Do you plan to quit someday?

[uthinkofsomething]

I don't see my vaping as an addiction that makes me less free any more than chewing gum, drinking tea, whistling, or tapping one's foot.
It's a thing I can enjoy because of my freedoms and a thing has has literally freed me from my tobacco addiction, improving my life in many ways.
I would not rule out quitting vaping for myself, but I do not intend to quit nicotine or vaping at any point, and have ensured this will continue regardless of any laws passed. Yes, I would become a criminal if need be, in defiance of injustice.

 

[GOMuniEsq]

I don't see my vaping as an addiction that makes me less free any more than chewing gum, drinking tea, whistling, or tapping one's foot.

That is because nicotine is not an addiction, it is a dependence. The distinction is that an addiction must have a significant harmful effect which one ignores at the expense of his quality of life. Merely experiencing withdrawal symptoms upon cessation demonstrates a dependence. And you needn't take my word for it, this Professor of Addictions Studies explains it succinctly:

 

[bombastinator]

Count on Bomb to swallow any bait.
Mods @classwife : Can we please add a reaction?

The bromide is “rise to any bait” I’m not sure how much swallowing there actually was. To my knowledge no one has stopped you from posting that emoji. You’ve done it several times. thus the request is fakery. An indication that you feel people should think such a thing happened.

I’m reminded of that key and peel sketch about the knowing glance guy.

the whole game of nasty partial lies or accusations couched inside humor is one I avoid playing. I would do very poorly in the imperial French court. There’s a movie about it titled “ridicule”.

I just rip things open and point at the ugly bits. Indirectness doesn’t suit me.

the ridicule reaction is generally to pretend offense and claim victimhood because they “didn’t mean that at all” even though they clearly did.

He did have a piece of a point. The comment wasn’t actually about that statement but a series of earlier ones where I pointed out attempts to skew the meanings of words and then attach them to their historical use thus creating a functional falsehood. His point was mostly untrue in that particular case. There was a point regarding the phrase “some time” though where it was arguably fair.

the problem with ripping things open is your stuff may be ripped open in turn, and it’s only fair that it be done so.

 

[bombastinator]

That is because nicotine is not an addiction, it is a dependence. The distinction is that an addiction must have a significant harmful effect which one ignores at the expense of his quality of life. Merely experiencing withdrawal symptoms upon cessation demonstrates a dependence. And you needn't take my word for it, this Professor of Addictions Studies explains it succinctly:

he does explain his case. I’m not too sure it’s actually internally consistent. He describes for example how he would be smoking again later that day if he wasn’t able to vape which would qualify as the type of behavior he claims would be considered addictive.

 

[Opinionated]

That is because nicotine is not an addiction, it is a dependence. The distinction is that an addiction must have a significant harmful effect which one ignores at the expense of his quality of life. Merely experiencing withdrawal symptoms upon cessation demonstrates a dependence. And you needn't take my word for it, this Professor of Addictions Studies explains it succinctly:

"Raspberry Mojito from Pink Spot Vapor is actually proof of the existence of God..."

 

[Opinionated]

Hello fellow vapers.
Here is a topic I was thinking of lately and I wanted to ask your opinion/plans.

After some time this ex-smoker was suppose to start lowering amounts of nicotine in his e-juice up until he is OK with 0 mg. nic vaping.

And eventually quit vaping as well, eliminating the habit.

So what's your opinion on that? Do you also plan to keep on vaping or you might quit it in the future?

Planning on quitting at some point.. I've made a couple attempts but ended up going back to vaping to prevent me from going back to smoking..

I was at 0 nicotine for a year and a half, but went back to 3mg nicotine use during stress - which is where I am today.

I'll eventually quit nicotine again and perhaps vaping too, just not today.

 

[Spydro]

I'm not addicted to nic, have never used it in my DIY. But I'll probably not stop until I am officially pronounced dead.

 

[D133]

Its been 10 years since I got my first e-cig (an N-Joy kit). You could say I just swapped one addiction for another. I've relapsed a few times, once for over a year, but vaping has generally kept me away from cigarettes.

