There are few things guaranteed in this world. However, one thing that is certain is if you walk down any street in the UK, you will at some point find yourself enveloped in a sweetly-scented cloud of vape smoke.
There are now 4.3 million vapers in the UK, and the ordeal of having to sit outside bars and restaurants surrounded by the smell of cigarette smoke are becoming far less commonplace, thanks in part to the advancements in vape technology.
With this in mind, the experts at smoking alternative brand Blo Bar have compiled a list of the most important things you need to know about vaping; from the laws surrounding the products, to the negative health implications they help to lessen when compared to smoking tobacco.
What is the difference between vaping and smoking?
The main thing that differentiates smoking and vaping is the aspect of burning tobacco. While cigarettes rely on burning tobacco to deliver nicotine into a smoker’s system, vaping only requires liquid to be heated up - which helps to avoid smoking-related illnesses.
Many people opt for vaping rather than smoking to wean themselves off cigarettes once and for all, without having to go ‘cold turkey’. Vaping allows the ex-smoker to still have the comfort and reassurance of nicotine, the addictive substance, with mitigated health implications.
Can you legally vape inside?
The term, “vape laws UK” has seen an increase of almost 10% YOY, comparing Google search data from October 2020 - 2021 and October 2021 - 2022, meaning UK vapers are becoming more curious of rules surround vape laws.
The short answer is yes, you can legally vape inside as there are no laws stating that vaping is not allowed in indoor public spaces. However, there are usually rules implicated by individual venues, similar to the 2007 Smoking Ban which prohibited smoking cigarettes indoors.
While it may be possible to sneak a puff of your vape or e-cigarette in a pub or club, the majority of vendors, including train station platforms, cinemas, restaurants and many more impose fines for people that choose to take this risk. Due to this, unless stated otherwise, it is always better to stick to the rules.
Despite this, vaping is banned altogether in Antigua, Barbuda, Argentina and Australia.
Is vaping better for you than smoking?
The main health issue when it comes to smoking is that of burning tobacco. Tobacco contains thousands of chemicals, and the NHS revealed that around 78,000 people in the UK die each year due to smoking-related illnesses. The same article highlighted that smoking can cause 70% of different lung cancers, as well as increasing your risk of strokes, heart attacks, pneumonia, and even impotence in men.
Smoking is extremely addictive due to a substance known as nicotine, which releases a chemical in the brain called dopamine. This, very temporarily, causes the smoker to feel happy, which in turn makes the brain want to smoke even more to encourage the release of the chemical.
While vaping still includes nicotine, it does not contain tobacco and is instead made up of vegetable glycerin, flavourings and vitamin E to act as a thickening agent. Vaping allows ex-smokers to maintain the familiar motion of raising their hand to their mouth, as they would with a cigarette, with a fraction of the health implications.
Vaping still has an impact on your lungs, which is why we always recommend vapes to people that are attempting to quit smoking, rather than to people that do not smoke at all.
Are there different kinds of vapes?
There are lots of different variations of vapes and e-cigs, allowing the ex-smoker to choose from a range of strengths and flavours. You can also select the kind of strength you would like, as stronger vapes are usually recommended for people that have been heavy smokers previously.
Coming in all shapes and sizes, you can opt for a vape pen, a bar, a ‘cigalike’ (replica cigarette) or a compact pod. Our Blo Bar vapes are disposable vape pens which come in a range of 20 different flavours.
Depending on which kind you choose, vapes can usually be purchased from most shops, post offices and pharmacies. Vaping is also guaranteed to save you a lot of money when compared to the cost of cigarettes and rolling tobacco.
When was vaping started?
The first version of an e-cigarette was created in 2003, by a Chinese pharmacist known as Hon Lik. This first prototype was a lot less technical than vapes and e-cigarettes that we see today, coming equipped with an atomiser (like an inhaler) a battery and vaping solution.
The first e-cigarette looked almost exactly like a regular cigarette, in order to make it seem as similar to smoking as possible, to deter heavy smokers.
How many puffs should I take when vaping?
This depends entirely on the kind of smoker that you were previously. For example, if you only smoked when you drank alcohol, it would be best to stick to vaping in similar situations, in order to avoid becoming addicted to doing it more regularly.
‘Social smokers’ have been said to become addicted to the ritual of being out with friends, drinking alcohol and getting used to the hand movement that comes with smoking. Similarly, nicotine actually changes the way your brain responds to alcohol, meaning that you will need to consume more of it to feel the benefit, and vice versa.
The alcohol and nicotine work in unison, causing the social smoker to crave more of both, which is where vaping would be extremely helpful. Social smokers can also be prone to ‘binge smoking’, where they actually smoke more than a regular smoker would throughout the course of a week in one night. If this sounds familiar to you, then taking up vaping would significantly lower the risks that smoking, even socially, has on your body.
If you are a heavy smoker, then it is recommended that you take a puff of a vape whenever you feel that you need to - say if you smoke in the morning and during breaks at work, bringing your vape with you would allow you to maintain the routine without the harsh impacts of tobacco.
