Would you consider chain smoking/vaping to be a habit formed out of Nicotine Abuse or out of Nicotine addiction ?. How much nicotine does a smoker/vaper need ?. Is someone who goes from sixty cigarettes a day to vaping the equivalent, or more, amount of nicotine per day an abuser or an addict ?. What would happen if they were to stop using nicotine altogether overnight ?. How and when did YOU start smoking, and how much ?. Was it through peer pressure when you were young ?, or did you just start smoking socially as an adult ?. Maybe you enjoyed smoking whilst drinking your morning coffee or whatever. Do these habit forming activites which become routine compound your addiction ?.
I'd just like to highlight the fact that substance abuse is a real thing and that the world seems to have conveniently forgotten all about it. Which i think is a perfectly good subject for debate in a forum such as ECF.
So maybe a yes or no might be sufficient. Should the use of nicotine via vaping or even smoking be considered by you as either substance abuse ?, or substance addiction ?. Nicotine is quite simply just a poison after all. It doesn't alter you consciousness, not that i know of, and serves no real purpose at all really. Unlike many other substances which i'd consider to be abused by many.
And i'm not sure how some members will respond if examples of the uses of other substances are used to describe what addiction can be like for some people. Because someone might report it as being off topic and have this thread closed.
Having said that, if you would like to use examples of addiction or abuse, (as a yard stick) of other substances as examples of how much control addiction to a substance can have over an addict, then maybe you should.
Questioning the belief of nicotine addiction could help people to think otherwise. Which is a good thing !. Writing it off as addction doesn't really help those who want to quit completely, it just serves to compound their belief in their own addiction.
A pre-emptive SORRY to anyone who doesn't understand what this thread is about. FYI, It's about whether the use of nicotine in vaping or smoking is considered to be either abuse or addiction by those who use it.
Mike.
If you’re from the United States or probably any Western country, you will know how quickly our culture can go from one extreme position to the next on just about any issue. Around 25-30 years ago, nicotine went somewhat suddenly from being a socially acceptable vice that could be done in nearly every public place by almost anyone to a highly stigmatized addiction that turned millions of smokers into second-class citizens. Unfortunately, since the most common delivery of nicotine had been through traditional cigarettes that have been lethal for so many people including both my grandfathers, the stigma behind nicotine has persisted into the era of vaping. And it doesn’t help that the practice “looks like” smoking.
However, in and of itself nicotine is not dangerous. It occurs naturally in fruits and vegetables, and does not cause lung cancer. It’s a drug, just like any substance or activity that releases dopamine in the brain. I’m personally much more concerned about the consumption of highly-caffeinated, high-sugar drinks, which are not age restricted, “flavor” restricted, and aren’t taxed to death. I’m also much more concerned about the proliferation of flavored beer and spirits in the last couple decades, which have minimal restriction on advertising and haven’t been scrutinized by the FDA to any degree comparable to JUUL or the e-cigarette industry in general. And while those substances can be very addictive, they are often encouraged in social settings, can be “enjoyed in moderation”, and aren’t considered an epidemic. Without getting too political, I’m entirely convinced that progressives would rather have 400,000 smokers continue to die each year because they didn’t switch to vaping than a new generation take up a significantly less harmful habit.
I simply just want to hear from people who have not smoked cigarettes and began vaping 0 nic. Please do not lecture me on why you think I shouldn't start. I have done my research (and actually have vaped e-cigs before so I know what it feels like) and would just like to know that there are others in the same boat as me. I enjoy the variety of flavors to choose from and getting to create vapor without the addiction of nicotine. Once again, I will not vape with nicotine.
Thank you!
Seeking relief from nicotine addiction, some e-cigarette users turn to cigarettes - CNN
Even though McClain knows the dangers of cigarettes — lung cancer runs in his family — he thinks it might be easier to kick cigarettes than his Juul. Plus, his mom keeps warning him about the mysterious vaping-related illnesses that have sickened hundreds across the country.
So last month, McClain bought his first pack of cigarettes in years. Then he tweeted about it.
"Bought a juul to quit smoking cigarettes," he wrote, "now I'm smoking cigarettes to quit the juul." He ended with this hashtag: #circleoflife.
Click to expand...
By the time the anti-vaping zealots figure out what they've done it will be to late to undo. Actually, it probably is too late.
I joined ECF back in August of 2017. I was sixty-five years old and had been smoking 25-30 cigarettes a day for 40+ years. I began vaping at the same time win the hope I could at least cut down. I dual used for months, continually cutting back on cigarettes. I smoked my last cigarette on May 11, 2018 - I am coming up on my three year anniversary. When I began, I vaped 24mg nicotine. Now I alternate between 3mg and zero nic.
Given how incredibly positive vaping has been for me, I am in shock at recent events. I was down to two working mods. I have ordered four mods, some tanks and a bunch of coils. I am still able to buy some eliquids where I live - but many of my favorites from Halo have been discontinued. I still have some outstanding hardware orders that I hope get delivered.
The treatment of vaping in the media has been a one sided disgrace, and propaganda works. Over the years when I have mentioned to people that I quit by vaping, they respond, ‘so you quit smoking by picking up a habit that is even more dangerous’.
