Anyone else feel the same way?

[Warped3k]

I was wondering if anyone else feels the same way I do about vaping.

As a previous smoker I always felt as though I was classified as doing something "wrong" by smoking. I was labelled as a "bad" person by being a smoker and "supposedly" if I wanted to quit I could just quit.

Now, you take someone that never smoked and never got addicted to nicotine, they will most likely tell you "all you need is willpower". They have never had the addiction to nicotine, so they really don't know how powerful it is, as well as the just the physical hand to mouth action so many of us are accustomed to. Repeated years of analogs causes a serious addiction to the them. The brain is physically rewired from the nicotine.

Now, when I started vaping a little bit ago, I still feel that feeling that I am doing something "wrong", even though it is a much, much, much safer alternative to the over 4,000 chemicals in analogs.

Compare that to PG, which is used in medical inhalers and nebulizers as a very safe delivery system of medicine. Nicotine, which is the drug we are addicted to is simply a stimulant, not much different than caffeine (unless you OD of course). The flavorings themselves are used in the food we eat, so obviously thats mostly safe to vape. Even with knowing in my mind that it is fairly safe to vape, I still feel like I am labelled as a "bad" person, if that makes sense.

Now, this is not going to make any difference as far as vaping goes because it has already made me feel so much better these past two weeks. I can breath better, my taste has returned, I don't smell like smoke, etc. I will continue to vape and hope I never have to go back to analogs.

Does anyone else feel the same way I do about this?

 

[v1John]

I don't feel bad, just better. When you're using an ecig you're not smoking. Smoking is deadly, it's bad. Vaping is not. Vaping is a thousand times better than smoking.


The pharma drug companies would like me to think I'm bad, because they got used to me spending a ton of money about every 18 months quitting with their expensive gum and candy and band aids, and this time around they will not get a penny from me anymore, as I have proudly, easily, quickly, and most comfortably sweitched to the safer brilliant scientific advancement of an electronic cigarette (or water-cigarette as I sometimes call it). But it is they who are bad, not me, I'm trying to help every smoker interested in the new and safer way.

 

[bushmaster]

Quit worrying about how you are perceived. If you accept the label others stamp on you due to your lifestyle or habits, you'll find it difficult to retain your self-confidence.
It was different when you were a smoker and infringed on the air space of others. Not too hard to be self-conscious about how your habit affects those around you when you know in fact it does.
Now that you're a vaper and assuming you vape with some restraint(no need to rub peoples noses in our habit, is there?), you have nothing to feel bad about no matter how some people may look down upon you. You've made a massively positive step forward toward improving your health and your life. Be proud and don't take any crap for it. JMO

 

[Shortstuff116]

Warped3k we all have experienced that exact feeling and understand perfectly what you are trying to say. As we all know we are not doing anything wrong, but to those who don't have a clue, anything that doesn't appear normal must be wrong. After more than 6 months of only vaping, I still continue to get strange looks from so many and I still haven't seen anyone else in public using a PV in my area.

You've made perhaps one of the most important choices in your life switching from cigs to vaping and you should be proud of yourself. Don't worry or even care what anyone else thinks about your new "hobby", it's your business. It just so happened I had someone sitting beside me at the casino slots today "fake" coughing every time I vaped and all I can do is smile to myself knowing just how ignorant some people can be.

I was always one of those people who really enjoyed smoking and now enjoy vaping more than I ever thought I would.

Don't worry - be happy! You and I are on the road to a much healthier future.

 

[brandon555]

Sort of. I stealth vape at work because I don't want management to catch wind and put any restrictions on them. Plus I'm not sure how everyone else would react.

Smokers just have a stigma I guess. Not sure what it is. Alcohol and tobacco are "socially acceptable" but you always hear people ostracizing so and so for being a drunk, etc.

Don't feel bad though, you're doing something good for your health and those around you by vaping. Just keep that in mind.

 

[7thCabal]

Personally I don't feel like a bad person-- I may look like one & have in the past been one but, IMO for some people smoking/vaping is an easy association with maligned anti-social behavior like tatoos, piercings or anything else outside of the "Leave it to Beaver, Father knows best" bubble view of the world.

Jus' let the vape overcome the hate!

