Whats your reaction to smokers now that you vap?

[Amblerg]

I, too, have been smoke free for over 2 months now; due to my provape PV-1. I love it. I love being able to vape almost anywhere I go, and breath much better. I feel more healthy.


Now that I dont smoke, I cant stand cigarettes. Its crazy to think how much money I spent on smokes and how I regret it. I actually threw up the other week from being around so much cig smoke.
all of my friends that smoke, who have seen my PV-1 love it and want to buy one.
Its moderately expensive but less than cigs by far in the long run, not to mention the above said health benefits.

 

[rayneinspain]

To be honest, people who say those kinds of self-righteous things annoyed me even before I was a smoker. Really, who do these people think they are?

I actually had someone take a swing at me once when I lit up. I was always very careful to never blown smoke at anyone.

Thanks to junk science, we now live in a world overrun by self-centered hypochondriacs...who feel entitled to dictate morality, by force if need be.

And honestly, the 2nd hand smoke risk is over-blown. Your risk of getting lung cancer from second-hand smoke is dwarfed by your risk from car exhaust. The only people who are at true risk by second-smoke are bartenders and the like who stand in it for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Wearing deodorant is more likely to give you cancer than occasional second-hand smoke (yes, really).

Read up on the WHO's sudden change of heart after their initial studies showed negligible negative effects of second-hand smoke, and public outcry ensued.

Well said.

I've worked as a medical coder for 12 years (analysis of patient records and the assignment of diagnostic/procedural codes for statistics, patient care, and reimbursement). In those 12 years, I've worked in 8 states (west coast, midwest, mid-atlantic, south), for at least 36 facilities, at many of them as a consultant.

I have yet to come across a single patient whose cancer was definitively linked to SHS, a SIDS death definitively linked to SHS, or sudden death (even jokingly) linked to SHS exposure (hey, some 'studies' claim 30-minute exposure can kill you).

Sure, the docs try to blame SHS (and smoking analogs) to a myriad of conditions...while comically ignoring the obvious. Can't tell you how many Black Lung patients I've seen whose conditions were stated to be caused by their smoking (or by their spouses) and NOT the 20-odd years they spent in the coal mines, even though the link between them has been unequivocal.

In the last 3 years, I've seen medical 'professionals' do an about-face in how they've treated me as a patient. What used to be respectful reminders to quit smoking have morphed into outright insults, harassment, and verbal abuse. My PCP, whose sole intent was to 'win' the argument at my final visit, went so far as to LIE and say his father was dying of lung cancer. It had to be a lie...he was smiling. That, or he's one sick [insert epithet here]. That came after months of him ignoring known infections and blaming viral illnesses on my smoking. I fired him finally, and spent the next two months in a deep depression.

I find these second-hand smoke "studies" amusing, frankly. I read one recently that claimed second-hand smoke causes dementia, even though cigarettes are well-known for reducing risk of dementia. Ummmm...

That was one of the things my PCP said to me. He yelled at me when I dared to protest his 'facts'.

Medical discrimination is here, and it's backfiring...but they don't seem to care. Several members of my husband's family refuse to seek regular or emergent care because of the way medical staff have treated them, as smokers.

People who feel like they have a right to comment on other people's choices really need to get down off that horse. I had a clerk at a store who was 200 pounds overweight make comments at me when I bought cigs. Seriously? Nothing against overweight people, but she's not really in a position to be commenting on my health.

Similarly, people tell me to "eat a hamburger" all the time, but it's not ok to say something rude like that to someone who is overweight, or make fun of someone who wears unusual religious attire.

The religious and the overweight are off-limits, but smokers and skinny people are fair game. Hell of a world we live in.

As someone around that same weight, I'm actually glad it's not (yet) commonplace to publicly bash the overweight. I understand how some may want to lash back, to make another group of people hurt or feel shame...

...but is that what we want to happen?

It seems like we're living in an age where it's the norm to spew venom and intolerance to whatever section of society we don't approve of. I've really never seen things so divisive as they are now, especially with kids.

The hate is contagious.

Knowing that, I refuse to treat smokers the way I was treated, now that I vape.

Just Say No to Groupthink.

 

[Little Girl]

Well I am not quiting my vaping for the entire time I am there when someone can vape in public legally.. I will again tell them that I vape and the info on it.. If they don't like it, either I will try to get outside if possible (will find out prior to leaving), or I won't go at all..

That's the spirit!

I am tired of being a second class citizen.. I maybe should have just not quit smoking since this is how the anti-smokers are over-powering the country...

Please don't let the ignorance and prejudice of others cause you to question yourself. Quitting was a great thing to do for your health, and what others think of what you do is ultimately irrelevant.