Before the age of 21 I did not want or need nicotine, and it would be good to return to that state where I am not 'controlled' by any substance - not having to plan ahead for opportunities to indulge, not spending money I don't really need to spend. I would need to want to stop completely, I'm not quite there yet, probably because I still enjoy it .

 

[cazmo]

I switched from cigs to vapes in 07/2010. Started at 24mg, and got all the way down to 1.5mg DIY. My doc told me to stop (heart reasons) so I went 0nic, but eventually just stopped on 8/31/19 as it wasn't doing anything for me. My biggest issue is what to do with all the kanthal/nichrome spools etc.. I have. I just kept buying as I told myself I'd never stop. Silly me.

I just hope these f**ktards in government don't kill vaping, it saved my life.

 

[englishmick]

Replying to this with a few things to say.

First, your expressed feelings on not having another smoke again is one reason I think there will for sure be a black market with regards to vaping, if banning comes about. The idea that ex-smoking vapers would just gravitate towards smoking and continue with that habit I think is (possibly way) overhyped. I think many ex-smokers think that first smoke will be tasty and a wonderful experience. I strongly believe it would likely be so nasty they'd swear of smokes for good. And take whatever (teeny tiny) risks there are to get eLiquid on the underground market.

Second, I do think most ex-smokers are recovering addicts, but there would definitely be exceptions. Your post (aka your now hatred for smoking) tells me you have fully kicked the addiction. I'm sure you realize some may be skeptical of just how certain you are you'll never smoke again, but the only person's opinion that matters, about whether you are ever going to return to smoking, is yours.

Third, I profoundly disagree with those who think once an addict, always an addict. I obviously stated this earlier in the thread, but feel like elaborating. Again, vapdivrr is prime example of person that addict is not an applicable term. Recovering addict neither makes sense, truly. Recovery, I would say, allows for the possibility that one day in the future a cigarette may be smoked again. And perhaps more importantly, allows for the possibility that just one may be enjoyable enough that another after that is perhaps likely. Hence, a return to habitual use is seen as possible and then addiction sets in.

Yet, with recovery comes a sense of commitment. And I'd say the overwhelming majority (IMO) of vapers who were ex-smokers, or even are dual users, are committed to no longer being dependent on smoking. That's huge. We all know this. Non-smokers show up clueless to just how committed we are to longer being dependent on smoking.

Following up with that last point, my fourth and final item, is my speaking from dual use perspective. I'm a proud dual user. I've only said that about 50 times on the forums. Prior to making a commitment to no longer being dependent on smoking, I was, as a dual user, working through which product (vaping or smoking) did I truly enjoy more. I was surely vaping way more than smoking, but was mentally wavering between the idea that smoking for sure has things that I still enjoyed (then) daily, and that vaping just wasn't doing for me. Even, then I would call myself recovering addict. Because I think once a smoker commits even a little bit to vaping, they'll cut their smoking habit way back. Maybe not in the first month, but for sure by year 2, they are very likely nowhere near a PAD smoker. Which again, is huge.

There are a few reasons why I still choose to smoke, but the one I feel is pertinent to this topic is my ongoing desire to be a moderate smoker. Prior to vaping, I thought that not possible for smoking cigs. For the last 3 years or so, that is exactly how I'd describe myself. And currently moderation means, for me, one smoke every 3+ weeks, and up to as much as one smoke every 2.5 months. I would say that of the last 10 smokes I've had, which likely equals the amount I've had in 2019, maybe 3 of them were 'wonderful experience' type smokes. The rest were, meh, whatever. But still something I enjoy at the level of using moderately.

I think if vaping was banned, even from the black market, and somehow (magically) I couldn't ever vape again, I would plausibly return to habitual use of smoking. Then again, as someone who's gone cold turkey from smoking, three times (never less than a year), I do strongly believe I could stop.

But like most on this thread, and on this forum, I do so enjoy my nicotine intake. More please.

I don't hate cigarettes. Maybe I did for a while when I first quit. To be honest I wish I could do what you do, just have a smoke once in a while. But I think one cig and I would be done for. By your definition I guess that means I'm still an addict, I'm OK with that.

