Do you hear " IT's STILL SMOKING" ???????

[xjonquilx]

No one asks me twice about my ecig. It's too time consuming for them. But, if they do they get a short education on ecigs.

I started responding to "What's that thing?" with "It's what got me off cigarettes with no withdrawal at all". Their eyebrows perk up and I take the opening and run with it. "In this liquid you see in the tank, there's flavoring that is used in candies and cakes, along with propylene glycol and pharmaceutical grade nicotine. In fact, it's all USP grade ingredients except for the flavorings, those are food grade."

"Everything except the nicotine is in hundreds of food products and personal care products that you use everyday. The "smoke" you see isn't smoke, it's water vapor that carries the flavor and nicotine. What I exhale has been reported through testing to be virtually nicotine free. The nicotine is absorbed into my body, mainly through the mouth, throat, and sinuses and the amount of nicotine is about 10% to 30% of what I got from cigarettes. Almost none is absorbed by the lungs. The particle size of the vapor is too large to enter the alveoli."

"Nicotine is considered to be about as harmless as caffeine. We'd all be better off if we didn't drink coffee, but it won't shorten your life or significantly affect your health. Compared to tobacco, this ecig is the best thing that ever happened to me. After deciding to quit cigarettes, I can stand around where people are smoking and not even think about wanting one. It's the easiest way I ever tried for quitting and the only one that worked."

I get kudos from people that ask and haven't met one who thought I should just smoke and most walk away realizing that the ecig is the miracle it actually is for getting people off cigarettes. There are people who ask me when I'm going to quit vaping and I tell them that one day I might just get tired of it, but after doing it for a while I'm back to working out again and my ability to exercise without becoming winded has returned. It's not a drag on my health and my doctor thinks it's great, even if I am still vaping three years later.

Funny, people that listen to me tell about it don't think it's antifreeze anymore. I explain that the real reason that PG was substituted for ethylene glycol in antifreeze was that animals were licking antifreeze off the ground and out of hubcaps in driveways and junkyards and dying from ethylene glycol poisoning. They can drink the new antifreeze containing PG and not suffer any side effects.

If you look on the label, propylene glycol is in your kid's snow cone juice. It's a thickener that makes the flavor stick to the ice.

Hehehe, you sound like me. I give them an education as well. Just another factoid to throw in there: The AMA condones e-cigs as an approved way to quit smoking. Of course they don't rank it as high as quitting nic altogether, but they still consider it a viable method. If doctors approve of it, what is the FDA yammering about?

 

[tnt56]

I lose my temper about 200 times a day over this subject. I keep my cool and try to explain the benifits of vaping vs smoking.
Just remember that ignorance can be cured with knowlege and education. But you can't fix stupid.
But we continue to try and inform people.. That's all we can do. (I still think certain people should take a test before they breed children)

 

[Rocketpunk]

At some point you level out. You no longer really care what people say about your vaping. If someone confronts you verbally, shrug your shoulders and move on. You're not required to give an answer. Most of the time, they won't want to hear your answer, anyway. If you feel compelled to give them The Spiel, go for it.

No one has "confronted" me thus far in any kind of antagonistic way, but if they did, I'd simply vape, exhale, smile, and move along. They're not worth my time or effort.

 

[tnt56]

But alas mine comes with part of the job I chose.

 

[POSEIDON]

A more pertinent is why the hell do you care what an idiot says?

 

[Blurgas]

Haven't gotten the "it's still smoking", but I have gotten the antifreeze bit.
The statement is actually true since PG is coming back as a coolant ingredient, but most people are thinking of ethylene glycol when making the comment

 

[DC2]

I don't know why people don't use this more often but...
What we exhale is the same vapor that is created by fog machines at concerts and haunted houses.

I explain that what I am using is a miniature fog machine.
And it also has some nicotine, if I feel the need or desire to use any.

 

[DC2]

As far as the topic of this thread, I have been waiting for almost four years for someone to tell me I'm still smoking.
And here I am, all ready, and more than prepared for such a discussion.

I did spend a few months on a hardcore quit-smoking forum awhile back, where I battled such ignorance daily.
But doing it from behind a computer screen just doesn't seem to be as satisfying as working out such details face-to-face.

Apparently the fact that I'm 6'5" and 260 pounds prevents anyone from saying anything to me in real life.
This convinces me that those that do have to deal with this crap are facing nothing less than bullies.

 

[Whosback]

Where I don't get the "It's still smoking" I do get the. It still has to be bad for you thing. That's when I make the points previously mentioned in this thread about the difference. Also if I'm not mistaken studies have stated that they are not even sure if the harm levels are not totally negligible without the rest of the chemicals in cigarettes.

 

[tdlauro]

I get the "your still addicted to nicotine" to which I reply "I never said I wanted to quit nicotine,I said I wanted to quit smoking. Which I have." Of course there will always be haters.

 

[Thompson]

I ran into the "It still has nicotine!!!1!!" and "YOU'RE STILL SMOKING !!!11!!" way early on and both from family members. I explained to them nicotine isn't the main issue at hand & that vaporizing is definitely nothing like smoking.

But one earlier today dumbfounded me so badly I had no retort.

Was essentially that because I vape more often than I'd have a cig, they are less healthy than cigs, and that I should just go back to those. This was coming from somebody I consider(ed?) smart to say the least. The way I took it was "I'd rather have you smoking something we know will kill you than something you have benefited from health wise, because you seem to use it a lot."

