increase has been attributed to targeted marketing, and ecigs being cheaper and safer than combustible cigarettes. E-cigarette use is highest in China, the US, and Europe, with China having the most users.Motivation
There are varied reasons for e-cigarette use. Most users are trying to quit smoking, but a large proportion of use is recreational or as an attempt to get around smoke-free laws. Many people vape to relax, and some because vaping is safer than smoking. The wide choice of flavors and lower price compared to cigarettes are also important factors.Other motivations include reduced odor and fewer stains. E-cigarettes also appeal to technophiles who enjoy customizing their devices.
Gateway theory
The gateway hypothesis is the idea that using less harmful drugs can lead to more harmful ones. Evidence shows that many users who begin by vaping will go on to also smoke traditional cigarettes. People with mental illnesses, who as a group are more susceptible to nicotine addiction, are at particularly high risk of dual use.However, an association between vaping and subsequent smoking does not necessarily imply a causal gateway effect. Instead, people may have underlying characteristics that predispose them to both activities. There is a genetic association between smoking, vaping, gambling, promiscuity and other risk-taking behaviors. Young people with poor executive functioning use e-cigarettes, cigarettes, and alcohol at higher rates than their peers. E-cigarette users are also more likely to use both cannabis and unprescribed Adderall or Ritalin. Longitudinal studies of e-cigarettes and smoking have been criticized for failing to adequately control for these and other confounding factors.
Smoking rates have continually declined as e-cigarettes have grown in popularity, especially among young people, suggesting that there is little evidence for a gateway effect at the population level. This observation has been criticized, however, for ignoring the effect of anti-smoking interventions.
Young adult and teenage users
Worldwide, increasing numbers of young people are vaping. With access to e-cigarettes, young people's tobacco use has dropped by about 75%.Most young e-cigarette users have never smoked, but there is a substantial minority who both vape and smoke. Many young people who would not smoke are vaping. Young people who smoke tobacco or marijuana, or who drink alcohol, are much more likely to vape. Among young people who have tried vaping, most used a flavored product the first time.
Vaping correlates with smoking among young people, even in those who would otherwise be unlikely to smoke. A 2015 study found minors had little resistance to buying e-cigarettes online. Teenagers may not admit to using e-cigarettes, but use, for instance, a hookah pen. As a result, self-reporting may be lower in surveys.
More recent studies show a trend of an increasing proportion of young people who use e-cigarettes. In 2018, 20% of high school students were using e-cigarettes. In 2020, however, this number increased to 50% of high school students reported to have used e-cigarettes. Similarly, in Canada, there has been trend showing 29% of young people reporting to have used e-cigarettes in 2017, increasing to 37% in 2018.
Health effects
History
It is commonly stated that the modern e-cigarette was patented in 2003 by Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik, but tobacco companies had been developing nicotine aerosol generation devices since as early as 1963.Early prototypes and barriers to entry: 1920s–1990s
In 1927, Joseph Robinson applied for a patent for an electronic vaporizer to be used with medicinal compounds. The patent was approved in 1930 but the device was never marketed. In 1930, the United States Patent and Trademark Office reported a patent stating, "for holding medicinal compounds which are electrically or otherwise heated to produce vapors for inhalation." In 1934 and 1936, further similar patents were applied for.The earliest e-cigarette can be traced to American Herbert A. Gilbert. In 1963, Gilbert applied for a patent for "a smokeless non-tobacco cigarette" that involved "replacing burning tobacco and paper with heated, moist, flavored air". This device produced flavored steam without nicotine. The patent was granted in 1965. Gilbert's invention was ahead of its time. However, it received little attention and was never commercialized because smoking was still fashionable at that time. Gilbert said in 2013 that today's electric cigarettes follow the basic design set forth in his original patent.
The Favor cigarette, introduced in 1986 by public company Advanced Tobacco Products, was another early noncombustible product promoted as an alternative nicotine-based tobacco product. Favor was conceptualized by Phil Ray, one of the founders of Datapoint Corporation and inventors of the microprocessor. Development started in 1979 by Phil Ray and Norman Jacobson. Favor was a "plastic, smoke-free product shaped and colored like a conventional cigarette that contained a filter paper soaked with liquid nicotine so users could draw a small dose by inhaling. There was no electricity, combustion, or smoke; it delivered only nicotine."
