E-Cigarettes – Best Alternatives to Smokers
Josh Ellison, 28, was born in Columbia and later moved to Conway with his mother and brother. “My mother’s family is from Conway, and we moved there right after elementary school,” he says. His roots run deep in the area, and his grandfather, Thurman W. Anderson, Sr. served as Horry County Superintendent of Education for many years, actually integrating Horry County Schools in the 1960s and is credited as one of the founding fathers of Coastal Carolina University.
Ellison graduated from Conway High School in 2000 and garnered an associate’s degree in psychology from University of Phoenix.
A year-and-a-half ago, Ellison was a smoker working in a non-smoking restaurant. “The boss ran a tight ship and you could get fired for smoking a cigarette,” he says. He had heard about the electronic cigarette and started researching the product online. He also began looking around for the product locally and soon realized there was an opportunity to be seized. He consulted with his father, a small business owner, and put together a business plan.
Enter Your Preferred Solutions LLC, located at the Myrtle Beach Flea Market – across from Myrtle Beach State Park, offering electronic cigarettes e-cigarettes, supplies and accessories. The e-cigarette is an electronic device that simulates Armada cigarette smoking while delivering flavor and varying levels of nicotine in a vapor or mist, and is touted as an alternative to traditional cigarette smoking.
“People can come in and learn about e-cigarettes and feel comfortable – and they can actually try them out in a no-pressure environment,” says Ellison, who carries his own e-cigarette brand along with others.
“With a traditional cigarette, burning tobacco releases tar and other known carcinogens. With the e-cigarette you are vaporizing instead of burning. There is no tar and there is no tobacco.” He says some of his customers use this as a method in quitting, but the product is not an approved cessation device. “We don’t sell it as a way to quit, but as an alternative and people use it to step down – and that’s where the nicotine levels come into play.” Users can start at the highest level and wean down an interval at a time, ultimately getting to zero.
Many of Ellison’s customers have no interest in quitting, but have switched over to strictly e-cigarettes, preferring the taste options [traditional, menthol, cola, banana crème pie and blueberry to name a few] available in liquid drops to be applied to the device’s cartridge and the convenience of puffing with impunity.
But because of the relative newness of these products – we surmised that managers of restaurants, bars and movie theaters might mistake this as the real thing and therefore forbid their use. “Some of these people may not have seen this before,” he asserts. “You want to give people the right reaction, so let them know firsthand that there is no smoke involved and it is not going to be offensive. Tell them what it is and what you are about to do – and gently remind them that there are no laws against being able to use it.” Common sense and manners should prevail here. “Some people might even think it’s cool and not get offended if you explain what it is.”
Ellison and wife Shannon Ellison live in Surfside Beach with daughters Mya (7) and infant Maci. “I have two girl dogs too, so I’m pretty much outnumbered around here,” he laughs. “We’re eight blocks away from the beach, and we’re definitely a beach family. I do a little surfing with buddies and my daughter likes Boogie Boarding.” The family can be spotted at El Cerro Grande or Chicago Pizza Company.
“Sometimes we pretend to be tourists and go window shopping at Broadway at the Beach.”
Barring an eventual second home elsewhere, Ellison intends to stay put. “I really don’t plan on leaving Surfside and definitely don’t plan on leaving South Carolina. I have lived here all of my life and I don’t see any reason why I would ever leave. Why would you?”
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