We are all Cheaters!

[SheerLuckHolmes]

I posted this in another thread and it got me thinking about why it is so difficult to get the support and acceptance that we are all looking for.


"The comments in here are very interesting. Particularly the discriptions of ex-smokers who are saying how difficult it was to stop 'smoking'. They are saying they stopped everything - all of the actions of smoking and anything less than that deminishes their accomplishment. So it sounds like when we vap to obtain all the benefits of not smoking without the need to fight the actions of 'non-smoking' it is cheating somehow to the ex-smokers and probably to the non-smokers as well.

And nobody likes a cheater."

This idea that smoking is bad means, to those that don't smoke, that there must be sacrifice and difficulty in giving it up. Anything that makes it easy is just cheating and will not be tolerated by those that did go through the tortures of withdrawal and those that want to see others suffer.

The further we can get away from the label of smoking the better for this reason. And why the mod's that do not look like cigarettes will be so much better. I also think that the more we can equate vap'n nicotine with caffeine in coffee the better as well.

 

[RIMP]

I concur I've gotten more flack from ex-smokers than non-smokers
RIMP

 

[Silence]

im not quitting smoking... im quitting cigarettes

 

[evil1rox]

It seems to me, ex-smokers are usually the most didactic and self-righteous when it comes to vaping.

-probably based on jealousy

E

 

[ProfessorDaffy]

I posted this in another thread and it got me thinking about why it is so difficult to get the support and acceptance that we are all looking for.


"The comments in here are very interesting. Particularly the discriptions of ex-smokers who are saying how difficult it was to stop 'smoking'. They are saying they stopped everything - all of the actions of smoking and anything less than that deminishes their accomplishment. So it sounds like when we vap to obtain all the benefits of not smoking without the need to fight the actions of 'non-smoking' it is cheating somehow to the ex-smokers and probably to the non-smokers as well.

And nobody likes a cheater."

This idea that smoking is bad means, to those that don't smoke, that there must be sacrifice and difficulty in giving it up. Anything that makes it easy is just cheating and will not be tolerated by those that did go through the tortures of withdrawal and those that want to see others suffer.

The further we can get away from the label of smoking the better for this reason. And why the mod's that do not look like cigarettes will be so much better. I also think that the more we can equate vap'n nicotine with caffeine in coffee the better as well.

I tend to think we're giving up the tar and carcinogens. What we are not giving up is an activity we enjoy. If you like baseball are you giving it up if you stitch to softball? I don't play golf, but I do enjoy playing golf on the Wii. I don't miss the interaction with the girl at the gas station that I used to by cigarettes from. Now I get to talk to the postal carrier instead.

I've always liked the comparison to nicotine and caffeine, too. Two stimulants of choice. So, lets make a choice while we still can.

--Prof Daffy

 

[fearsintophobias]

I agree, every once in a while I get someone who asks me when I'm gonna put my e-cig down. Just like silence, I quit tobacco, not the act of "smoking". And for the people that really wish a torturous withdrawal on my part, been there, done that. I've quit for many months at a time before and always found my way back to smoking. With the e-cig I can safely say I will never be a cigarette smoker again. Period.

 

[kristin]

I beg to differ. We HAVE quit smoking. What we haven't quit is inhaling nicotine.

But nicotine has been so vilified, as the reason people are addicted to smoking, that it's been misunderstood as the cause of smoking-related diseases and people can't separate the two.

 

[Darmeen]

I beg to differ. We HAVE quit smoking. What we haven't quit is inhaling nicotine.

But nicotine has been so vilified, as the reason people are addicted to smoking, that it's been misunderstood as the cause of smoking-related diseases and people can't separate the two.

QFT

I totally agree...I don't smoke anymore, as what I am inhaling is not smoke. We should all be educating those around us that nicotine isn't the big evil we all thought it was.

My step sister made a comment about my bad habit the other day...and I simply told her that she didn't understand, and if she didn't want to sit down and try to comprehend, there was nothing I could do. I said "Look, either I smoke those stinky cigs with all their cancer causing additives or I use this PV, which doesn't have all those things in it...now which one did you want me to do?"

She smiled at me, kissed me on the cheek, and thanked me for explaining it to her...later that day she wanted me to show her boyfriend how it worked and what it did for me...

Education is key!

 

[cliff5550]

Ya know? I don't really, at all, in the least, care what an ex-smoker has to say. They're just ticked off because ecigs weren't around when they quit. They would be doing the same thing. Not a doubt in my mind.

 

[kase]

I'll gladly admit that I'm a cheater. I'm cheating death, and doing it in style with lots of nicotine!

 

[Silence]

I beg to differ. We HAVE quit smoking. What we haven't quit is inhaling nicotine.

Ok I will concede this point but only as far as I didn't want to quit smoking... I wanted to quit the 4000+ bad things cigarettes do to you.

 

[martha1014]

Recently I went on a quit smoking forum. There was a heated argument with an ecig user. They were trying to get the ex-smokers to understand what ecig were and what they were used for. The ex-smokers argured that this was not the same thing as quitting smoking. You did not go through withdrawal that other non-smokers go through. They told the ecig user to go back to the ecig forum and get off of theirs. I actually refused to even discuss this.

 

[catlvr]

I'll gladly admit that I'm a cheater. I'm cheating death, and doing it in style with lots of nicotine!

Lol! Same here! Cheater and proud of it!

 

[Silence]

You did not go through withdrawal that other non-smokers go through.

Isn't that the point... I mean thats what made quitting cigarettes easy for me.