I felt as if I was the only one around here who thought the same exact things about the anti-smoking, car exaust/smoke stacks and all the other pollutants, let alone people who "think" they have the right to tell other people what to do, when in fact it's obvious that they are doing something "considered" unhealthy also jumping at us evil smokers and vaper-ers..

Many of us feel the same way. It's just very important that we approach the topic of e-cigarettes with great caution, especially when dealing with others who are either afraid of them or against them. If we come across as aggressive or rude or dishonest or negative, then all we'll do is get them to fight us. That old saying about killing them with kindness will go a long way toward winning them over with friendly cooperation and gentle logic instead.

I don't buy all these so-called studies either...

That's not surprising! The way studies work is that the people who do them have no obligation to disclose the results of any studies, let alone the fact that any were done. In fact, there are laws protecting their right to non-disclosure. So they can do as many studies as they like and only publish the results of any that happen to be in their favor or support their claims. So if you hear of a study that claims that X does Y, you may very well be getting the results of one study without ever hearing of the ninety nine studies they had to do prior to that one to get that result...

I just can't take it... If I am going to put up with all of this using an e-ciggie (especially my Janty Stick that doesn't even look like a ciggie at all), why did we bother to quit?? We are being abused anyway..

Because it wasn't abuse from others that you were quitting - it was an attack upon your body. You're free of that attack now, and that's wonderful.

 

[LadyPhoenix]

Right on Rayneinspain! It's become all too commonplace to condemn the person and not the behavior. And soon they become inexorably linked.

It's pretty subtle. When people mean to say "I hate smoking", instead it comes out as "I hate smokERS". Then "smoker" becomes a label, and encompasses a variety of unfavorable personality issues - you're weak because you are addicted to a bad habit, you are thoughtless and inconsiderate of the health and safety of others, you are stupid for getting addicted in the first place, you're slovenly, you're irresponsible, and a host of other insulting characteristics that non-smoking public want to project unto the smoking public because they CAN. Because this anti-smoking campaign has been so successful that no one who smokes is willing to speak up for their rights since they just will be publicly ostracized. Which is why it is genius for the government to keep raising the taxes on cigarettes since..who's going to complain? No one that I know who smokes is willing to go march on Washington because of the stigma attached.

Some people say words don't matter...words are very important. Sometimes just 2 or 3 letters makes a world of difference. I am now re-conditioning myself to say person who smokes/is smoking instead of smoker, because I think it matters. Smoking doesn't define us as people. Has your personality completely changed now that you are no longer smoking cigarettes?

Eh, sorry for the rant and going off-topic. I've just been ...... about this for years.

 

[rayneinspain]

Right on Rayneinspain! It's become all too commonplace to condemn the person and not the behavior. And soon they become inexorably linked.

It's pretty subtle. When people mean to say "I hate smoking", instead it comes out as "I hate smokERS". Then "smoker" becomes a label, and encompasses a variety of unfavorable personality issues - you're weak because you are addicted to a bad habit, you are thoughtless and inconsiderate of the health and safety of others, you are stupid for getting addicted in the first place, you're slovenly, you're irresponsible, and a host of other insulting characteristics that non-smoking public want to project unto the smoking public because they CAN. Because this anti-smoking campaign has been so successful that no one who smokes is willing to speak up for their rights since they just will be publicly ostracized. Which is why it is genius for the government to keep raising the taxes on cigarettes since..who's going to complain? No one that I know who smokes is willing to go march on Washington because of the stigma attached.

Some people say words don't matter...words are very important. Sometimes just 2 or 3 letters makes a world of difference. I am now re-conditioning myself to say person who smokes/is smoking instead of smoker, because I think it matters. Smoking doesn't define us as people. Has your personality completely changed now that you are no longer smoking cigarettes?

Eh, sorry for the rant and going off-topic. I've just been ...... about this for years.

No need to apologize--as a group we've been ostracized shamelessly and, in many cases, undeservedly.

Whoever said that the truth will set you free did not envision our current society, where 'statistics' and studies are bought and manipulated for personal/corporate/governmental/political gain. Hysteria and misinformation rule, because somewhere along the line the vast majority of people simply stopped using logical thought...and found it far easier to listen to and believe their favorite bubblegum news program.

From what I can tell, many physicians stopped thinking for themselves, too.

So, what happened?

They singled us out, demonized us, skewed data (or conducted biased, unprofessional studies designed to produce results to retroactively support their claims), and then the fight for the money began. Sin taxes, NRT, pharmaceuticals...

