E-cigs can easily become a gateway to trying and developing an addiction to more serious drugs," warns Sudip Bose, a physician. "Addiction correlates to crime. People need to feed their habit, they break into homes to steal things to resell, they commit robberies on the streets, all to get money to feed their addiction."

Called IQOS, the e-cig's vapor tastes like tobacco and contains nicotine, but has less than 10 percent of the dangerous chemical levels in traditional cigarettes. Philip Morris said that in (externally unverified) trials, using the IQOS had the same effect as quitting smoking entirely. However, the company isn't using this finding to market the product, instead focusing on the broad claim that it will cause less harm than cigarettes overall.

The smokers in the CSUR found that e-cigarettes still don’t deliver the ‘hit’ that a tobacco cigarette does; the flavours don’t mimic tobacco very well; they are fiddly to use; and they feel ‘cold’ in comparison to tobacco. While for many people, e-cigarettes have been an absolute boon (they even come to identify as ‘vapers’) for many others, they just don’t hit the spot.