 

[chrisl317]

I was a drunk for 14 years. I've been sober for 18 1/2 quitting cold turkey. I don't begrudge anyone drinking. You want to have a drink fine. Once you become a sloppy drunk, that's when I won't put up with it.
I look at e-cigs similarly. You want to quit smoking O.K., I wanted to quit cigarettes. Just because you want to carry your cross on your shoulders and proclaim your pain from abstinance, doesn't make my success any less in quitting cigarettes. Don't think I really explained it right.

 

[umop apisdn]

E-cigs definitely help you cheat. They help you cheat the best things in life you could possibly cheat. Death and taxes.

I always do try to relate vaping to caffeine. They're both stimulants, they're both addicting (yes, coffee is very addictive, look at how many people can't function without it), and they both cause mild damage to your cardio system. Oh, and they're both very pleasing and legal.

It's just a shame these e-cigs weren't out since the 90's, before all the anti-smoking hatred that came about. People seem to think nicotine is the devil now, when they couldn't be further from the truth.

 

[hittman]

I don't know about anyone else but I did go thru some withdrawal from the analog chemicals that I was no longer taking in. I just didn't go thru a nicotine withdrawal. When I first switched over completely, I did have some days that I would swear I was going thru some kind of detox.

 

[Silence]

I was a drunk for 14 years. I've been sober for 18 1/2 quitting cold turkey. I don't begrudge anyone drinking. You want to have a drink fine. Once you become a sloppy drunk, that's when I won't put up with it.
I look at e-cigs similarly. You want to quit smoking O.K., I wanted to quit cigarettes. Just because you want to carry your cross on your shoulders and proclaim you pain from abstinance, doesn't make my success any less in quitting cigarettes. Don't think I really explained it right.

I think your explanation was spot on. I will not be carrying a cross. And I think that is a fantastic way to phrase it.

 

[umop apisdn]

I was a drunk for 14 years. I've been sober for 18 1/2 quitting cold turkey. I don't begrudge anyone drinking. You want to have a drink fine. Once you become a sloppy drunk, that's when I won't put up with it.
I look at e-cigs similarly. You want to quit smoking O.K., I wanted to quit cigarettes. Just because you want to carry your cross on your shoulders and proclaim you pain from abstinance, doesn't make my success any less in quitting cigarettes. Don't think I really explained it right.

First off, congratulations 18 and a half years late, but I think that makes it even more of an accomplishment! I'm also glad you're also very reasonable about it too. Most people that stop drinking seem to have to push it off on others. Keep it up! And I agree with the whole sloppy drunk thing, you'd be surprised to see how bad some high school kids are with it.

But then again, I know it's a terrible example, but would you really consider quitting drinking if you had an alternative form of alcohol you didn't have to "drink" to use? I agree with you, quitting smoking is a great accomplishment, but you do have to understand the other side at least. Hell, I'd be ...... if I was a pack a day smoker for 40 years just to quit and find out that e-cigs were invented. It also makes quitting "smoking" a LOT easier since you don't have to go through withdrawals. (I won't assume you had them with your drinking, but it's possible.)

Vaping is definitely a great thing. But I don't flaunt that I "quit smoking". I just tell people the truth, I loved nicotine, and hated cancer, so I replaced it. (and benefited in practically every possible way compared to analogs! =D) I still have a mountain of respect for people who can quit nicotine altogether, hopeully I'll have the same willpower should I (if I ever want to) decide to quit it.

My bad for the wall, I'll give it back to china when I get the chance. =X

 

[MickiO]

I have MS and am in a wheelchair, so being able to to completely stop smoking 30+ tobacco cigarettes a day, after 31 years of trying to quit, is a wonderful thing in my eyes! It's a life saver for many people, who are not putting all those 4,000+ chemicals into their body any more,

And thanks e-cigs, I've also able to graduate down to 2 mg of nicotine, which is next to nothing per drop, and some days I vape 0 nic all day, and other days, I hardly vape at all, I can go for hours between vaping, I could NEVER do that with cigs, so it's became a matter of choice. I think some may be a little resentful or jealous that pv's weren't available earlier when they were trying to quit.

My life has dramatically improved over the past 4 1/2 months or so of not smoking, I can breath deeply, lungs are strong and clear, my over all well-being has improved significantly, For 30 yrs, I was drastically under-weight, and I am finally gaining weight, I feel 100%+ better than I have in years! My muscles are getting stronger and stronger every day, I am able to stand for longer periods without my wheelchair, or any support, I could go on & on of the wonderful benefits & plus' and ways that my quality of life has improved due to being able to use pv's, instead of cigs. There is ALOT of good that's came from not smoking analogs, and switching to pv, IMO

So, I have to to ask, what am I cheating exactly? the only thing I can thing of that I'm cheating, is death. From the first day I stopped smoking, all I could think of is how an early death would affect my family's life, and I gave alot of thought and care into what it would do to do them.

(Not to mention, switching to pv has encouraged my husband to also stop smoking, and others are no longer breather second-hand smoke around us.)

Yet knowing all of these things, I have a neighbor who has asked me ATLEAST 5 times now, and again just yesterday, as soon as he sees me vaping "I thought for sure, you'd be off those things by now!!!"

I've explained it every way I know how, finally yesterday when he said it, I just said,"this keeps me from smoking!" He just turned away from me and as if my answer made him even MORE disgusted with the idea of e-cigs. He smokes cigs only occasionally, like 2 or 3 cigs a month, so I guess it's no big deal to him,

To me, quitting tobacco smoking, whether it's cold turkey, pv's, meds or other means, is a wonderful, wonderful victory!!!