No such thing as an ex-smoker

[DC2]

The biggest mistake we can make is assuming that everyone is the same.
Or that anyone else must be just like us, or that they must be smoking for the same reasons we are.

First of all, it isn't true.
And second of all, it just gives ammunition to the ANTZ and the nicotine prohibitionists.

Smoking is a personal experience, and different people get different things from that experience...

--Some like the hand-to-mouth
--Some need the nicotine
--Some need the MAOIs
--Some are self-medicating an underlying malady
--Some like the social experience
--Some smoke as an escape
--Some find it relaxing
--Some use it to keep their hands busy
--Some use it to avoid boredom

And most probably smoked for any, all, or some combination of the above reasons.
And I'm sure I probably missed a few.

"Smoking" is so misunderstood by non-smokers that their opinions aren't even worth hearing.
And "smoking" is clearly just about as misunderstood by smokers themselves.

You are not me, I am not you, and nothing about smoking is universal.

 

[Thucydides]

Cigarettes have absolutely no power over me anymore.
For me, that is part of the fun of having one.

The biggest mistake we can make is assuming that everyone is the same.
Or that anyone else must be just like us, or that they must be smoking for the same reasons we are.

First of all, it isn't true.
....

"Smoking" is so misunderstood by non-smokers that their opinions aren't even worth hearing.
And "smoking" is clearly just about as misunderstood by smokers themselves.

You are not me, I am not you, and nothing about smoking is universal.

Amen.

I'm also sure that I was not addicted to nicotine. The allure of smoking was the hand-to-mouth, the inhale and exhale, the pull into my lungs. But most of all, I liked the idea of smoking. The connection with the past, with the cultural imagery that surrounded it. I'm a clean cut-guy, good natured and easy to get along with, slender, fit, playing up that nice-guy all-American kind of look. I needed a good vice.

I loved smoking. Even after a decade after quitting smoking, I always loved the smell and would envy those around me enjoying cigarettes.

Funny thing: 3 days after I started vaping, I went with a friend outside when he took a smoke break (I was vaping), and his cigarette repulsed me. The smell, the ash, the burn. First time I ever felt that -- it was the craziest thing.

To me, vaping realizes everything about smoking that only ever amounted to whitewash in movies and slick marketing campaigns.

To me, vaping is what smoking was supposed to have been.

 

[denali_41]

"Smoking" is so misunderstood by non-smokers that their opinions aren't even worth hearing.
And "smoking" is clearly just about as misunderstood by smokers themselves.

that statement reminded me of an epiphany i had a few years a go about smoking

did you realize smokers know more about the evils of smoking then non-smokers ?? yep its true !

because every dam non-smoker or born again ex-smoker feels it is their duty to tell a smoker the hazards of smoking


think about that for awhile

 

[bleev]

After a 20 year camel cig habit I quit for 9 years which ended by excusing a cigar...which for he last 5 months led me right back to my camel cigs.

I consider myself a recovering addict....just like an alcoholic or drug user.

However vaping gives me nicotine as a stimulant without all the tar, carbon monoxide and up to 1000 other bad chemicals added to regular cigarettes.

I will never say I am a non-smoker....I truly am an addict......but have found vaping as a more healthy alternative.

btw: this is my first day vaping with my new v-mod. woohoo!

 

[Jman8]

Smoking use to be done everywhere and anywhere (includes hospitals). Then things done changed. But before they did, we magically as a society made it through this period, several decades long, where secondhand smoke was literally everywhere, and so were secondhand smokers. In fact, the population actually grew during this period. I'm guessing non-smokers didn't love that period, but they also were seemingly fairly accepting of it, and not shunning those who did smoke. I'm also guessing ex-smokers existed then and didn't shun those who continued to smoke.

Now, secondhand smoke kills people. You will die if you are anywhere near it. Best to avoid it at all costs (if you care to live). If you know people who dare smoke indoors, admonish them for this. Show them all the studies that prove just how much they are killing themselves (their choice I guess), but be sure to let them know how they are killing you as well. You don't stand a chance at survival if they smoke near you. Let them know that.

You think this can't/won't happen with vaping?
Think again.

 

[DC2]

You think this can't/won't happen with vaping?

It can happen, and it has happened.
In fact it has happened many times, across many counties throughout this country.

It also can be defeated with education, and has been many times.
In fact it has happened many times, across many counties throughout this country.

The ANTZ are going around the country pushing model legistlation developed by Americans for Non-Smokers Rights.
This model legislation lumps electronic cigarettes into smoking bans, using well-constructed propaganda to justify this idiocy.

And when vapers show up in numbers to tell their stories and give the real facts, we have seen success in fighting these efforts.
Because it turns out that at the local level, many "politicians" still care about their constituents.

 

[OnTheFidele]

I'm with DC2 on this one and I would like to add a thought:

The more I vape, the more I'm convinced it's in a different category than cigarette smoking (or pipe smoking, cigars, etc.). Labeling ourselves as "ex-smokers" might give the wrong impression that PVs are "replacement cigarettes" or "quitting tools." They are NOT. I think we are at a point where we can finally start to separate vaping with its firm association with smoking. It will happen slowly but surely, but I hope we all will will begin to conceive vaping as a whole new medium.

 

[HippieHermit]

I consider myself an ex-smoker. I'm a lot of ex-things... I'm an ex-wife, ex-military...and an ex-smoker (and proud!)

 

[Jman8]

I'm an ex-non-smoker

 

[mightymen]

I'm an ex-non-smoker

I don't know!

I use to be married. Now I have a ex-wife, I'm I still married to her ? Hope not!

 

[Fury83]

I'm addicted to addiction. This is just a non-life destroying expression of that.