Friday 3 June 2011

Big Electrofag rises.

With Tesco's habit of squeezing out small competition, Electrofag companies had better take a close look at this.

It is developing an aerosol-based product that looks like a conventional cigarette but, subject to regulatory approval, will allow smokers to get a nicotine fix without the harmful side-effects from tobacco.

Yes, it's another reinvention of the wheel, by someone experienced in the Way of the Supermarket.

With backers like that, the new Electrofag will be able to afford to go through any regulatory hoops. The smaller companies can't. What happens next? Well, the big-money companies will press for harder regulation 'for the public good' and install procedures they can afford but which will flatten the smaller companies overnight. Big Pharma, Big Tobacco, meet Big Electrofag.

It had to happen. As for me, I'm off out to Smoky-Drinky with a load of spare plants to hand out. We'd better learn how to extract the nicotine for use in Electrofags while we're at it.

It's water soluble so it won't be hard. The hard part would be gauging the concentration.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Because these are aerosol and unfillable by the end consumer, they will require to constantly be purchased and probably at high profit to the manufacturer. Electrofag on the other hand, once set up with a battery and heating chamber is just a matter of refilling with inexpensive water soluble nicotine and flavouring. Thus the Electrofag, being customer serviceable and less profitable, will eventually have to be banned in favour of the aerosol version which will reap higher profits to manufacturers. I'm not predicting that will happen necessarily, but makes me wonder when I see them putting more effort into something that cannot be serviceable by the end user and has to be constantly purchased as a consumable. BAT is in on this one too.

Dick Puddlecote said...

Now that's interesting. I've an article lined up in my link tank tomorrow about a similar product, backed by a different tobacco company, and with a different inventor.

A new nicotine war. What fun! :)

Anonymous said...

Tesco AND Sainsbury both together in this new venture !!
That is some power.
When will they realsie that smokers do NOT want a quick 'fix' of nicotine ?
They want to enjoy real tobacco and real smoke.
Sorry supermarkets, we don't want your rubbish.

Anonymous said...

How much you want to bet we end up with Benson and Hedges and Marlboro branded E-fags and aerosols in the tobacco counter within two years time. But if they do that, then they can advertise their logos for the E-fags and aerosols, which basically would mean advertising the same logo the consumer mind would place alongside the real thing, thus circumventing the advertising ban.

Leg-iron said...

How much do you want to bet that Electrofags will come in plain packs and be villified withing two years?

Only the Approved Inhalers will be allowed.

The ones the Dreadful Arnott profits from.

Anonymous said...

A bit late with this comment, but never mind.

So when do you think nicotine liquid will start to be taxed heavily? Won't be long I think. In fact, that is a very good reason for Gov not to ban ecigs. Think of the potential revenues! I think that in this comedy of errors, ASH might find themselves batting on a very sticky wicket!

And, by the way, as you are a micro-biologist, you are well placed to come up with a simple way for home grown triffids to be converted into nicotine liquid - sod the concentration - trial and error and all that. The interesting thing is mixing in the stuff which creates the vapour, and other interesting variations.

Have a go and tell us what to do. Go one - for the good of mankind!

I think I told you that my first seedlings germinated but the died because I was using 'sour' old peat. My new crop is doing very well. I understand that slugs are very partial to them. Recently, I planted out a bunch of different plants. I noticed that the slugs and snails are not interested in pansies and whatsits, but are very partial to ice plants. They seem to byepass slug pellets to get to them, although the pellets get them in the end. They are also very partial to young lupins.

Anyway, I have a plan. I have been saving 2 litre plastic pop bottles. Cut in two with the top and bottom cut off, I have plastic cylinders about 5 inches long. My intention is to place a cylinder over each triffid and slug pellets in the vicinity. For the first few nights, I will pop out with a torch and see what is happening. I suspect that, like lupins, once the triffids grow substantially, the slugs will lose interest.

Leg-iron said...

Junican - I have an unfair advantage. I have two glass cylinders from long-scrapped 25-litre fermentation vessels that I use as you use your bottles. I'll need to use your bottle tip too, because two cylinders aren't enough.

Get some copper tape from the garden centre or DIY store and put a ring around the tube near the top. Slugs don't like it so it should help keep them out.

Once the triffids grow, even if the slugs nibble at them they won't be able to munch a whole plant.

Nicotine is water-soluble so it's a doddle to extract. In fact, tobacco companies have to reapply the nicotine lost in wash-water back onto the product, or there wouldn't be any in the cigarettes.

I'm planning to see whether I can work out a concentration colorimetrically (layman's terms - shining a coloured light through it to see if the concentration relates to light transmission). If so, producing the liquid will not be a problem.

Propylene glycol (the 'smoke' part) is a harmless food additive. It can't be banned.

That just leaves the flavour to sort out and since that can be sold with no nicotine, there's unlikely to be any problem.

Electrofag is already firmly in the sights of the control freaks. Best start planning alternatives now.

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