It is no secret that electronic cigarettes are making their way into the mainstream. The market for electronic cigarettes is estimated to increase four times between now and mid-year of 2014. According to a survey by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, by 2010 2.7% of adults on the United States had tried e-cigarettes. The sales of the devices have grown an estimated $250 million to $500 million since making their way into the United States from China, stated the Wall Street Journal. Nearly 20 million refill cartridges for e-cigarettes are sold weekly.

The American Association of Public Health Physicians (AAPHP) defends e-cigarettes because they are safer than traditional cigarettes. They deliver nicotine to the consumer, while leaving the tar and 5,300 other carcinogens and chemicals behind. Joel L. Nitzkin, chairman of AAPHP’s Tobacco Control Task Force said, “If we get all tobacco smokers to switch from regular cigarettes to electronic cigarettes, we would eventually reduce the U.S. death toll from more than 400,000 a year to less than 4,000, maybe as low as 400.” Nitzkin also pointed out the reduced risk of future deaths related to tobacco. He noted these deaths could be reduced 99.9% by simply switching to electronic cigarettes.

ECH Research in conjunction with Opinionnaire composed a survey in 2011 on people new to electronic cigarettes. It found that 99% of new “vapers” were current or past smokers. Of the 99%, the survey found that 70% of the respondents’ intent for using an e-cigarette was to smoke less or quit smoking all together.