The Magnificent Obsession

[ctruth]

This is a GREAT forum! I have learned so much here, in my 3 weeks as an e-smoker!

In pondering many of the threads here, I have paused to wonder about this new addiction.

Is this new technology really about quitting analogs?

I think not, for those of us who hang on….

This whole multi e-flavor thing is based on an overwhelming variety which is essentially, extreme overkill, in terms of the basic needs required to curb your analog addiction. The same analogy applies to the plethora of e-cig devices and accessories now available, and continuing to evolve and multiply.

In less than one month I have already spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars on e-equipment and supplies. A frantic urge to “stock up” for an emergency, less (G forbid), I relapse!, A fervent prayer that I won’t run out of e-stuff.

We ex-smokers are a strange, desperate breed.

We are all learning skills, not necessarily for the purpose of being addiction free, but in order to become more adept at using this new, healthier modification to analog smoking. I now understand the concept of the straw mod, various atty cleaning techniques, and the magic of eye-dropper mixing. I can now use my middle and index finger like a third hand when refilling carts and unscrewing-re-screwing caps on e-juice bottles.

How many of your e-cigarette experiences are truly related to quitting analogs? And how many of your experiences and perceptions with this new technology were (at first), predicated on panic, frustration, fear and symptoms of withdrawal? (and then later, relegated to) just plain fun?

I mean, let’s face it, there are folk in here who have long since become non-smokers.

I think we all need to honestly admit that e-stuff has become an obsession and a hobby, as opposed to a means to an end.

And yes, the purposefulness and compassion for reaching out to those poor, lost devils who, but for the grace of God, would be us.

ctruth

 

[DC2]

Well, I never wanted to quit smoking cigarettes.
And now I don't want to quit using my electronic cigarette.

And when I say I don't want to quit, I mean ever.

But yeah, if someone wants to quit, these can really help.
The ability to gradually reduce your nicotine intake is an option that can be immensely helpful.

But many of us find out our addiction isn't really about the nicotine so much as we thought.
I know my addicition has almost nothing to do with nicotine.

I like taking that "smoke break" to get away from stress and be alone with my thoughts.
That is what I am really and truly addicted to, but that is just me.

But you'll get a whole range of replies to this, I'm sure, because we are all different.
We all smoke for different reasons, and all get something different out of the experience.

 

[cluster]

I like nicotine as a drug. I like the flavors of vapor. I can intake more nicotine through vaping than through smoking because there is a daily threshold in smoking cigarettes after which i'd spend a bad night and a bad next morning -- coughing and wheezing.

I like changing my consciousness through drugs. It is what the botanist Michael Pollan calls one of the primordial urge of human life after food and sex (and more than that, a lot of mammals actually seek and use drugs.. and humans discovered some of them by imitation) and nicotine is quite effective as a stimulant and a relaxant.

I didn't spend a lot money on it. I don't have the temptation of buying secondary vaporizers, superfluous parts, or more e-liquid than i will use. It's not as cheap as when i smoked rollies but not far from it either.

It's all very pragmatic.

 

[rjp44]

I know what you mean. I just ordered another 180 ml of juice and 16 more attys.....LOL.

 

[tony206]

It wasn't about quitting for me... that just followed suit. However, now that I am going on e-cigs I will never stop. And one good thing about being a supplier is that I have access to a lifetime supply of goods

 

[thewomenfolk]

"Where there's a Will, there's a Way"

Cigarettes were slowly and painfully killing me. Hon Lik of China made a Way for me to realize my Will to quit smoking them, when he invented the e-cig. Nothing else worked because I primarily needed and wanted something other than a nicotine delivery system.

I consider Vaping not only a much healthier alternative to Smoking, but a life saver as well. It matters not one bit to me that the first PV I bought didn't promise to help me quit smoking. The fact of the matter is that it did.

To say I am tickled pink to be a non-smoker is an understatement, something that before I discovered the ecig I never dreamed was possible. I know I'm not alone on this Forum when I say that for me, quitting smoking was truly nothing short of a miracle.

 

[cliff5550]

Ours was mostly a financial decision. The better health as a result was a major and unexpected plus. Prices on cigarettes were just getting too high and we put pencil to paper to figure if e-cigs could be the answer.
Decided to give it a try with two SmokeStick starter kits (RN4081s) and dropped a total of about $200, which included several packs of filled carts. We found we loved vaping and we've been here since.
Just check the signature tag. We've spent only half of that amount. We're saving money, breathing so much better, and loving it.

 

[Stormee]

Same here. Don't want to give up nicotine. Vaping is more convenient, smells better, tastes better, and is much healthier. For me it was like the time I traded in my Pontiac for my Cadillac! Not everyone is using ecigs in an attempt to quit nicotine. I might be getting higher doses of nic by vaping than I did with analogs, but it makes no difference to me. I'm a happy vaper!

 

[DC2]

I like changing my consciousness through drugs. It is what the botanist Michael Pollan calls one of the primordial urge of human life after food and sex...

So few people understand this.

 

[plantlvr]

I tried ecigs out of curiosity and maybe a way to 'sneak' a smoke at work, very anti-smoking place of business. When I started vaping, it was like a cloud had lifted. This was fun! And tasty! And doesn't stink! And etc...
So for me I want to vape forever because I love it, just the way I thought I loved smoking.

 

[G_Jones]

I tried it looking for a more effective nicotine delivery method than foul lozenges. I am extremely happy, I get all the joys I miss from cigarettes plus it is a far superior experience. I did not expect it would be not only a replacement for smoking, but even more enjoyable of a hobby.

Also, I can vape anywhere without my smoke bothering anyone, ruining good clothes or damaging expensive equipment. It's a great conversation piece as well. Overall, it has improved my mood and well-being; I don't feel like I'm having to continually and willfully deprive myself of doing something that I really wish I could be doing (analogs), and I am pretty certain now that the ability to get good amounts of nicotine is directly related to cognitive abilities.

The idea that I can vape indefinitely, without feeling that I'm doing something bad or needing to quit is a good feeling. I like the ability to control how much (if any) nicotine I am getting at any time, and enjoy discovering new flavors. As a hobby, this is pretty inexpensive, and I look forward to all the different equipment and juices in my future.

I look forward to the technology improving as well, seems like it is not quite there for what the experience requires (batteries, leakages etc) though I say that while stuck with stock equipment, waiting for my first PV mod to arrive.

So I am not approaching e-cigs as a way to quit anything, though I wish I would have had them when I did give up actual cigarettes, I think it would have been far less traumatic of an experience to do so. In fact I feel I never fully recovered from the trauma of quitting cigarettes until discovering vaping.