Some ex-smokers just don't get it!

[HeatherC]

I've heard between 9.50 a pack and 11.00 a pack. But we used to buy our cigs on the reservation (no tax) so we were only paying 22$ a carton for ours. They haven't upped their prices yet... BUT I still think that my 44$ a week habit is offset by my 1 bottle of juice a week!! My signature is using the 9.50 a pack price that's why it looks like I've saved so much.

 

[Wylie!]

When it comes to second hand vape... I think things have gone too far... my opinion.

If nicotine is bad, caffeine is too, and I am not a coffee drinker, actually have heart condition, sensitive to caffeine. If I wanted to infringe on others, I guess a case could be made that I am at risk from the second hand breath of coffee drinkers... ridiculous.

I started smoking in the military to stay awake and alert... in fact I was told to do that or drink coffee to stay awake. I worked extraordinary hours in the military, and I don't like the government infringing on my liberties. What hypocrisy in my case, and no doubt in the case of many other veterans out there who pushed the limits of human endurance in the defense of this country.

My two cents worth for now, and I will visit this site, and thread again sometime soon... so all the best to my fellow vapers!!!

 

[Lyndagayle]

Just my input on the smoker/non smoker label---If I were to go to a new doctor and fill out the questionaire they give you before you go in, when I hit the infamous question "Do you smoke?" if yes, "How many cigarettes do you smoke per day?" I feel I could HONESTLY say "NO" to the first question and not even have to respond to the follow up question. If the question was "Do you use tobacco?" I could HONESTLY say NO. If the question was "Do you use nicotine?" I would HONESTLY say YES. I no longer see myself as a smoker because I don't inhale or exhale smoke. I see vaping as totally different from smoking. If it were the same, they might as well build huge bonfires to produce the effect they get from fog machines at concerts. It's just not the same animal. One of the best remedies for a head cold/sinus infection is to make a tent with a towel and hold your head over a boiling pot of water and inhale the vapor. It quickly breaks up congestion and helps you breathe better. The same cannot be said about holding your head over a campfire and breathing in the by product (smoke), nor would it alleviate the congestion. I don't understand how anyone can see vaping in the same light as smoking but that's JMO and everyone has one.

 

[HeatherC]

OHH yeah and 3522 analogs avoided... at 7 mins added to my life per cigarette I didn't smoke means I've added 24,654 minutes to my life or 17 days!! My son'll be happy about that

 

[Para]

some may call me a conspiracy theorist....LOL

But big tobacco and big goverment scares me.. If they aren't getting their cut from this through sales and huge taxes, they'll want to ban these things... The goverment is ok with us killing ourselves off before we can collect Social security, especially if we are paying a huge tax on the tobacco to off ourselves.... Big Pharmo wants a cut too...so they will lobby for it to be prescription only... highly regulated,,, raising the cost...which will make the insurance companies happy too

$$$$ is EXACTLY what motivates all of them. The Gov condones tobacco but wants to make OTC nicotine illegal. Think about it.

Millions of people, who simply want an alternative to tobacco, have the most to lose should that happen.

 

[DC2]

some may call me a conspiracy theorist....LOL

But big tobacco and big goverment scares me.. If they aren't getting their cut from this through sales and huge taxes, they'll want to ban these things... The goverment is ok with us killing ourselves off before we can collect Social security, especially if we are paying a huge tax on the tobacco to off ourselves.... Big Pharmo wants a cut too...so they will lobby for it to be prescription only... highly regulated,,, raising the cost...which will make the insurance companies happy too

You're not a conspiracy theorist at all, and everybody needs to be aware of what is going on.
The first step towards fighting against something is recognizing what is going on.

If you've got your head in the sand, you don't see anything to fight against.

 

[esjam]

Lyndagayle - the way you just described the difference is perfect! I am going to use that when I am arguing my point with others! LOL!

 

[BlueMood]

You know, come to think of it, people usually say once an alcoholic always an alcoholic, or once an addict always an addict and that addicts must fight their addictions every day for the rest of their lives. And I've heard ex-smokers often say that they fight their smoking addictions all the time, even years after they've quit.

After smoking for 16 years, I quit smoking for 8 years! I don't even remember what made me start smoking again, but there I was... 2 PAD and 4 years later I discovered eCigs. I may keep lowering my nicotine and eventually wean myself off the eCigs or I may vape until I die. I don't know.

I do know that though I am addicted to smoking, I am currently able to replace it with something just as enjoyable and less disgusting. When I walk past a smoker, I smell him/her and realize that I used to smell like that. My home no longer stinks. My children no longer go to school smelling like walking ashtrays. My breathing is better. I feel better. Call it smoking, vaping, whatever. It may not be exactly healthy, but it sure is not as bad as the alternative IMHO.

some may call me a conspiracy theorist....LOL

But big tobacco and big goverment scares me.. If they aren't getting their cut from this through sales and huge taxes, they'll want to ban these things... The goverment is ok with us killing ourselves off before we can collect Social security, especially if we are paying a huge tax on the tobacco to off ourselves.... Big Pharmo wants a cut too...so they will lobby for it to be prescription only... highly regulated,,, raising the cost...which will make the insurance companies happy too

I have been saying exactly this for quite some time! Thank you!

