New competition is beginning to push tobacco concerns – electronic cigarette. It is not harmful and people can smoke it even in places where they are not allowed with normal cigarette. The new company Think In wants to get as much as one percent of the market share with the electronic substitution.
“We signed a contract on the sale of electronic cigarettes with companies Geco Tabák and HDS Retail that own retail chains Relay and Inmedio,” said the head of Think In, Marosh Sviezeny. “Altogether 370 selling points will be involved,” he said. The company Think In yesterday started an advertising campaign worth CZK 12 million. Tobacco concerns are not going to respond to it for now.
The first electronic cigarette was made in China five years ago on the commission of the Communist regime that wanted to demonstrate its care for the health of Beijing inhabitants before the Olympic Games. The product, which will be sold under the brand Nick by the firm Think In in the Czech Republic, is produced by one of the four Chinese producers, Kanger Technologies.
According to Sviezeny, hundreds of pieces of electronic cigarettes a year are sold in the Czech Republic. The head of Think In expects the sale to increase severalfold after electronic cigarettes are introduced to shops. “We think that it’s an interesting product that will attract other suppliers on the market from among the current producers, importers and tobacco companies,” Sviezeny said.
Tobacco concerns have been trying to include electronic cigarettes among products that help curtail addiction and that are subject to strict health regulations. However, Sviezeny refuses this. “It’s not an aid to quitting smoking, although it can be helpful. In fact, electronic cigarette serves as a substitute at places where smoking is prohibited. Moreover, the inhaled vapour doesn’t contain harmful substances that are created by tobacco combustion,” he said. Also tests by the National Institute of Public Health and Prague’s Institute of Chemical Technology have confirmed this, according to Sviezeny.
How to smoke “electronically”
• An electronic cigarette functions on the principle of an inhaler. The smoker inhales only vapour containing nicotine. The main part of the cigarette is a metal tube in the shape of a cigarette and a chip with atomizer that vaporizes a nicotine solution. Cartridges contain as much nicotine as ten cigarettes, are replaceable and available in several variations.