 

[CES]

Sometimes I wonder if the residual feelings about being "bad" are what drives some of the fear about health effects. Smokers have had to stand at the fringes for long enough that it's hard to believe that there is an alternative to cigs that isn't painful, and that might not be as harmful. I don't mean to say that we shouldn't question and that continued testing isn't needed. And we certainly are guinea pigs. But it also appears that these are a safer, cleaner way to get nic- it seems to be too easy to come without a catch. Right now I'm thinking that the catch is more about politics, money and mind set than about health and safety.

 

[BradSmith]

I hear you loud and clear. I got the, hey why are you still smoking those things I thought they were used to get off of smoking??

I did not start vaping to quit nic I started vaping to get my nic without it killing me. Oh and the guy who gave me that line is usually passed out drunk by midnight. (go figure)

 

[chev327fox]

Sort of. I stealth vape at work because I don't want management to catch wind and put any restrictions on them. Plus I'm not sure how everyone else would react.

Smokers just have a stigma I guess. Not sure what it is. Alcohol and tobacco are "socially acceptable" but you always hear people ostracizing so and so for being a drunk, etc.

Don't feel bad though, you're doing something good for your health and those around you by vaping. Just keep that in mind.

We are doing something good for ourselves but not necessarily for others, instead we are just not putting them in harms way like we used to.

I was wondering if anyone else feels the same way I do about vaping.

As a previous smoker I always felt as though I was classified as doing something "wrong" by smoking. I was labelled as a "bad" person by being a smoker and "supposedly" if I wanted to quit I could just quit.

Now, you take someone that never smoked and never got addicted to nicotine, they will most likely tell you "all you need is willpower". They have never had the addiction to nicotine, so they really don't know how powerful it is, as well as the just the physical hand to mouth action so many of us are accustomed to. Repeated years of analogs causes a serious addiction to the them. The brain is physically rewired from the nicotine.

Now, when I started vaping a little bit ago, I still feel that feeling that I am doing something "wrong", even though it is a much, much, much safer alternative to the over 4,000 chemicals in analogs.

Compare that to PG, which is used in medical inhalers and nebulizers as a very safe delivery system of medicine. Nicotine, which is the drug we are addicted to is simply a stimulant, not much different than caffeine (unless you OD of course). The flavorings themselves are used in the food we eat, so obviously thats mostly safe to vape. Even with knowing in my mind that it is fairly safe to vape, I still feel like I am labelled as a "bad" person, if that makes sense.

Now, this is not going to make any difference as far as vaping goes because it has already made me feel so much better these past two weeks. I can breath better, my taste has returned, I don't smell like smoke, etc. I will continue to vape and hope I never have to go back to analogs.

Does anyone else feel the same way I do about this?

I do feel the same way about people who have never experienced a certain addiction thinking that it's really easy to quit and they do say "well if you want to quit then just quit". My father for example used to say that to me when I was younger up until I started vaping (he doesn't like vaping either but he doesn't complain about it).

Unfortunately I had more then a cigarette addiction when I was younger and it was much harder to quit then cigarettes (the hardest thing I ever had to do) and people never understand these things unless they have been through them. Unfortunately it IS our own fault for getting addicted in the first place which is probably why we are alone most of the time to finding a solution for it.

 

[subperceptual]

Some people use vaping as a nrt. Cool. Some people vape just because they think its cool. Cool too. I belong to the group who chooses to vape for health concerns - but more out of respect to the non-smokers around me, since giving up my nico is not something I want to do. I would have continued to get it any way I wanted/could... smoking, chew, snus, pipe, etc - but vaping offers me the best of all with the hand-to-mouth you pointed out, getting nic that satisfies, and is safer for me and everyone around me. If what you did before made you "bad", fine... but don't let it bug you now that you vape - you made a choice to satisfy your want for nicotine, and have decided to use a method that is (to the best of our knowledge now) safe, respectful of others, and has been proven by a good number of people to be a successful nrt if you chose it to be... and if not, its still a much better alternative to smoking no matter how you cut it.

Maybe its just guilt that you didn't "quit", but changed method of delivery - but I have to ask, did you start vaping to quit smoking? If so - you already accomplished not smoking... Hahaha Think about it.