 

[DaveP]

Tarazzar said:

I know.... I only buy American made juices.... have you ever visited one of these factories in America that extract the nicotine from tobacco? Do they really even exist? Or is every supplier really buying the nicotine from China (as I've heard they own the patent on nicotine extraction) and mixing it in America, thus calling it American made juice....[/quote[

American tobacco companies have been extracting nicotine for decades. They remove nicotine from one type of tobacco that's really loaded and use it to boost other varieties to make ultra light/light/full flavor cigarettes. It's also sold to pharmaceutical companies for use in NRT products.

And, China can't hold the patent for nicotine extraction because a Chinese patent means nothing in the U.S.

I'm with you on buying American made juices. I just wonder how much of the ingredients comes from China.

On another subject, no one really knows how safe continuous vaping is with PG or VG. The inhalers are made to be used as needed for asthma and fog machines aren't run 24 hours (or 16 waking hours) a day like we use PVs.

I know that my lungs are operating more efficiently since I've been vaping. Before I started vaping I tested 99% using an oximeter right after smoking an analog. After vaping, my lungs really became clear.

Once or twice a month, if I vape all VG liquids as day, at night I can tell a difference in my perception of oxygen levels. I switch to PG the next day, sometimes mix a little VG in for more vapor and I'm good.

I have a friend who owned a fish restaurant for 20 years or so. He was usually the chief cook and fried most of his fish in vegetable or peanut oil. He had to sell the restaurant and open a pizza place because his lungs were damaged from inhaling all the grease fumes from the fryers. VG is vegetable glycerine. I do hope that someone will say that there is no comparison and provide links to prove that.

We can't assume complete safety as illustrated by the clip from this link. BTW, glycerol is the common name used for vegetable glycerin.

Glycerol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On May 4, 2007, the US Food and Drug Administration advised all US makers of medicines to test all batches of glycerine for the toxic diethylene glycol.[17] This follows an occurrence of 100 fatal poisonings in Panama resulting from a Chinese factory deliberately falsifying records in order to export the cheaper diethylene glycol as the more expensive glycerol.[18] Glycerine and diethylene glycol are similar in appearance, smell, and taste. The US Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act was passed following the 1937 "Elixir Sulfanilamide" incident of poisoning caused by diethylene glycol contamination of medicine.

PG sources

Propylene glycol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Industrially propylene glycol is produced from propylene oxide .[3] Different manufacturers use either non-catalytic high-temperature process at 200 °C (392 °F) to 220 °C (428 °F), or a catalytic method, which proceeds at 150 °C (302 °F) to 180 °C (356 °F) in the presence of ion exchange resin or a small amount of sulfuric acid or alkali.

Final products contain 20% 1,2-propanediol, 1.5% of dipropylene glycol and small amounts of other polypropylene glycols.[4] Propylene glycol can also be converted from glycerol, a biodiesel byproduct.

The glycerol/biodiesel source is a little scary. Glycerol is vegetable glycerin (VG).

So, we can't completely know that vaping is safe. We just know that we feel better on juice than analogs.

 

[sunnydaze]

This was her comment:
"
I'm really not harping, babe but I am just a bit skeptical about a substitute cigarette as nicotine replacement therapy because it does not address the physical habit of smoking. You know, actually putting a cigarette in your mouth. I realize you will eventually step down to 0 nicotine as with the patches, but you will still have the habit of putting the thing in your mouth....like any other physical habit, such as hair twirling or nail biting, its tough to break....( oh and I can't wait until you are a non-smoker....we former smokers are the worst kind!!!)[/QUOTE]


Couldn't help but respond 2 this!

I read this thread through and wanted to comment ...

I have been vaping only since Jan 15. 2010. (absoluteln NO CHEATS ) And I was a cigarette smoker for decades.

I realized last weekend that for sure "I am a non-smoker". I was @ a good friend's birthday BBQ. I turned her onto vaping... though she continues to have a hard time vaping only. I was sitting next to her on the blanket and once again she said she had to have "a real cigarette". She proceeded to light up, the breeze was going my way. Sitting right beside her I HAD TO GET UP AND STEP BACK because I could not handle breathing her smoke. I couldn't stand the smell, the feel of it going into my lungs and it really did effect my healthy breathing as I felt I couldn't breathe as well.

This reminded me of a thread I have read previously here where it was stated that a vaporer was told he must go to the smoking room to vape. That is something that is not acceptable, I fear that may become a more frequent solution for people who don't understand vaping and consider me still a "smoker". I am NOT a SMOkER. I do not wish to subject my body to the harmful effects of burning cigarette smoke ever again. If such thinking is in control of my vaping "they" the self-righteous non-smoker" will be jeopardizing MY Health by putting me at risk by making me suffer the smoke from "real cigarettes" in a smoking room/area. If they don't want us in the room with them........ we need our own space .... not forced with smokers.

ps..... non-smokers have always suggested "suck on hard candy" ... why is it a problem if I suck on something else? Both are instead of a "real cigarette" and all the cancer risks. Both are still a better alternative

 

[SimpleSins]

Tarazzar said:

I know that my lungs are operating more efficiently since I've been vaping. Before I started vaping I tested 99% using an oximeter right after smoking an analog. After vaping, my lungs really became clear.

