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Phillip Morris announced back in June that it would be producing a heated tobacco electronic cigarette for the market. Rather than vaporizing a liquid nicotine solution like most e-cigs though, the device will heat and burn actual tobacco. Despite very little information on the new devices, it appears one idea Phillip Morris might go with is a charge-by-the-puff method of selling the devices.

Presumably, this would mean that rather than just paying for a refill cartridge or loose tobacco, you’d get hit with a nominal fee based on the amount you inhaled from the device. Already, the spin machine is saying that this is a way to help smokers by discouraging constant use. Arguments can certainly be made that charging by emission value makes a bit more sense than charging by the refill.

But there is little to suggest that charging by the puff would help anyone but the tobacco company. By paying per puff, a user might find that he or she is more likely to over use — as the cost of a single use appears negligible. Meanwhile, the company can almost certainly charge for the air a user breaths, inflating what they claim to offer.

Almost certainly major tobacco companies are looking for ways to catch individuals looking to transition away from smoking — and at the same time they want to make the same amount they make off conventional cigarette sales to that user. This seems like an effort to do just that.

You can read about the original announcement here.