Finding ways on how to assist smokers to kick the habit can be a very tough job. Even more so, when there are viable ways on how to stop the urge to light, only a few smokers actually quit.

A study done in Italy was able to find a way to be successful in assisting people to stop smoking by actually doing less than what previous researchers do. Riccardo Polosa from the University of Catania had 40 participants who were classified as heavy smokers. These participants rejected an invitation to a free smoking cessation program in the past. The researchers then provided them with an e-cigarette worth $50 to help them kick the habit.

Electronic cigarettes contain a liquid nicotine solution that is converted to vapour that can be puffed by the smoker and provide the nicotine fix. It does not contain the other harmful chemicals that are found in regular cigarettes.

The 40 participants were evaluated after six months into the program and over half of them have reduced their regular cigarette consumption by 50 percent or more. About 25 percent of them have actually stopped smoking. This may be just a small scale research on electronic cigarettes however it shows that e-cigarettes are a promising tool for helping curb the figures of death related to smoking.

However much that e-cigarettes open up a new possibility in the health industry, there are still critics who do not agree with e-cigarettes, saying that alternative sources of nicotine should only be confined to thoroughly tested products such as the nicotine patch or the gums.

The Food and Drug Administration tried to ban the sale of e-cigarettes by branding them as a "drug delivery device". The FDA argued that even if the device aims to stop smoking, it still opens up opportunities for other people to carry on smoking and be addicted to nicotine. Thus, the e-cigarette is not allowed to be marketed as a safe and efficient way to quit smoking, even if there are studies that show otherwise. The American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Action on Smoking and Health and Center for Tobacco Free Kids, also supported the e-cigarette ban.