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Amen to that, brother. People around me start getting edgy if I haven't had my full quota for the most recent 15 minutes... As to whether there is such a thing as a 'vaping addiction' - I'd have to say, "Sure!" We have this wonderfully complex neurological system - the best in the world - that gives us all kinds of side effects. Spirituality, memory, all kinds of stuff. Addiction and mind-bending are right up there in the list. I believe they must all be of some survival benefit or we wouldn't be so successful as a species. People can become addicted to all kinds of things; daydreaming, reading, sex, drugs, whatever. These behaviors are not necessarily destructive; it's the obsession around them that becomes a problem. Physical addiction is an added component. When physically addicted to anything, our minds come to believe that substance is required, like food. When we're feeling a craving for our favorite substance, our mind reacts as if we're starving; and think what starving people will do to each other when they're hungry. This is how addiction can be so destructive. As mentioned, nicotine addiction is probably one of the hardest to break; harder even than heroin or crack, despite that the withdrawal symptoms are not as severe. I'm not knowledgeable enough to know why that is, but I can say from personal experience it's much easier to break about any addiction than nicotine. Smoking is not simply a nicotine addiction, as we have often said. There are ritual aspects, other physiological issues like the throat hit, the who oral gratification thing. There's a lot more to it than just nicotine, which is why I think so many people can go hours without vaping when they couldn't go more than a few minutes without smoking. I'm not that way; I'm a nicotine fiend. Patches and gum didn't work for me for at least two reasons; insufficient nicotine and the loss of the throat hit/lung effect. One quit smoking trial I thought I'd substitute a secondary product to get the throat hit part satisfied, and used patches and gum for the nicotine. That lasted one really loooong day before I gave that up as a bad idea... Vaping is a wonder. I'm not completely comfortable with vaping only, even yet. I'm a serious addict; a dedicated addict. But vaping has done more than any other course to help me stop smoking. Believe me, I've tried everything I could think of including double helpings of intercourse and hot/cold showers to quit smoking. To no avail. Yet here I am with all these non-smoking days under my belt! I'm still addicted though; addicted to vaping. For me it's the nicotine and the throat hit. For others it might be something else; just being cool, maybe. If you took my PV away I'd freak out on somebody. Well, no; before I got really off my rocker I'd just go buy a carton of Pall Mall and resign myself to an ugly death. But I do believe one can be addicted to vaping. We're capable, lucky us, of becoming addicted to about anything we find pleasant. It's just our lovely nature. Just my .02. Great thread. Thanks everyone, this is exactly what I find so valuable about Vapor Talk. You all rock.

FTJoe, I agree with what your trying to say, and I surely don't feel offended. Nor should you be, bud. I whole-heartedly agree that to err on the side of caution is very prudent. Your point is well argued, and well taken. I must admit that I may have pushed it a bit when I wrote that using the e-cig exclusively would cause one's health to improve in EXACTLY the same manner as if one quits all together. However, from the evidence being presented so far I can't find too much to be worried about. There is a lot of really bad press out there, Like this idiot, and the FDA sure isn't helping, either. It's good to be skeptical, but I'm convinced that when all the smoke clears the e-cigarette will be exonerated completely. But thats just my opinion.... If you haven't watched the Dr Baron's interview yet, you should. Here is the link again: Dr. Baron Dr. Baron is the Chief of staff at UCLA Medical Center. The reason I advice you to watch his interview is because he is VERY reputable. I realize that he is being interviewed (and possibly paid) by an e-cig company, but what he says about nicotine sums up very well what science says about nicotine. Other appropriate links: New Zealand Study Nicotine info UK research on e-cig carts Study done on PG With regards to your comments on how long nicotine remains in the system, and insurance testing, let me say this.... I have found several varying results concerning nicotine's half-life. The most conservative estimate that I've found says that nicotine's half-life is 2 hours. The most liberal opinions state that nicotine has a 40 minute half-life. The reason for this discrepancy seems to involve the individual. Some people metabolize nicotine faster than others. Thats why some folks smoke a great deal more than others. I smoked about 2 packs a day, but a friend of mine only smoked half of that a day. She may have metabolized nicotine slower than I did. But my reason for bringing up the short half-life of nicotine was to help illustrate how difficult it would be to OD by smoking or vaping. Nicotine is metabolized very rapidly in our system. The symptoms you wrote about (increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, et al) are associated primarily with TOXIC quantities of nicotine. Yes, your pulse goes up a little while you smoke, but not to any harmful degree. Certainly not nearly as much as it does just climbing a flight of stairs. Testing for nicotine is done by measuring cotinine, which is the primary metabolite of nicotine, because nicotine goes through our system so quickly. Look, most addictions are harmful to a person, I understand that. Alcohol or drug addictions can ruin a person's life. Gambling or even sex can become harmful addictions. If you want to argue that ANY addiction is harmful, well you certainly have a strong point. But what I'm saying is if nicotine, by itself, taken in normally low doses, is in fact "virtually" harmless (like caffeine), then why should we see it as potentially bad for us?

Scottbee posted some interesting info on the eGo batteries on the E-cigarette forum. He tested the batteries under load and they tested at 3.1 volts. http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/joye-510/65055-battery-voltages-surprise.html So it sounds like 3.7 volt mods like the Spade would be more powerful than the eGo.