Vaping vs. smoking

[harringtondav]

If you're a smoker this may interest you. My 29 yr old son has smoked cigarettes for 10 yrs. Wife and I wish he would quit, but since I burn 3-4 robusto stogies/day (Bill Clinton style: Don't inhale) I have to choose my words carefully.

Last Summer the heads of AMA, FDA, American Cancer Society, etc. held their noses and admitted Vaping is a much better nicotine delivery method than smoking. So I bought the son a vaping device for Christmas. At check out I had them add one for me. Mostly to use it in front of the boy and not look like a hypocrite.

At first it was like kissing your sister or switching to skim milk: OK, but not satisfying. I've stuck with it for 2-3 weeks and have reduced my stogie count by 1-2/day so far. I hope son has used his because I see it as a move in the right direction. So if you burn tobacco, consider trying vaping as an alternative.

 

[alldodge]

Never vaped and quit before there was such an option. My comment is I've heard (did not do research) that while vap is better, there is more nicotine in vap then in cigs, so the addiction is greater

 

[joeanna]

I smoked for "a long time", vaping is a great way to quit smoking, alot of flavors, less tar and other "nasty things", and you can cut your nicotine addiction down to zero,

 

[harringtondav]

I've heard (did not do research) that while vap is better, there is more nicotine in vap then in cigs, so the addiction is greater

I'm just learning. I buy 0.6% tobacco flavored juice. Supposed equivalent to a light cigarette. It gives me less of a head punch than one of my son's Marlboro Lights. The kid helping me said he uses 4.5% (!?). They offer from 0% up.

I see the danger in the ease and access to the device. Reminds me of when I was young and had a keg tap refer. in the basement. One mug with countless refills vs. cans piling up helping the wife keep count. No cigarette butts with e-cigs. The device is always there, available.

 

[joeanna]

there is alot of vapor/ecig forums on line, alot of previous smokers, and "new quitters". An abundance of help quitting cigs and yep, quitting vaping,

 

[dingbat]

I quit cold turkey

Pretty easy once I figured out that 95% of the cigarettes I smoked in a day (1.5 pack a day) where out of habit, not addiction.

Stopped "having a smoke" with everyone that stopped by my office on the way to the smoking area. Stopped lighting up just because I just had a cup of coffee. Starting questioning myself the reason for each and every cigarette.

Didn't take me long to figure out that I actually craved / enjoyed one maybe two smokes a day. The rest was out of shear habit.

Drove around with a pack of smokes in the visor for 6 months afterwards. The taste of a 6 month old cigarette was the final farewell. Would rather lick an ash tray...

 

[JASinIL2006]

I could see how they could help a person wean off cigarettes to something safer. When I quit smoking, it was the patch or the gum. I don't really understand the allure of vaping on its own, though. It seems to take the most crass aspect of tobacco - selling a product aimed at inducing addiction - and stripping away the ostensibly pleasurable aspect of it - the flavor of the smoke. Why inhale fruit-flavored air with nicotine? I don't get it.

 

[MTboatguy]

I could see how they could help a person wean off cigarettes to something safer. When I quit smoking, it was the patch or the gum. I don't really understand the allure of vaping on its own, though. It seems to take the most crass aspect of tobacco - selling a product aimed at inducing addiction - and stripping away the ostensibly pleasurable aspect of it - the flavor of the smoke. Why inhale fruit-flavored air with nicotine? I don't get it.

There is a lot of things that people inhale that I don't get!

:faint2:

 

[harringtondav]

I could see how they could help a person wean off cigarettes to something safer. When I quit smoking, it was the patch or the gum. I don't really understand the allure of vaping on its own, though. It seems to take the most crass aspect of tobacco - selling a product aimed at inducing addiction - and stripping away the ostensibly pleasurable aspect of it - the flavor of the smoke. Why inhale fruit-flavored air with nicotine? I don't get it.

Your point is very valid. A vape device is simply a nicotine delivery device, like the cigarette, but far less damaging on your health. I use mine to cut back on my cigars, and it's working. But even with a faux-tobacco flavored juice, I still burn at least one stogie/day simply for the rich tobacco flavor.

My real intent in giving the same device to my son was to encourage him to smoke fewer cigarettes, maybe eventually quit. But that's his decision. He will want to cut back before he tries it.

 

[MTboatguy]

My wife and I both have vape cigs and use them quite often, they do allow you to cut down and they don't leave a cigarette smell in everything, none of it is good for us and smokers know this every time we take a drag off of a cigarette but they don't contain the same poisons that the smoke of a normal cigarette and the liquid vaper is not as offensive to others as the smoke.

 

[robert graham]

Come on folks!....give the lungs a break!.... They're the only ones you have!....fresh air works fine!

 

[sam am I]

I smoked pack'ish a day 30 some yrs, tried quitting half hearted few times over those yrs, never stuck, vapped for 1 month while transitioning away from cigs, vapped perhaps 1 additional month while cutting nicotine back to zero, had no cigs, threw the messy vapping crap in the trash and POOF!! 100% Smoke free for 7 yrs now.....


Don't miss it one bit, cept sometimes I smell a cig while sitting in traffic or something and think hmmmm but, it goes away a fast as it came....Nasty ole things, geeeesh, so glad I stopped. Gained 50lbs...doh!!!

