A friend still calls me a smoker.

[muttSRT]

It would be more accurate to call yourself a "nicotiner." If you're not lighting it and it's not burning, then by definition, you're not smoking.

I am a caffeine and nicotine user... but I'm no longer a smoker.

Yeah i see what you are saying, but i think it comes down to splitting hairs again. I do consider it "lighting" it when i push the button, and i consider it "burning" when that heat vaporizes the liquid. We are still heating up a substance, albeit in a different manner, to make the nicotine easier to ingest in our bodies.

Like I said, I like to tell myself is safer, and I do believe it is, but truth be told, there have been no long term studies to find out if inhaling vaporized PG or VG increases or speeds up the effects of cancer. Yes it takes away the 4000 other chemicals and blah blah blah. I read all of the posts and threads and links, but still say no one here will know until years from now what the effects are. We are all banking that its safer because the immediate effects of quitting smoking can be felt. What if by inhaling vaporized VG, we are in fact speeding up the cancer cells and instead of them taking 20 years to start showing up, they show up in 10? What if inhaling vaporized PG is just what cancer needs to grow?

What if over time we find out that the cause of cancer doesnt come from cigarettes, but comes from toothpaste? that would explain why there are people who never smoked that get lung cancer, would it not? I am NOT saying that i believe this to be the case, I am just saying that I do not know. Maybe by inhaling the PG instead of just brushing your teeth with it twice a day, maybe it will let the body absorb it quicker and may in fact speed it up?

I use an electric cigarette. Its my choice. I support the use of e-cigs. But at the same time, I am not going to just believe that its the "safer" choice. And I will consider myself a smoker, until the day I die, much like an alcoholic with 15 years of being sober, still considers themself an alcoholic.

 

[d.dutton9512]

My friends were pretty resistant at first saying that it's expensive, a hassle, confusing etc. Most of my friends are "unrepentant smokers" who arent ashamed of their habits and don't really want to quit, they just want to stop spending the $$$ and feeling like crap.

But after I broke down the costs and health benefits to them and then reminded them that I never have to head out a 1AM cause I ran out of smokes they started to see the point.

I'm happy to say that two have already ordered their first kits.

Muttsrt: Almost all hookah tobacco uses PG or VG to properly vaporize and I know there have been some studies done on it's effects. As far as I can find there's no reports that say the glycerin is good or bad.

 

[Sharon_NC]

some people actually looked at me like it was worse, when i told them i was getting an e-cig

In the 1980's --there wasn't a lot of information publicized about the dangers of smoking. Back then I could get a pack of full flavor Marlboro for 75 cents (U.S.) at age 15 and 16.

Those groups fought so hard to educate the public, passed laws, made every effort to make it "socially unacceptable" to smoke a cigarette. Today, you can't get a job, can't find a good date, can't expect to be treated well, if you smoke cigarettes -- you're the ultimate blackball, the ultimate unwanted scourge.

For those kind of people, it's not about interest in your health or knowledge.

Most people I've spoken to said they've either seen e-cigs on television, and curious about it.

 

[Afubar]

Well Now, My Doctor, medical type, considers me a non-smoker. I smoked for 43 years, I've vaped for a little over 10 months.

I think I'll take what my MD says over your so-called friend any day of the week. Sorry you have such an ***hole for a friend.

 

[Thephonetech]

I dont personally care what anyone calls me, the point is I feel much better.

 

[Dakota]

I dont personally care what anyone calls me, the point is I feel much better.

That should be my direct motivation, for sure. But I still think there is a HUGE difference between a "non-smoker" and an "anti-smoker" the main thing between then is that the anti-smoker is judgmental and wants to tell you how to live your life. The former simply doesn't smoke.

Bottom line, i don't want to be a smoker any more. So i suppose I don't want to be CALLED a smoker any more. I still get to check "non-tobacco" user on health questions, right????

 

[Jonmo1]

I still get to check "non-tobacco" user on health questions, right????

Eh...the Nicotine still comes from tobacco....

But I'm on the side of the fence that says non-smoker (or ex-smoker).

Using Tobacco does not mean smoking
Using Nicotine does not mean smoking

Smoking is just the most common method of using tobacco and/or nicotine.

But some people chew tobacco or snuff or snuss to get their tobacco/nicotine...
They use tobacco and nicotine...Are they smokers??

Just because I am addicted to Nicotine(which comes from tobacco) does not mean I am a smoker.


Maybe a better description might be "Recovering" smoker..
Like a Recovering Alchoholic.
They say once an alchoholic, always an alchoholic.
But an alchoholic who has been sober for xxx months/years, is called a Recovering alchoholic.

maybe it's the same for smokers...

As Hoosier said, if suddenly Ecigs became unavalable, and for whatever reason I was unable to make my own ecig and/or juice...would I go back to analogs? Can't say for sure, but it's pretty likely..

 

[Dakota]

yeah, but I'm not using any form of tobacco at all. Nicotine, for now, but I plan to drop that to 0mg (I'm at 11-12 right now). I figured tobacco users included smoking cigs, cigars, pips, using chew, etc, etc.

 

[StarsAndBars]

Ok, I'm just gonna tell it like I see it. No more, no less. Technically you did quite smoking real cigs which is great for you and your friends! You did however replace your cigarette addiction with a less harmful addiction(as far as we know). You may not find you get the props from your friends for quiting, because in a way, to them you didn't. You are still dependent on nicotine.

Could you quit vaping, and that be the end of it?

I say this because I stopped smoking 2 weeks ago. I did however start vaping. It really wasn't a challenge to switch for me. I find vaping much more pleasurable than smoking ever was. Because of this I don't really feel like I made a major achievement of will power, I simply made a choice for a healthier addiction. Personally I don't care if anybody thinks I'm a smoker or not. I am however very happy to be vaping. Sinuses are much clearer now, no bad breath, etc. etc.

I am glad to hear you are no longer smoking regardless.

P.S. I would check no on the health questionnaire.

 

[sherid]

The new language of the Health Nazis though does not give you a pass. It is no longer just smoking that is not allowed in the workplace and for insurance purposes. It is nicotine use, period. That would include patches, gum, e cigarettes, etc. It's not what you are smoking/vaping any longer. It is about the control these bigots wish to exert over every facet of your life: what you eat, if you exercise, what you drink, etc. THAT is what is frightening.

 

[lamentation]

Some a-holes just don't like to see anyone else happy.