You know, in reading more of that
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...lp-advice-recommendations-35.html#post3336040 thread, it reminds me of another good argument for e-cigarette over abstinence in some cases. Someone who has smoked 50!! years and is finally looking to watch out for their well-being isn't going to be someone who has felt a "slave to addiction" and just wants to beat the "nicodemon." They just want to add on a few more years to their life!
Yep, that's pretty much where I was. I was fortunate that I had not yet begun to see any long-term health effects from all my years of smoking (that I know of, or perhaps they haven't manifested themselves yet). I wanted to eliminate the negative consequences of smoking, but was not yet willing to give up the pleasure I derived from smoking.
This comment got me thinking: "Addiction is a disease. Some have it and some don't..". (Not picking on the person who made it, I believe it to be a known truth).
I've never considered myself to have an addictive personality, but I most definitely have an obsessive one. If I come across a new game or hobby, I will obsess over it incessantly; I simply can't get enough of it. I will spend untold amounts of time (and in some cases, money) pursuing it. Then, I will reach some milestone with it, and simply drop it. It's almost like some switch was thrown in my brain, and I'll move on to the next one. In some cases, I'll come back to it later, but usually not with the same fervor as before. When I'm in my peak, it would seem to some that I am addicted to it, but I don't think I would just drop it without some external influence or a conscious effort if I truly were addicted.
In my wilder, younger years, I used to go out clubbing a lot, and, of course I would drink. I'd usually get rather drunk, in fact. But I was more interested in the social aspects of the bar life: drinking was only secondary. I would have never considered myself an alcoholic, though some might have thought me to be, considering how much and how often I would drink. But, if I didn't want to go out, I didn't feel compelled to drink. Now, I only drink rarely. If I'm with friends, or at a social event, I may drink heavily. But it is never the primary focus.
My long rambling point to that is, many people drink at various times. Only some of them become alchoholics. Others, like me, can willingly drink when they want, but never get "the disease".
Why is it, then, that someone who smokes, and wants to continue to do so, is automatically labelled a smoking addict? When I wanted to quit, I found it difficult, but was that "addiction", or strong desire? Once I started vaping (and found the correct solution for myself), there was no withdrawal from smoking. I didn't have to battle with a desire to smoke. It was, quite literally, one of the easiest and most painless transitions I've ever made.
So why now, when I
choose to continue to use nicotine, am I automatically labelled a "nicotine addict"? The jury is still out on just how harmful nicotine use may or may not be. By using it, I am not compelled to resume the previous destructive behavior; smoking. So, do I really have the disease of addiction, or just a desire to use nicotine? I don't really even know whether I still have a desire or a "need" to use nicotine, but over the next few months I might know otherwise.
I see many here refer to themselves as nicotine addicts, and insist that we all are. I don't believe I am, nor I do believe most of us are. Nor do I think that insisting that it is an addiction,
makes it one in the clinical sense.
So, back to the comment that prompted this: "Addiction is a disease. Some have it and some don't...". I can see the truth in that. But, where exactly do we draw the line on what nicotine use is? Is a really a clinical disease, or just a label that been applied? With some things (such as alcohol), it's accepted that usage does not necessarily infer addiction, but with nicotine use, it seems to be an automatic assumption.
. Yeah it makkes no 
