I think this entire thread is as fascinating a Rorschach of attitudes about smoking/vaping as I've ever seen on this forum.
As long as I've been vaping and been here, I have always suspected that the actively posting members of ECF are unrepresentative of the larger universe of people who have incorporated the e-cigarette into their lives. I'll bet if you could poll all e-cig users who have never been to ECF or people who joined but have seldom or never visited since (much less, posted)--subtracting those who bought one and immediately abandoned it, you would find a majority are e-cig users who still smoke. Of them, some have probably reduced their smoking dramatically, others not at all.
I'm in the "dramatically-reduced" category. I started with an e-cig out of curiosity, not knowing whether it would be a quit aid, a cutting-down aid, or something to get me through those times and places where I can't smoke. In 40+ years of 1+ ppd, I had never felt desperate to become a non-smoker, although in recent years trudging a couple hundred yards in waist-deep snow had started to tax my breathing and make me think. I've plateaued over the last eight months or so to a very reliable level of four or five cigarettes a day. This nearly always means no cigarettes after 7 a.m. (by which time I've always smoked two) and none before 8 p.m.
I like my routine because:
1. I like the taste of cigarettes and (get this!) the smell of smoke.
2. I can feel the improvement in my breathing and dramatically less coughing.
3. I'm saving money, having pretty much stabilized my hardware and settled on an incredibly cheap liquid choice.
4. This way I don't qualify to become an insufferable ex-smoker/anti-smoker of the kind I've always abhorred. I like smokers too much to want to be mean to them. I was raised by smokers: I just figured out that 75% of the generation that raised me (parents, aunts, uncles) smoked. Some died of it; some didn't. This is to say, whether I'm a smoker or not, given the choice of being made to live on a desert island where everybody else was 100% smokers or 100% non-smokers, I'd go with the smokers. Does nicotine promote an even temperament and a tolerant attitude? Sometimes I think so.
5. Health? As far as the various smoking-related cancers go, I strongly suspect that die was cast for me decades ago. I've heard of too many long-time ex-smokers who developed lung cancer. We'll see. As for the respiratory diseases, I do hope, and have at least some personal evidence to believe, that with more vaping and less smoking I've at least slowed down the rate at which those overtake me. If I've done so long enough for something else to do me in first, I win.
6. Addiction? At this stage of my life, I'm not that concerned about it as a thing in itself. I'm imperfect in many ways. I'll bet most here are.
In short, I'm feeling considerable incredulity over the incredulity of many of the reactions to the original post.
As long as I've been vaping and been here, I have always suspected that the actively posting members of ECF are unrepresentative of the larger universe of people who have incorporated the e-cigarette into their lives. I'll bet if you could poll all e-cig users who have never been to ECF or people who joined but have seldom or never visited since (much less, posted)--subtracting those who bought one and immediately abandoned it, you would find a majority are e-cig users who still smoke. Of them, some have probably reduced their smoking dramatically, others not at all.
I'm in the "dramatically-reduced" category. I started with an e-cig out of curiosity, not knowing whether it would be a quit aid, a cutting-down aid, or something to get me through those times and places where I can't smoke. In 40+ years of 1+ ppd, I had never felt desperate to become a non-smoker, although in recent years trudging a couple hundred yards in waist-deep snow had started to tax my breathing and make me think. I've plateaued over the last eight months or so to a very reliable level of four or five cigarettes a day. This nearly always means no cigarettes after 7 a.m. (by which time I've always smoked two) and none before 8 p.m.
I like my routine because:
1. I like the taste of cigarettes and (get this!) the smell of smoke.
2. I can feel the improvement in my breathing and dramatically less coughing.
3. I'm saving money, having pretty much stabilized my hardware and settled on an incredibly cheap liquid choice.
4. This way I don't qualify to become an insufferable ex-smoker/anti-smoker of the kind I've always abhorred. I like smokers too much to want to be mean to them. I was raised by smokers: I just figured out that 75% of the generation that raised me (parents, aunts, uncles) smoked. Some died of it; some didn't. This is to say, whether I'm a smoker or not, given the choice of being made to live on a desert island where everybody else was 100% smokers or 100% non-smokers, I'd go with the smokers. Does nicotine promote an even temperament and a tolerant attitude? Sometimes I think so.
5. Health? As far as the various smoking-related cancers go, I strongly suspect that die was cast for me decades ago. I've heard of too many long-time ex-smokers who developed lung cancer. We'll see. As for the respiratory diseases, I do hope, and have at least some personal evidence to believe, that with more vaping and less smoking I've at least slowed down the rate at which those overtake me. If I've done so long enough for something else to do me in first, I win.
6. Addiction? At this stage of my life, I'm not that concerned about it as a thing in itself. I'm imperfect in many ways. I'll bet most here are.
In short, I'm feeling considerable incredulity over the incredulity of many of the reactions to the original post.
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