Now that so many people have stopped smoking and Sin Tax revenue losses are strangling local and state governments (haven't heard of one Sin Tax that hasn't lost money--someone please correct me if I'm wrong), the leeches are finally beginning to branch out.

Taxing soft drinks, candy, fast food...legislating salt use in restaurants...demonizing the obese/wanting much higher health care premiums for them...all of these efforts, passed into law or not, are the next wave.

If they can't ban it, they'll control it.

If they can't control it, they'll tax it.

If they can't tax it, well, are you kidding? They'll find a way to profit somehow.

It's so many 'games' going on all at once. Moralizing, cost-cutting, profiteering, demonizing, discriminating....and ultimately CONTROLLING.


This stuff gets me so angry I can barely type or speak.

 

[Automaton]

rayneinspain - You're so damn right, and I'm sorry you have been so viciously discriminated against.

I don't understand why it's not enough that smoking causes COPD, emphysema, lung cancer, and the host of other illness it actually does. Why do we have to add hundreds of things that are logically impossible to that list as well? Why isn't smoking being as unhealthy as it really is bad enough? Why does smoking have to be demonized as something on par with murdering children?

...And how can people who've felt that discrimination ever say the same malicious crap to others once they manage to quit?

I guess I was lucky. Being young and having lived a lot where smoker discrimination isn't as bad, the worst I ever got was that guy trying to punch me out... but that's so ludicrously insane, and probably uncommon, that I can't really take him all that seriously.

But every time I've had someone say something idiotic to me, it's always been in the US.

What's horrible is that I don't think they want us to quit. The only smoking cessation methods the government is willing to support are ones that either don't work, or turn you into a suicidal/homicidal maniac.

But they sure are expensive. And ineffective. And they do collect a lot of tax money when your attempt to quit fails and you go back to analogs.

And the government has everyone fooled into believing they really care if you quit. In fact, if you don't quit, you're an evil baby-killing criminal.

But if you stick to what they give you, you'll never quit. Never. They don't want you to. They won't help you.

It's just beyond messed up.

...And I hope it didn't come across like I was being intolerant towards overweight people at all. That wasn't the point I was trying to make.

 

[tonyorion]

We need to address the last several posts, because they sound more like a plaidoyer for smokers' rights than a return to reason.

I find the smell of cigarette smoke obnoxious. I find the smell of stale cigarette smoke even more so. It took my quitting to find out how offensive cigarette smoke is to others. Even if there were only 1 in a 100,000 chance of SHS smoke having harmful effects, I would not want to expose my family to it.

As an ex smoker (thanks to vaping) I make no moral judgements of you; I have no desire to control you; I could care less if you are sane or insane, happy or sad, rich or poor. You could smoke 20 packs a day, as long as you stay in your house, and your house is far, far away from mine.

You could throw out all your Limbaughesque and specious arguments about control, castigation, loss of civil liberties, and judgmentalism, but when you light up a cigarette and I am forced to smell it, you disregard my rights.

The smell of tobacco smoke is offensive, and I do not want to smell it.

From an ex 1.5 pack/day 35 year smoker.

 

[Automaton]

We need to address the last several posts, because they sound more like a plaidoyer for smokers' rights than a return to reason.

I find the smell of cigarette smoke obnoxious. I find the smell of stale cigarette smoke even more so. It took my quitting to find out how offensive cigarette smoke is to others. Even if there were only 1 in a 100,000 chance of SHS smoke having harmful effects, I would not want to expose my family to it.

As an ex smoker (thanks to vaping) I make no moral judgements of you; I have no desire to control you; I could care less if you are sane or insane, happy or sad, rich or poor. You could smoke 20 packs a day, as long as you stay in your house, and your house is far, far away from mine.

You could throw out all your Limbaughesque and specious arguments about control, castigation, loss of civil liberties, and judgmentalism, but when you light up a cigarette and I am forced to smell it, you disregard my rights.

The smell of tobacco smoke is offensive, and I do not want to smell it.

From an ex 1.5 pack/day 35 year smoker.

It's not that the chance of SHS hurting you is one in a million. It's that you would have to be standing in a cloud of it several hours a day, every day, for years, in order for it to have any appreciable effect on you.

I know what you mean - I have discovered that the smell of cig smoke, or even unlit tobacco, is now noxious to me.

But so is car exhaust.

And statistically, I have a much bigger chance of dying from car exhaust than I do from passer-by contact with second hand smoke.

I'm not arguing for a return to the way things used to be - I'm glad there's an indoor smoking ban for the most part. Bravo. Well-done. Great.

But I think that making things up and treating other human beings like demons is wrong.

