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I quit to smoke after 13 years of smoking. And I was a heavy smoker. I am a non-smoker for 10y now and will never smoke again. No need for vaping or such. I thi

I quit to smoke after 13 years of smoking. And I was a heavy smoker. I am a non-smoker for 10y now and will never smoke again. No need for vaping or such. I think if you substitute you do not catch your addiction at the root. Vaping is really the wrong way. You need to get rid of the addiction. My main point why it was easy for me to quit finally, I hated to be controlled by an chemical. A chemical that has control over my brain? No way anymore! I've destroyed this beast. I am a free man!

chrisseaton 5y ago
The most harmful part of smoking is the smoke, not the addiction to nicotine. The critical thing to do is to get people off the actual smoke. However they achieve that safely, including with nicotine vaping, should be supported.
- nurb 5y ago
  Nicotine is harmful for your mind more than your body. Every time the need to smoke appears, it replace everything you had in mind, to the point that the only thing you can think of is «Damn I need to go to smoke». To me this is by far worst than any potential cancer risk. (I smoked for 15 years and stopped 3 years ago, if that precision can add any value) EDT: Juste to add that realizing this gives you motivation when you quit. And the freedom gained is also rewarding.
  - chrisseaton 5y ago
    > Nicotine is harmful for your mind more than your body. Every time the need to smoke appears... Right but you don't need smoke for nicotine - that's the point. Nicotine is still harmful, but it isn't as lethal as smoke. And more critically - smoke is dangerous to people around you, while nicotine is just your problem alone. If we can get people off smoke but still on nicotine, that's better for everyone.
  - dntrkv 5y ago
    > To me this is by far worst than any potential cancer risk. I think anti-smoking/vaping organizations should put more focus on this. I never realized how much this aspect of nicotine takes over your life. Personally, my thought process was always something like: Lung cancer and all those other health effects are scary and all, but they're gonna happen decades from now, and I'm gonna quit by then so it doesn't matter. Whereas focusing on the immediate effects of nicotine addiction and how it drives your day-to-day life, that's not talked about enough.
alsetmusic 5y ago
> My main point why it was easy for me to quit finally, I hated to be controlled by an chemical. A chemical that has control over my brain? No way anymore! I've destroyed this beast. I am a free man! I quit for seven years. It was one of the hardest things I’ve done. Starting again was the worst decision of my life, but I was in crisis at the time. Quitting a second time, with full knowledge of the first, is even more daunting. I’m happy to have something in between while I try to reduce dependence. Saying that vaping is not a legitimate path toward reducing the harm of cigarettes is like saying there’s no use for the patch or nicotine gum. They’re better than smoking, even if a crutch.
kortex 5y ago
That's wonderful, but be careful generalizing your experience to others. You don't know who is struggling with mental illness, executive control issues, ADHD, OCD, depression, etc. Tobacco is more than nicotine delivery. It contains harmaline alkaloids, which among other effects, is a monoamine oxidase inhibitor. Quitting a cocktail of nicotine and MAOIs, while those stimulants are "treating" underlying conditions, is a way harder task. For these folks, vaping is absolutely a step up, and allows them to wean off the tobacco MAOIs, especially in conjunction with treatment such as bupropion.
- Nav_Panel 5y ago
  Yep -- this is how I use my vape, to reduce my overall MAOI intake. And I started smoking to begin with for the antidepressant effects (which it's surprisingly effective at). Were I to switch to vaping alone, it would be far easier to quit, mainly because the nature of conditioning relating to a vaping habit (hitting my juul at my desk) is very distinct from cigarettes (going on the roof and having a smoke triggered by certain events). The latter is far more "attached" to specific event triggers and lasts a specific amount of time, while the former is a more "ambient" act with much less habituality attached.
stjohnswarts 5y ago
n=1 is only a new data point. If vaping helps someone else then I'm all for it, if they can sub it out for smoking, it really does seem to be a better option if people don't use cheap ingredients and companies.

chrisseaton 5y ago

The most harmful part of smoking is the smoke, not the addiction to nicotine. The critical thing to do is to get people off the actual smoke. However they achieve that safely, including with nicotine vaping, should be supported.

nurb 5y ago
Nicotine is harmful for your mind more than your body. Every time the need to smoke appears, it replace everything you had in mind, to the point that the only thing you can think of is «Damn I need to go to smoke». To me this is by far worst than any potential cancer risk. (I smoked for 15 years and stopped 3 years ago, if that precision can add any value) EDT: Juste to add that realizing this gives you motivation when you quit. And the freedom gained is also rewarding.
- chrisseaton 5y ago
  > Nicotine is harmful for your mind more than your body. Every time the need to smoke appears... Right but you don't need smoke for nicotine - that's the point. Nicotine is still harmful, but it isn't as lethal as smoke. And more critically - smoke is dangerous to people around you, while nicotine is just your problem alone. If we can get people off smoke but still on nicotine, that's better for everyone.
- dntrkv 5y ago
  > To me this is by far worst than any potential cancer risk. I think anti-smoking/vaping organizations should put more focus on this. I never realized how much this aspect of nicotine takes over your life. Personally, my thought process was always something like: Lung cancer and all those other health effects are scary and all, but they're gonna happen decades from now, and I'm gonna quit by then so it doesn't matter. Whereas focusing on the immediate effects of nicotine addiction and how it drives your day-to-day life, that's not talked about enough.

alsetmusic 5y ago

> My main point why it was easy for me to quit finally, I hated to be controlled by an chemical. A chemical that has control over my brain? No way anymore! I've destroyed this beast. I am a free man! I quit for seven years. It was one of the hardest things I’ve done. Starting again was the worst decision of my life, but I was in crisis at the time. Quitting a second time, with full knowledge of the first, is even more daunting. I’m happy to have something in between while I try to reduce dependence. Saying that vaping is not a legitimate path toward reducing the harm of cigarettes is like saying there’s no use for the patch or nicotine gum. They’re better than smoking, even if a crutch.

kortex 5y ago

That's wonderful, but be careful generalizing your experience to others. You don't know who is struggling with mental illness, executive control issues, ADHD, OCD, depression, etc. Tobacco is more than nicotine delivery. It contains harmaline alkaloids, which among other effects, is a monoamine oxidase inhibitor. Quitting a cocktail of nicotine and MAOIs, while those stimulants are "treating" underlying conditions, is a way harder task. For these folks, vaping is absolutely a step up, and allows them to wean off the tobacco MAOIs, especially in conjunction with treatment such as bupropion.

Nav_Panel 5y ago
Yep -- this is how I use my vape, to reduce my overall MAOI intake. And I started smoking to begin with for the antidepressant effects (which it's surprisingly effective at). Were I to switch to vaping alone, it would be far easier to quit, mainly because the nature of conditioning relating to a vaping habit (hitting my juul at my desk) is very distinct from cigarettes (going on the roof and having a smoke triggered by certain events). The latter is far more "attached" to specific event triggers and lasts a specific amount of time, while the former is a more "ambient" act with much less habituality attached.

stjohnswarts 5y ago

n=1 is only a new data point. If vaping helps someone else then I'm all for it, if they can sub it out for smoking, it really does seem to be a better option if people don't use cheap ingredients and companies.