Study finds US smokers who have used e-cigs daily (for at least a month) are six times more likely to have quit smoking than smokers who haven't vaped

[Nate760]

Remember those days when this rabid anti-smoking campaign started?

I'm so old, I remember when anti-smoking campaigns were all about smoking.

 

[AndriaD]

To me, this paragraph is emblematic of the flaws in Dr. Siegel's worldview, which remains much closer to "tobacco control" than "tobacco harm reduction."

He simply can't wrap his head around the fact that some people like to smoke and don't want to quit. He believes (quite incorrectly) that all smokers have an innate desire to quit, and that if they try e-cigs and fail to stop smoking, then there must be some sort of problem with the devices themselves. He seems unwilling to indulge even the slightest possibility that some smokers enjoy smoking, are fully cognizant of the health risks, and choose to smoke anyway. This thinking is misguided and wrongheaded on a whole host of different levels.

Also there are those who may, externally, say they'd like to quit, due to social/societal pressure, peer pressure basically, but they don't actually want to -- I was that way for a long time, thinking oh I have to quit, my husband and everyone in my family is a non-smoker... but I really didn't want to, as I finally faced up to, and just started telling anyone who had the nerve to ask me about it, no, I probably won't ever quit. If it hadn't been for having asthma, and the confluence of a) my own awareness of e-cigs, and b) the coldest winter in 30 yrs, I wouldn't have been terribly interested in quitting, so even if I'd tried them, I would have just gone back to smoking. There does need to be a truly internal motivation in order to do something of this nature, of this caliber -- ie, those sent to AA by the court do not generally stay sober after their count-mandated AA attendance is past -- it just doesn't work that way. Those with that internal motivation will voluntarily begin substituting vaping for smoking, and that's precisely the method that has worked for me twice, the gradual replacement of smoking by vaping (and it took just about a month, both times).

Andria

 

[Nate760]

Also there are those who may, externally, say they'd like to quit, due to social/societal pressure, peer pressure basically, but they don't actually want to

This is a very salient point as well. Anti-smoking hysteria is such an ingrained part of our public orthodoxy at this point that saying "I like to smoke and don't want to quit" is about as socially acceptable as saying you like to sleep naked with little kids.

 

[Kent C]

Also there are those who may, externally, say they'd like to quit, due to social/societal pressure, peer pressure basically, but they don't actually want to -- I was that way for a long time, thinking oh I have to quit, my husband and everyone in my family is a non-smoker... but I really didn't want to, as I finally faced up to, and just started telling anyone who had the nerve to ask me about it, no, I probably won't ever quit. If it hadn't been for having asthma, and the confluence of a) my own awareness of e-cigs, and b) the coldest winter in 30 yrs, I wouldn't have been terribly interested in quitting, so even if I'd tried them, I would have just gone back to smoking. There does need to be a truly internal motivation in order to do something of this nature, of this caliber -- ie, those sent to AA by the court do not generally stay sober after their count-mandated AA attendance is past -- it just doesn't work that way. Those with that internal motivation will voluntarily begin substituting vaping for smoking, and that's precisely the method that has worked for me twice, the gradual replacement of smoking by vaping (and it took just about a month, both times).

Andria

"Peer pressure". Fascinating subject. Exploited by many. Held up against by few. Shades of Sunstein's 'Nudge' too.

 

[AndriaD]

I meant to add, too, but was beginning to be embroiled in dinner prep -- what you pointed out, Nate, as Siegel's apparent belief that all smokers have a desire to quit -- it's simply bias, showing very clearly. It's human nature to assume that whatever we believe must be believed by many if not all others -- bias; I ran into this with one of the first people outside my family that I told about my quitting with e-cigs; she asked how long I would use e-cigs before quitting those too. I shrugged and said I had no particular intent or desire to ever quit using e-cigs, and she gave this fake shudder and said she couldn't imagine "always having to do that--" making the smoking hand-to-mouth motion. I shrugged again and pointed out that after 39 yrs of smoking, I was pretty much over that, and in fact couldn't imagine living without it. Which is my own bias, with those around here who seem to think it necessary to 'wean down' from nicotine so they can ultimately quit vaping -- I simply can't figure out why they'd want to do that, unless they have some significant health problem that makes it desirable. I also have this same bias with those who know about e-cigs yet still very happily smoke -- I feel I must "give them the good news" like some 1st century evangelical or something, and I have to fight that impulse, so as not to be obnoxious.

Andria

 

[Nate760]

Which is my own bias, with those around here who seem to think it necessary to 'wean down' from nicotine so they can ultimately quit vaping -- I simply can't figure out why they'd want to do that, unless they have some significant health problem that makes it desirable.

I think that's another case where ANTZ hysteria (most notably their constant efforts to conflate "smoking" with "nicotine") has become so pervasive that it informs people's attitudes and actions without them even realizing it. We've been conditioned to believe all nicotine use is tantamount to addiction/dependence, and that nicotine use is only acceptable if abstinence is the ultimate goal.

Edit: and e-liquid manufacturers probably don't mind that this misconception exists, because it obviously costs them less to make low-nic or zero-nic liquid, but they can sell it for the same price as the high-strength stuff.

 

[AndriaD]

I think that's another case where ANTZ hysteria (most notably their constant efforts to conflate "smoking" with "nicotine") has become so pervasive that it informs people's attitudes and actions without them even realizing it. We've been conditioned to believe all nicotine use is tantamount to addiction/dependence, and that nicotine use is only acceptable if abstinence is the ultimate goal.

I do think that's true, except, as I said, for those who do have health problems that would be best suited with neither smoking nor vaping. And I think I'm insulated from that bias because I accepted many, many years ago that I am an addict, up one side and down the other -- rehab 28 years ago, sober for the last 22 years. Being an addict is part of who I am, and I accept that, and I know that I function best with nicotine, and after 39 years of its use, getting rid of it entirely may not be possible OR desirable. And I'm pretty ding dang certain that losing the physical behavior that vaping mimics so beautifully would be impossible. I could be wrong, I might lose my taste or desire or need for it, but I really don't look for that to happen. As best I can tell from my experience this summer, stopping vaping would lead just one place -- back to smoking, and really, I've done that more than enough; I'm good with vaping instead.

Edit: and e-liquid manufacturers probably don't mind that this misconception exists, because it obviously costs them less to make low-nic or zero-nic liquid, but they can sell it for the same price as the high-strength stuff.

THAT's the truth! The online calculator I've been using for my DIY efforts lets me also calculate the cost of what I make, based on the cost of the ingredients -- a 15ml bottle of ejuice for 90 cents instead of $9.95 is the best reason yet for my DIY efforts to carry on, until I can make everything that I vape -- besides being able to make the perfect nic level and PG/VG proportion for my own needs.

Andria