Favor cigarettes were sold in California and several Southwestern states, marketed as "an alternative to smokers, and only to smokers, to use where smoking is unacceptable or prohibited." In 1987, the FDA exercised jurisdiction over products analogous to E-Cigarettes. Advanced Tobacco Products never challenged the Warning Letter and ceased all distribution of Favor. Ray's wife Brenda Coffee coined the term vaping. Philip Morris' division NuMark, launched in 2013 the MarkTen e-cigarette that Philip Morris had been working on since 1990.
Modern electronic cigarette: 2000s
Despite these earlier efforts, Hon Lik, a Chinese pharmacist and inventor, who worked as a research pharmacist for a company producing ginseng products, is frequently credited with the invention of the modern e-cigarette. Hon quit smoking after his father, also a heavy smoker, died of lung cancer. In 2001, he thought of using a high frequency, piezoelectric ultrasound-emitting element to vaporize a pressurized jet of liquid containing nicotine. This design creates a smoke-like vapor. Hon said that using resistance heating obtained better results and the difficulty was to scale down the device to a small enough size. Hon's invention was intended to be an alternative to smoking. Hon Lik sees the e-cigarette as comparable to the "digital camera taking over from the analogue camera." Ultimately, Hon Lik did not quit smoking. He is now a dual user, both smoking and vaping.Hon Lik registered a patent for the modern e-cigarette design in 2003. Hon is credited with developing the first commercially successful electronic cigarette. The e-cigarette was first introduced to the Chinese domestic market in 2004. Many versions made their way to the US, sold mostly over the Internet by small marketing firms. E-cigarettes entered the European market and the US market in 2006 and 2007. The company that Hon worked for, Golden Dragon Holdings, registered an international patent in November 2007. The company changed its name to Ruyan later the same month, and started exporting its products. Ruyan later changed its company name to Dragonite International Limited.
Many e-cigarette makers copied his designs illegally, so Hon didn't receive all of the financial reward for his invention. In 2009 his company successfully sued a competitor in China, and after getting a US patent in 2012, they launched patent infringement lawsuits against multiple US companies. In 2013 his company sold its e-vapor business to Imperial Brands for 75 million USD. As of 2014, most e-cigarettes used a battery-powered heating element rather than the earlier ultrasonic technology design.
Initially, their performance did not meet the expectations of users. The e-cigarette continued to evolve from the first-generation three-part device. In 2007, British entrepreneurs Umer and Tariq Sheikh invented the cartomizer. This is a mechanism that integrates the heating coil into the liquid chamber. They launched this new device in the UK in 2008 under their Gamucci brand and the design is now widely adopted by most "cigalike" brands. Other users tinkered with various parts to produce more satisfactory homemade devices, and the hobby of "modding" was born. The first mod to replace the e-cigarette's case to accommodate a longer-lasting battery, dubbed the "screwdriver", was developed by Ted and Matt Rogers in 2008. This device generated a lot of interest, as it let the user to vape for hours at one time. Other enthusiasts built their own mods to improve functionality or aesthetics. When pictures of mods appeared at online vaping forums many people wanted them, so some mod makers produced more for sale.
These mods led to demand for customizable e-cigarettes, prompting manufacturers to produce devices with interchangeable components that could be selected by the user. In 2009, Joyetech developed the eGo series which offered the power of the screwdriver model and a user-activated switch to a wide market. The clearomizer was invented in 2009. Originating from the cartomizer design, it contained the wicking material, an e-liquid chamber, and an atomizer coil within a single clear component. The clearomizer allows the user to monitor the liquid level in the device. Soon after the clearomizer reached the market, replaceable atomizer coils and variable voltage batteries were introduced. Clearomizers and eGo batteries became the best-selling customizable e-cigarette components in early 2012.
From the mid-2010s onward, the vaping industry saw rapid innovation, with devices becoming more compact, powerful, and specialized. Pod-based systems such as Juul popularized nicotine salt e-liquids, offering a stronger and smoother nicotine delivery. At the same time, vaping technology expanded beyond nicotine use. Many modern vaporizers are now designed to heat cannabis oils, distillates, or dry herbs, reflecting a broader shift in consumer preferences. These “cannabis vaporizers” operate similarly to e-cigarettes but are engineered for cannabis consumption rather than nicotine-based e-liquids.
The growing legal cannabis market has further influenced vape technology, with industry sources such as Smokeland discussing different vape cartridge types, their effects, and user preferences.