The history of e-cigarettes and vaping

It seems as if ‘vaping’ came out of nowhere. One day it didn’t exist and then a few months later, everywhere we went, someone was vaping. In reality, electromechanical cigarettes are not new. Neither is the concept of using steam to inhale smoky herbs, aromas, or mild poisons. In fact, that has been going on since humanity has kept a written record, maybe even longer. There are accounts of such techniques in ancient China, as well as in ancient Egypt. The Romans often smoked in baths, and in India 1,500 years ago they called sugary tobacco “shisha.”

A famous author, Jean M. Auel, in her famous series of novels describes various ancient civilizations living in caves and participating in such rituals of vaping smoke. In fact, there is enough archaeological evidence to support the story of your historical novel and depictions of it.

Vaping Inventions and Patents

Fast forward to 1927 and Joseph Robinson received the first patent for electromechanical cigarettes. He called his invention the electronic vaporizer. There were several other patents granted after that for various applications of that invention. In the early 1960s, a gentleman named Herbert Gilbert came up with a contraption called the Smokeless Tobacco Cigarette, although it was not marketed to the masses, as are today’s vaping products, devices, and paraphernalia.

In 2003, a Chinese company, Hon Lik, introduced the first real electromechanical cigarette device. Very similar to the style and types that we see today. It consisted of a plastic cartridge, a small battery, a liquid nicotine compound, and a heating element that uses an ultrasonic atomizer. Although this sounds like a complex machine, it was relatively simple and inexpensive to produce. The funny thing is that nobody in China liked it very much or even wanted to try it, even though today’s Chinese people are among the biggest smokers in the world (quoted below).

What was the original purpose of vaping devices?

The original invention of this device was to allow people to quit smoking to save their lungs and to prevent smoking from ending their lives due to lung disease, lung cancer, and other lung ailments. It was created to solve a problem and it did so with the highest intentions. The device is supposed to allow one to continue receiving their nicotine dose without the long-term problems associated with smoking traditional cigarettes. Since nicotine is about a 3-day addiction, meaning that if you quit smoking for 3 days you really don’t need it anymore, electromechanical cigarettes made sense.

Also note that vaping is very similar to smoking marijuana through a bong. Increase upload speed and intensity. With a vaping device, one can get nicotine into their system quickly and relieve anxiety and stress, which seems to be the reason why humans like to smoke cigarettes.

Reference:

“Disease Burden of Adult Lung Cancer and Ischemic Heart Disease from Passive Smoking in China”, by Quan Gan, Kirk Smith, Katharine Hammond, and The-wei Hu. Tob Control. 2007 Dec; 16 (6): 417-422.