And if you think that goverment-funded "studies" don't make things up all the time, not just as pertains to smoking or e-cigs, but on a lot of subjects, then i have a bridge to sell you.

 

[kj4lxw]

Well only been a few days for me since I stopped smoking and just vaping.
One thing I feel is guilt.
I was down to 3 packs a week so not smoking alot, and I could notice the smell of smoke on other people and sometimes on myself. Made me feel bad when I could smell it on others and it was strong. Made me think that I smelled like that to.

The other thing that really got to me is looking down at the ground.

Go out to the smoking areas and look at all the butts on the ground. Feel guilty that I did the same, suck down that last hit and toss the .... down and walk away. Doesn't matter if they put urns or buckets or whatever, they fill up and don't get emptied enough or folks get just plain lazy and throw the butts down and stomp it out. Many times I tried to be courteous about butts or smell or where I blew the smoke, sometimes even going and washing my hands and face before returning to where ever. But also many times you are in a hurry and get lazy. or its at night, being in the dark gives one a feeling like you can't be seen, and you just toss your ..... I feel guilty that I did that for years without any thought of what I was doing.

 

[Little Girl]

Well only been a few days for me since I stopped smoking and just vaping.

Congratulations!

One thing I feel is guilt.
I was down to 3 packs a week so not smoking alot, and I could notice the smell of smoke on other people and sometimes on myself. Made me feel bad when I could smell it on others and it was strong. Made me think that I smelled like that to.

Don't beat yourself up about that. There's nothing you can do to change it, and now you smell wonderful.

The other thing that really got to me is looking down at the ground.

Go out to the smoking areas and look at all the butts on the ground. Feel guilty that I did the same, suck down that last hit and toss the .... down and walk away.

Go ahead and beat yourself up about this one because nobody should ever throw anything other than natural things like apple cores or banana peels on the ground, and cigarette butts are the most vile of things to toss down there because they take years to go away, and they are so dangerous for anyone who finds and eats them, like a little child, perhaps...

But the good news it that you can turn that guilt into something proactive so that you can atone for it and lift the weight of it from your shoulders. Maybe from now on when you walk past a spot that has butts on the ground, pick them up and dispose of them properly (perhaps carrying little bags in your pocket for that purpose). Also, when you see someone tossing a .... on the ground, maybe you can let them know that it takes years for that .... to disintegrate, and that it's incredibly dangerous until it does. If you can convince even one person to change their behavior, you've changed the world.

 

[Little Girl]

Here are a couple of great articles on the lack of danger of second hand smoke, just to ease some fears and counterbalance some of the media hype:

Name Three

Message to smokers

 

[Haytoni]

Smoked for over 60 years, now been vaping 6 months. As to my reaction to smokers, the same as before, if you enjoy it .....DO IT.........I still hang around with them, the fumes don't bother me.

 

[joe555]

i still like the smell. smoke actually smells a lot better than it tastes. as long as there's adequate ventilation, of course.

 

[Sardonic]

I find that vaping has allowed me to be smoke free without turning into a non-smoking @ssh01e. I hope this will be the case months and years from now as well, because I darn sure didn't appreciate the do-gooder busy bodies that had to inject their vomitous rays of sunshine down my throat every day.

If you smoke. Stop, vape instead. If you don't stop, I still won't hate you.

 

[joe555]

Yes...that's why, imo, we need to be sensitive that the smell of what we're vaping may offend some people. It doesn't hang like solid particulate cigarette smoke, but there is indeed a smell.

this is why i would somewhat understand an indoor ban - or that it's not allowed on airplanes.

 

[aubergine]

A nice mix of friendly sympathy and total revulsion.

God it stinks.

 

[player57]

I still like the smell.
Takes me back to my childhood - playing pinball in bars. Thing is, after not smoking for a while and getting your sense of smell back the smell is different than when actually smoking - the smell I remembered as a kid.

 

[joe555]

player57, very true... but i think it can actually happen even if you're still a smoker but just not smoking at the particular moment (as someone lights up next to you). But most of the time we are so used to the smell as smokers that we don't even notice certain aspects anymore and we can mostly only feel the taste as opposed to smell. And so we probably end up believing that the smell is the same as the taste Whilst actually the smell is very different

 

[aschmidy]

I can't imagine my life if I had judged and dismissed all the people I have known that have smoked cigarettes! I would have missed out on a bunch of very happy, loving relationships. I am still a smoker, always will be, I just choose to vape instead.

 

[vikings]

I find the smoke smell a little too strong now....but I don't judge. After all, I was once a very heavy smoker too and I know some close friends had to put up with me for a long time.