 

[Old Ironmaker]

To all those that have quit or are in the process of quitting I tip my hat off to you. I quit smoking, in fact I quit regularly. Like an idiot I didn't start cigarettes until my mid 30's. yep idioto. Long story for later. I did start with Cubans in my mid 20's after my 1st knee surgery. I know many friends that quit with vaping. One very close pal vaped for 3 straight years. I remember one summer afternoon when the battery died and he sat on the floor of the deck with the thing plugged in the outlet. I was embaressed for him. He was addicted to vaping rather than smokes. It ain't cheap so he went back to cigarettes after 3 years of vaping. A pack of smokes here in Ontario is $15.00 for 25. I go to the local Rez. Who knows what's in those things and am down to 10 to 15 a day and the odd Cuban or DR cigars. Yes stupid and more ignorant then stupid.

 

[DeepCMark58A]

I am going to start smoking when I am 80, camel straights.

 

[gm280]

I actually feel sorry for anybody that smokes. My wife and I literally just could not afford smoking or drinking when we were first married and therefore never started either.

I have sadly seen people dying from lung cancer and if they would post such people on line and TV for the world to see, that would certainly prompt others to quit.

Folks, my neighbor died a slow painful very sad death that he would have given anything to never smoked and ended his life in such a lung cancer way. Very good friend that stopped smoking well after the damage was done. I miss him...

He loved coming over to my shop to talk and see what I was up to. Towards the end, he was in a motorized wheelchair and oxygen bottles so he could come over for about a half an hour. I even had to do emergency oxygen bottle changes for him because he couldn't breath without constant oxygen. When he was talking, he had to stop in the middle of sentences and breath as hard as he could to get enough air to finish the sentence. When that got worst, he was bed ridden. Very very sad to see a person die that way...

He passed away two years ago on Christmas Day! Nothing else to say!

 

[JoLin]

I smoked for more than 40 years. Tried vaping, a pipe, cigars, you name it. I finally quit inhaling anything a year ago, but I'm still hooked on nicotine in the form of (Walmart brand) nicotine lozenges. I don't even worry about quitting that anymore because of the other problems I developed...

I was dignosed with emphysema 8 years ago. I guess I'm lucky because it hasn't progressed much in the last 5 years. It still limits me quite a bit, and humid days force me to stay inside, off the boat, twiddling my thumbs in the A/C.

3 months ago, following an ER visit for an excruciating pain in my gut. I was dignosed with metastaic melanoma. It's spread through many of my internal organs. I have little doubt that this is my death sentence. I'm 65 years old. I'm working with a great oncology team and we're trying different immunotherapy treatments to temporarily slow or halt the progression. While they're leaps and bounds over the "old" radiation and chemotherapy treatments of 10 years ago, they aren't without risk. My first go-around with an aggressive 2-part treatment (Optivo and Yervoy) was very successful. Tumors shrank almost immdeiatly, but the side effect was a severe case of colitis that, 4 weeks later, we finally seem to be clearing up.

In the meantime, immuno is on hold until we can try something else. Imagine the frustration of finding a treatment that immediately worked miracles, but can no longer be used! I forgot to mention that an additional 18 lesions were found in my brain. I opted for a "Gamma knife" procedure which affords a very precise targeting of each of those leasions. That also worked, but the 2-chemical immuno treatment was also designed to keep shrinking them. Again, that option is now off the table. The proceure itself was a very unpleasant 12=hour day with a metal cage pinned to my skull. They use that to bolt your head to a table so they can precisely aim the radiation, one lesion at a time.

The point of this post is that I would urge everyone not to inhale ANYTHING into your lungs. Vaping? It isn't just nicotine that you're inhaling. It's contained in a supposedly harmless glycol base. What are the long-term effects of that? Nobody knows.

If I had wised up in my 30's I might not be facing any of this crap. I was stupid and arrogant. Be smarter than me.

My .02

 

[Old Ironmaker]

I am going to start smoking when I am 80, camel straights.

I'm going to start doing drugs too. Stupid Stick is fully legal here in Canada now. What a mess they have on their hands supplying it. Gov. recalls on MJ already. The latest just a few weeks ago was a Gov. supply of it covered in mould. It's double or more the price of Black Market stuff.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

I
I have sadly seen people dying from lung cancer and if they would post such people on line and TV for the world to see, that would certainly prompt others to quit.

Folks, my neighbor died a slow painful very sad death that he would have given anything to never smoked and ended his life in such a lung cancer way. Very good friend that stopped smoking well after the damage was done. I miss him...

All of the packs here in Canada have warning labels. Some show black rotten lungs and some TV commercials have a woam speaking through the thing they have once their voice boxes are removed. Very graphic but it hasn't stopped anyone. The number of youngsters smoking cigs has actually gone up.

 

[harringtondav]

I'm going to start doing drugs too. Stupid Stick is fully legal here in Canada now. What a mess they have on their hands supplying it. Gov. recalls on MJ already. The latest just a few weeks ago was a Gov. supply of it covered in mould. It's double or more the price of Black Market stuff.

In USA I cringe anytime Uncle Sam tries to get his mitts on something. MJ is becoming legal in more and more states. And the states let free enterprise reign, and collect significant tax revenue. Since MJ is illegal, the Fed govt lays low, probably wishing for a cut of the action.

 

[hvymtl939]

Haven't had a cigarette in nearly 6 months. Started with a Juul vape until the nicotine became too much. Eventually got down to 0% nicotine content juices, until I got over the oral fixation. Haven't touched the vape for a few weeks now.