My gran smoked one cigarette a day until she was in her 90's. When she was first married my grandfather smoked a pipe. Money was really short so every night he smoked one bowl, and she smoked one cig. He died young, when I was 4 years old. She kept up the habit. Every night after all the chores were done she would sit down in the living room and smoke her cig. Maybe if you get into that routine for a long time you can carry on the same way and not be dragged into heavier smoking.

 

[Belinn]

I don't plan to stop using my e-cig, however I am a procrastinator and it seems that fairly often I will prefer not to interrupt what I am doing to go find a new coil or refill my device or find a charging cable. So I have accidentally quit several times, twice for more than a year.

But despite the accidental quits, I do not lower my nic level or get rid of my devices. I keep an e-cig handy, in the same way a person who is badly allergic to bees keeps an epi pen handy; I recognize the risk (of falling back into smoking) and I want to be prepared to save my own life.

 

[stols001]

LOL that reminds me of some "I forget" eastern Buddhistic sort of religious dude who claimed he was no longer "attached" to smoking.

He just kept smoking because it was like, SO much more enjoyable to smoke in a "non-attached" way.

He did not demonstrate like any signs of non-addiction to cigarettes to ME.

But I think inside you kind of know. If you know, you know.

Anna

 

[Jwaterski]

No!

 

[Astron]

I've got no plans to quit. There is a picture in my mind of the worst possible way to switch.

Meet Susie, one of those prissy people who moans about the evils of her Parliament Lights habit, but is scornful of vaping. She'd rather be independent of nicotine entirely and she doesn't want to be seen as one of those vaping people. But she does not have the strength of will to quit cold-turkey.

When Susie does finally make the switch, following a cancer scare and a dead relative, she buys a gas station cig-alike. She calculates her nicotine levels and fusses about risks and tells everybody that she plans to gradually taper down her usage to zero. But she can't stop dual-using and she's spending as much on refills and emergency cigs as she once did on just smoking, so she decides to try something else.

Susie refuses to allocate a proper equipment budget, since she's on the verge of quitting entirely, so she ends up with a weak-sauce SMOK or Voopoo device that leaks in her purse and gives her never-ending trouble. But she's got her dual-use under control now and is starting to save some money. Next Susie develops a cough and notices a harshness that makes her wonder about allergies and the safety of the liquid, so she orders some expensive organic kosher VG-only snowflake juice. The new juice gunks up her equipment so she begins to stress about dirty coils and formaldehyde.

Susie is now changing her coil head every two days, and now decides to lower her nicotine level and buy some zero-nic juice as well. She is again battling the temptation to dual-use. She is starving herself and just can't get any satisfaction.

Vaping for her is a constant source of misery because she went into it kicking and screaming, took a series of half-measures, and invented problems where none need have existed.

The smart way to switch is to recognize that cigarettes are a death sentence paid for at a premium of thousands of dollars per year. Nicotine, on the other hand, is as harmless as caffeine. So allocate a few hundred dollars and invest in some quality equipment up front, and then use it proudly. Consume as much nicotine as it takes to stave off cravings so you'll never be tempted to go back. Once you've conquered the cigarettes you've achieved the goal and there's nothing left to worry about. You are a winner.

This post hit home. When I worked at the vape shop (3.5 years, quit 1.5 years ago) there were several kinds of newbies. The kind in particular you have described here reminds me of the person who refused to spend on a decent upgrade after they felt like they’d graduated from their pen mod. They’d nickel and dime every single juice, coil, device, tank, etc, and wonder why they had to fiddle with something that was supposed to help them quit a deadly habit. (ETA: Eventually the amount of money they’d spent on lesser quality devices would have easily added up to my higher-quality suggestion.) Some kept up the fight and eventually would see the light and listen to me; some just suffered and came in smelling like cigarette smoke every time they needed help with a burned coil. It would make me sad, but I kept trying with each of them.