 

[Pinkcloudtracy]

I just left a message on the "Tobacco Free California," website after reading the bull ..... they have posted there. Here it is...

This is incorrect and could cost lives.

"Other Tobacco Products

Tobacco companies are constantly looking to develop new products to keep current users addicted and to hook new ones. Currently, these new products include snus, hookah and electronic cigarettes. These are marketed as less dangerous - but don't believe the lies. They are still addictive and can be deadly."

Including electronic cigarettes with "tobacco products," is ludicrous. We don't want to be anywhere near tobacco. PLEASE educate Californians, don't kill them with ignorance.

E-cigarettes are making tobacco companies shake in their boots, no wonder no studies have been done on electronic cigarettes, Big Tobacco doesn't want that to happen.

This is a harmless nicotine delivery system with the benefit of psychologically getting the oral fixation and ritualization a smoker needs. Anyone who understands addiction will see the benefit here. It enables a person to transition easily, out of the thousands of known carcinogenics in cigarettes with no second hand smoke, stink or fire danger. Yes nicotine isn't good for me, but neither is sugar.

In Canada they have pictures of dead babies on cigarette packs, if that combined with Debbie and her throat hole didn't make me quit, what makes you think you are on the right track here? This is the first viable solution for smokers in history.

E-cigs are going to be the wave of the future. Don't be so quick to judge until you begin to see the results. I have personally helped twelve friends and family members quit cigarettes in the past three months with "Vaping". ANYTHING that works that quickly and well should be looked at far more carefully.

You want a cure for cancer? You may be looking right at it without even knowing it.

Sincerely
Tracy ex-smoker

 

[crzyhrse99]

Funny, I'm the opposite. Started vaping in December and I cant put it down, I feel I need to be a chain vaper constantly. Allthough as a smoker, I smoked 3/4 PAD.

 

[Whosback]

Well we are taking the fight to CA to stop the proposed e-cig ban and hopefully we can at least delay it. I've also e-mailed some of the bigger more balanced news shows about what's going on and why it's so important to get the truth out there. Not asking them to advocate for us, but at least giving them the facts vs what is being claimed by the FDA and these pro-cancer vape haters (well I don't call them that, but its not far off).

 

[Whosback]

Oh one thing I forgot to add: we have to make sure CA understands that this is a health and wellness not a personal liberties fight for us. The facts support it.

 

[chadsmo]

I had a friend the other night argue with me telling me its still smoke and not vapour and therefore I still smoke. Ugh.

 

[bazmonkey]

The way I took it was "I'd rather have you smoking something we know will kill you than something you have benefited from health wise, because you seem to use it a lot."

You get what he's saying though, right? I've heard this argument with low/non-fat food. Instead of eating 5 cookies they eat 10 low-fat thinking they've accomplished something.

I totally agree and understand this is not the situation with vaping versus smoking, but I can see how someone less in-the-know would try to make that point. If he was right about his assumptions he'd be correct, right?

 

[geofxc]

Funny, I'm the opposite. Started vaping in December and I cant put it down, I feel I need to be a chain vaper constantly. Allthough as a smoker, I smoked 3/4 PAD.

Your nic level might be too low?

 

[Reaper0329]

@chadsmo

You handled it better than I would've it sounds like...major pet peeve is people asserting that my facts are incorrect when I know otherwise.

 

[DaveP]

Education is key. The American Lung Association is on a campaign against ecigs and is saying that because of the nicotine levels of tested smokers vs vapers, both got the same nicotine because the vapers vaped more frequently. They calculated NONE of the benefits of NOT having the 4000 chemicals the smokers inhaled. It's a biased world we live in today. If it looks like smoke, it must be, huh? Apparently, people hate anything that looks like the enemy.

E-cigarettes: Another Option to Help You Quit Smoking? - American Lung Association

These battery-powered devices look like real cigarettes, have a light-emitting diode (LED) on the tip that lights up when you inhale and even produce fake smoke in the form of water vapor. They also deliver nicotine via cartridges, but spare you the tar, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and other toxins found in tobacco smoke.

If e-cigarettes sound too good to be true, that's because they probably are. With a dearth of rigorous studies on their safety and effectiveness, experts are increasingly concerned that e-cigarettes may do little to help you stop smoking -- and may actually do more harm than good.

Can you believe that the American Lung Association is this misinformed? Why aren't there more scientific tests on ecigs? We all want them to be fairly tested and the results announced. Yet, no one seems to want to test them. They just want to lambast them without scientific proof.

Nicotrol gets a free pass here. It's the same thing, but controlled to a point where you can only get it for a specified length of time, only with a prescription, then you are on your own. That's a fail waiting to happen.

They are fine with a pharmaceutical product that does the same thing.

Our advice: Some manufacturers and retailers of e-cigarettes claim these products are healthier than normal cigarettes and can help you quit smoking. But in the absence of scientific evidence to support those contentions, it's best to avoid e-cigarettes until more research has been done. For now, if you're trying to quit smoking, stick with proven, FDA-approved stop-smoking strategies.

My doctor always goes through the same routine on his visit check list.

"Are you still not smoking cigarettes?" Yes, I'm still off cigarettes.
"Good, are you still using your electronic cigarette?" Yes.
"Good!"

And then he moves on to other things.