I am set for at least a year. Fortunately I have kicked my addiction to nicotine - I recently vaped zero nic for a month. If I was just starting out, it would truly be panic time, and I would go back to cigarettes for sure. I suspect that many will do just that. Happy I started when I did.
Here's an interesting read... and their analysis of the data the FDA used makes sense.
In the new study, University College London health psychologist Martin Jarvis and his co-authors argue that a closer look at the survey data suggests the FDA exaggerated the threat posed by adolescent e-cigarette use.
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The FDA Plans To Ban Flavored E-Cigarettes Based on a Nonexistent 'Epidemic' of Adolescent Nicotine Addiction
Hello fellow vapers.
Here is a topic I was thinking of lately and I wanted to ask your opinion/plans.
Generally speaking, e-cigs were invented in order to help smokers switch from smoking regular cigs to something much less harmful and eventually help people quit this (one of the worst) habit of smoking / adding nicotine to your system.
Ideal plan was to give a smoker something similar (as a process) with enough nicotine to satisfy his needs but without all that sh@t that cigs contain.
After some time this ex-smoker was suppose to start lowering amounts of nicotine in his e-juice up until he is OK with 0 mg. nic vaping.
And eventually quit vaping as well, eliminating the habit.
In reality, I'd say about 80% of ex-smokers who became vapers don't even plan to quit vaping, they have their preferred nic. level and they keep on vaping it year after year being happy about it.
So what's your opinion on that? Do you also plan to keep on vaping or you might quit it in the future?
This past week marks 5 years since I smoked a cigarette. It honestly doesn't seem that long, it seems like yesterday I was huddled out in the cold at work with the smokers. I had been a smoker for 28 years.
Unlike many I see posting here, I cannot say vaping helped me quit. I quit cold turkey, and never tried an ecig until about a year after I quit smoking. At that point I was still doing well as a non-smoker, I didn't physically crave smoking, but I missed the 28 year habit of lighting up, having something to fiddle with, and just the relaxing feeling of the inhale/exhale. I had been eating a lot more to make up for the void, and having been underweight all my life I started packing on pounds (too many!). I sorely needed a non-food substitute for the comfort I was missing, but wasn't about to go back to smoking.
I tried a junky convenience store ecig after that first year, and thought "if this was what they were like than forget it". I continued on not smoking, but still missing the habit. About two years after that I began seeing the new advanced products coming out, and did a lot of research. I bought my first starter kit in 2013, and slowly advanced up to bigger and better gear.
People ask why would start vaping after I had already kicked the cigarette habit, and I say, "Why not?". Other than nicotine I'm not getting any of the negative things I got with cigarettes. And in my opinion, there's really nothing wrong with a little nicotine. Nicotine is not what was killing me, it was the smoke that was delivering the nicotine that was killing me.
So I'm 5 years smoke free, I no longer hack in the mornings, my chest never hurts and my clothes, car and hair don't stink anymore.
I have no intentions on giving up vaping, as it has no negative impact on my life, and i enjoy it, so why stop?
I have since gotten my son, my step-son, and his wife to all trade vaping for smoking, so bonus points for saving all their lives too!
Does vaping with nicotine make us addicted?
Well i started vaping now , before that i never smoke a ciggarate.
I use pods with salt nic 25mg and when i tried it the first time its making me nauseous , i heard that salt nic is more effective for body to adsorb? So will it making me really addicted?
Also i use sub ohm , well not very low resistance but still , its a sub ohm.
I quit smoking to start vaping and have never once missed smoking. A little over a month ago I quit vaping all together after two years of slowly working my nicotine level down from 36mg to 0mg.
I quit vaping at zero milligrams of nicotine and never experienced nicotine withdrawal symptoms.
I guess these would all be good things except for the fact that I miss vaping. Multiple times a day since I quit the thought of having a vape pops in my head and just as soon as it does this weird feeling of loss follows as I realize I no longer vape. I would think by now these feeling would have subsided but they have not.
I wouldn't think much of it but since quitting I have gained 10lbs, have little to no energy, find myself easily frustrated and worst of all have found myself drinking a lot more than normal (which is probably why I gained 10lbs anyway). A huge part of me just wants to go back to vaping.
I guess my question is, Did anyone else quit vaping and experience weird side effects from quitting? If so, how long did it take you to feel normal again?
Tomorrow I will be entering my fourth smoke-free week. I started out with 12mg Green Smokes which at the time seemed mild even though I had been of 1 PAD light tobacco smoker for many many years. Since then I have moved to mvps and tanks using mainly 6mg liquid, bought or made. Last night I found a box of the 12mg Green Smokes lying around and on a whim thought I would try one. I very nearly choked!! The 12mg hit my throat like an atom bomb and I was hacking for half an hour straight.
It's amazing isn't it. I rarely inhale while vaping - don't feel the need to. And yet I am satisfied and I feel I am pretty much getting over my nicotine addiction without even trying. I shall probably go on being addicted to the vaping because it is a pleasurable activity in itself but I can see myself going nicotine free in the not too distant future.
So my advice to anyone just starting on this journey - get yourself some good equipment and some nice liquid. You'll forget all about analogues in no time.