 

[Astron]

And I guess to contribute to the discussion OP posed

I so enjoy being able to taste strawberry cream and birthday cake without having to eat it. At this point, the fact vaping allowed me to quit smoking after so many years is just the icing.

So, no; no plans to quit.

 

[Jebbn]

I don't hate cigarettes. Maybe I did for a while when I first quit. To be honest I wish I could do what you do, just have a smoke once in a while. But I think one cig and I would be done for. By your definition I guess that means I'm still an addict, I'm OK with that.

My gran smoked one cigarette a day until she was in her 90's. When she was first married my grandfather smoked a pipe. Money was really short so every night he smoked one bowl, and she smoked one cig. He died young, when I was 4 years old. She kept up the habit. Every night after all the chores were done she would sit down in the living room and smoke her cig. Maybe if you get into that routine for a long time you can carry on the same way and not be dragged into heavier smoking.

My two great aunts lived to 99 and 98. They smoked one or two cigarettes in the evening outside in the garden. If it as too wet or too cold they didnt bother.
They were heavier smokers when they were younger but really only socially and not through pregnancies etc.
My mother is 81 and hasnt had a day off smoking since she as a teen. But like her aunties she only smokes in the afternoon/evening outside but she has about 4 cigarettes from 3pm til bedtime.
I gave her a zenith kroma kit and she used it for a while but she never got on with it and now uses a pod/stick type device if she forgets to buy some cigs.
Her comment about vaping is its a really poor substitute for a good cigarette.

 

[iVapeDIY]

Hello fellow vapers.
Here is a topic I was thinking of lately and I wanted to ask your opinion/plans.

Generally speaking, e-cigs were invented in order to help smokers switch from smoking regular cigs to something much less harmful and eventually help people quit this (one of the worst) habit of smoking / adding nicotine to your system.

Ideal plan was to give a smoker something similar (as a process) with enough nicotine to satisfy his needs but without all that sh@t that cigs contain.
After some time this ex-smoker was suppose to start lowering amounts of nicotine in his e-juice up until he is OK with 0 mg. nic vaping.
And eventually quit vaping as well, eliminating the habit.

In reality, I'd say about 80% of ex-smokers who became vapers don't even plan to quit vaping, they have their preferred nic. level and they keep on vaping it year after year being happy about it.

So what's your opinion on that? Do you also plan to keep on vaping or you might quit it in the future?

Was multi-decade smoker (up to 2 packs a day). Dodged multiple bullets as it were (no medical consequences). Switched to vaping in 2016, 10 ml/day 6mg nic. 3mg three months later. Never relapsed. 2018 averaged 1.5mg. 2019 averaging 0.15mg. Hoping to totally quit around 2021 or 2022 (been enjoying the flavors a lot).

Many vape shops (at least in Canada) will customize nicotine content (in 1% increments) with one's preferred PG/VG (and flavor) mix.

 

[GOMuniEsq]

They’d nickel and dime every single juice, coil, device, tank, etc, and wonder why they had to fiddle with something that was supposed to help them quit a deadly habit.

Thanks for sharing that telling non-sequitur. If vaping is supposed to be good for me, why is it so expensive and complicated? If kale is supposed to be good for me, why is it so expensive and hard to eat? Those are the words of a disempowered person who feels pressured to modify her behavior and is resentful about it. We see it time and again. People who have no qualms about spending hundreds of dollars a month on "sin" (or, more accurately, $10 every day or two) become tightwads when required to pay up front for virtue.

 

[dreamvaper]

She kept up the habit. Every night after all the chores were done she would sit down in the living room and smoke her cig. Maybe if you get into that routine for a long time you can carry on the same way and not be dragged into heavier smoking.

1 cig a day for years? interesting habit.
Usually smokers say it's not that hard to cut to 5-7 cigs a day, but cutting these last 5 is Very hard

 

[Electrodave]

The last time I quit vaping, I was smoking again in less than two weeks. I'm continuing to cut my nic, just mixed up a batch of 12.5mg to start using as I run out of 15mg. I'd like to lower my nic more, but I really have no plans to start smoking again, which would quickly follow.