If you have read any of the previous entries in the electronic cigarette story series, you will be fully aware of the rocky road the e cigarette has had to endure thus far. First there was the novelty factor and the ridicule factor, then the realisation that these things were serious and could actually work.

Then came the jumping on the bandwagon by all and sundry as the dollar signs illuminated entrepreneurs minds the world over, then the claims and counter claims about what exactly the electronic cigarette was and what it could do.

In recent months, health officials seem to have been doing their utmost to even ban the product, claiming it not to be safe and containing toxins. Meanwhile, millions of regular tobacco cigarettes continue to be sold daily despite the knowledge that they are a confirmed killer. Even for some sceptics, this must seem remarkable!

Yet, smokers continue to become ex smokers as they adopt the electronic cigarette as an alternative, many believing that even if they are not one hundred percent safe (after all, what is?), that they are at least significantly safer than the tobacco cigarettes they have been dragging on for years. Even despite all the opposition, there is still a buzz and an excitement surrounding the electronic cigarette.

Sure, some companies see them as a get rich quick scheme, that can apply to almost anything after all, but mostly there is a genuine will, a genuine longing from the smoking community to find something healthier.

We have not heard the last of the e cigarette and I am beginning to wonder how many episodes of the electronic cigarette story I will need to write, before they either become a product widely available like regular cigarettes or until they are dismissed to the annals of history. Until then, please stay with me as we track and discuss the events and moments in the life of electronic cigarettes.