 

[poppa]

It has ever been my experience that folks who have no vices, have very few virtues. ~Abraham Lincoln

 

[Carlosg]

Lol yeah even cigarettes sre more socialy accepted than e-cigs, ppl tells me when they see me vaping, those things are not FDA aproved, they are much more dangerous than analogs, even smokers ask why you smoke a toy cigarette.

But we the ones that do reserch like a boss, know what is on our liquid, PG is just a humectant that everyone uses every day for atless the last 15 years in food, and medicine, or even more natural than that the VG vegetable based glicerine, water, nautal and artificial food flavoring, pharmaceutical grade nicotine nad thats prety much it.

Analogs just the list is so damn long ... one sec brb i got it somewhere in my hardrive.

Benzene, Formaldehyde, Ammonia, Acetone, Tar, Carbon Monoxide, Acetic Acid, ,Aconitic Acid, Benzyl Propionate, Borneol, Butyl Acetate, butanol...
cant type all of then , some i cant even spell.

but if you compare PG or VG to these poisons make your own conclusion ppl!!!!
just that ppl ges in my nerves sometimes.

Sorry my spelling is bad im Peruvian / my english writing sucks.

 

[v1John]

Every now and then someone asks me 'well how are you going to quit if your smoking those now?' , so I say something like 'I've already quit, I'm not smoking, this is water vapor hahaha there's no need for me to quit anything anymore.'

Virginia is vaper-friendly, smokers and non-smokers have expressed interest in electronic cigarettes. I just read the thread about virginia and the man on tv said that common sense prevails in Virginia. Our attorney general has determined that electronic vapor is not part of the indoor cigarette smoke ban, though individual restaurnats can still prohibit vapor if they choose.

(Tobacco combustion is not FDA approved), what happened is that Congress protected cigarettes from bans.

Vote for the right Congressman in a few months (NOV.2010), if you live in a non vaper-friendly state!!!.

 

[subperceptual]

Every now and then someone asks me 'well how are you going to quit if your smoking those now?' , so I say something like 'I've already quit, I'm not smoking,...

Exactly. That is what I was trying to say earlier - if someone feels guilt over quitting smoking to vape, they really have no reason to. They have already quit smoking... mission accomplished and congrats!

 

[lorikay13]

I have had the same experience as the OP. I don't believe he is talking about anything intellectual or conscious...more of a leftover emotion that coelates with the physical act, the hand to mouth motion of vaping.

It's not that I think I'm doing anything wrong...I know I'm not. But the feeling I guess is kind of like a conditioned response. And yeah...I've heard the same thing about "when are you going to quit doing THAT?". I just try and not get too defensive.

 

[mini_art]

Its called brainwashing , and in general the antis have been very good at it. Well they are right, but when it comes to vaping , frankly I dont give a rats patootie what anyone thinks about me vaping. I am not doing it for them, nor am I harming anyone LOL!

 

[Tuesday]

To the OP

Some people make a hobby of being mean/nasty to others and if they can make you feel bad about vaping (or in previous times smoking) they will jump on it. It is this type of person that I do not care for and give no value to their opinions.
Congrats on your non-smoking!!!! Good job.

 

[Shortstuff116]

subperceptual you do bring up an interesting point that I haven't given much thought to but it is true that another reason to vape is out of respect for non-smokers. If they aren't convinced as to why you would rather vape, you can explain to them that you could still be smoking and infiltrating their "space" with smoke and/or stink instead.

 

[D103]

Thanks Poppa!! I love wise quotes. People who go about their lives believing they know "what's best" for everyone else and pass up no opportunity to let their views be known as well as utilizing whatever resources they are able to summons in attempting to influence laws, ordinances, regulations and any other form of public policy, are indeed practicing the very worst of all vices: tyranny.

 

[pmd]

Does anyone else feel the same way I do about this?

Yup,

I've gotten a lot of "that isn't good for you either" crap, and at work sometimes I feel like I'm hiding this like I'm smoking something illegal.
In the long run I know I'm better off but I still don't deny that I am an addict.
I do consider myself a smoker and I won't pretend otherwise. That's OK because I love smoking nic just like I loved smoking cigarettes.
I smoke, I'm healthier and I , for now love my adddiction.
When I think back 1 year ago, I like that I have a 'nicer' addiction.

Denial is my friend.