Actually, if you had 99% O2 saturation on an oximeter right after smoking a cigarette, you had fantastic lung function to begin with (97-100% considered normal, although there is school of thought among some respiratory therapists and pulmonologists that a consistent un-supplemented 100% reading as it can be indicative of an anemia).

 

[Wylie!]

Hey Dave...

Couldn't help but support what you are highlighting here now. In my own research virtually all e-juice ingredients are manufactured in China. It can be tested by a company that mixes it here in the US, but usually isn't. However, this is true of all flavor extracts... almost every flavor in food flavoring added to almost every processed food or beverage is now originating in China, and I don't think most people are aware of that.

Batteries for the most part are also manufactured primarily in China... and just about everything you can see on every store shelf now days either was shipped from China or has components that originate in China. So, not only vaper product users are at the mercy of Chinese manufacturers, but just about every user of every imaginable product is too... and that is especially true of food additives and many food products... so the FDA can take a look across the board on behalf of all consumers, and not just those who choose to vape... we are all at risk... vapers and non vapers.

 

[xg4bx]

I've found it hard to explain to non-smokers/ex smokers that I simply enjoy smoking and the ritual of it moreso than even the nicotine. It's a hard concept for some people to grasp. This is simply a safer way to enjoy it much like making cheeseburgers on a George Foreman grill if I loved cheeseburgers. It's still not great for you but it's definitely safer.

 

[Lisa2112]

Getting the same thing MoonRose. I have one friend that kicked the habit about 6 months back and she's told me that this isn't going to work for me. That I can do it without it. I told her that I respect how she feels but I have to do this my way.

Not to mention who cares if you don't kick the physical habit. Some people just can't be happy no matter what you do.

I start tonight and I am both apprehensive and excited.

I'm right there with you and you can do this!

 

[Wylie!]

Isn't it amazing that there is always someone to find fault with someone else, that has every right to do whatever it is they are doing, and get in their face about it?

If a person likes to put something in their mouth, that pleases them... seems to me they are exercising a pursuit of happiness in their own way. What business is it of someone else to criticize them for what makes them happy? Yet it happens all the time, and some people now days feel like it is their duty to live other peoples lives for them.

You quite smoking, and someone else thinks you ought to quit vaping, or putting something in your mouth that tastes good... ignore them, be happy. right up until they lobby the government to regulate your behavior... and they probably will if they can. So, enjoy your selfish pleasures every chance you get...

 

[sadoway]

i find alot of people say " your still a smoker, so you should do it in the same places, and be treated the same"

i try to explain that it only looks the same, it does not have any second hand smoke, its just water vapor and its not hurting anyone else. i play the frustration card that im trying to quit smoking and this is helping me quit because it releases my urge to smoke on a cancer stick.

 

[MoonRose]

i find alot of people say " your still a smoker, so you should do it in the same places, and be treated the same"

i try to explain that it only looks the same, it does not have any second hand smoke, its just water vapor and its not hurting anyone else. i play the frustration card that im trying to quit smoking and this is helping me quit because it releases my urge to smoke on a cancer stick.

They keep up their holier than thou attitudes and I just might be tempted to tell them that I'm trying to quit smoking and this is keeping me from choking the living daylights out of them.

 

[AJS95060]

How can anyone smoke without smoke?
FYI Vapor is not smoke!

 

[Ast_Isis]

After reading all 12 pgs of this thread, I feel the need to say this:

/soapbox mode on

It does NOT matter what anyone else thinks, says, or does. It is up to you to make the decision to quit smoking and vape. It is up to you to choose if you want to lower your nicotine intake or eventually stop vaping. It is up to you to decide if you are still a smoker or non-smoker. It is your health...your life...your decision.

Opinions are like holes, everyone has one.

/soapbox mode off

 

[Wylie!]

I feel like you do MoonRose!

I can't wait to get to vaping 0% nicotine...

In my lifetime, I have seen where schools have created a whole generation of people that now think that they have every right to live other peoples lives for them... where in times past people were taught to respect others and mind their own business. Now, it is proper for people to openly dominate, criticize and insult anyone that they think they can.

In times past we used to call folks who were always criticizing others "petty tyrants." I still think they are. But, since they have been educated to think that if someone has anything that looks like smoke coming out of their mouth, that it is open season to criticize them, insult them, segregate them, or otherwise control their behavior, there is probably nothing short of reeducating the next generation that is going to change this state of affairs I am afraid.

For myself, I just do what makes me happy, and stick with people of like mind. So keep your environment under your control... vape by yourself in the privacy of your home... socialize with those that do, and give those that don't a cold shoulder. NOW that there is a product that satisfies me, and doesn't put others at risk, I am ready to fight attempts to ban or control my behavior past this point.