Quote:
Originally Posted by Daktari
The only way to give up smoking is to break the habits, behaviours and emotional attachment to something that is bad for us. I don't see how the vape cigs actually do that. In my opinion they maintain the smoking status quo.
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I do use e-cigs and also have strong options on the use of them. For one, I do see them as a substitute for smoking and keep the same behaviors as I did when I smoked. I do not vape when I'm in a restaurant, meeting, in my cube at work. I do not vape in other peoples homes. My feelings are even though the vapor is "generally recognized as safe", I do not wish to impose on others.
My reasons for wanting to quit smoking is not so much the addiction, but the health concerns. Inhaling burning material, inhaling tar, etc. is known to be horrific for my body. My mother passed away from COPD, I keenly understand smoking to be deadly.
FTR, I'm 30 years clean, 19 years sober. Unlike my drinking and drugging, I didn't lie, cheat or steal to smoke, I didn't ignore responsibilities nor did my personality or values alter when I smoked. I didn't smoke to run away from my feelings, I did use it to take a mental time out so I could go back and work on those feelings.
I smoked off/on for over 30 years. I've gone cold turkey, used the patch, gum, Zyban, Chantix. I've had smoke-free periods ranging from 1month to 8years. In all of these attempts, the craving didn't leave me, I always felt that I was just holding on... barely. One thing that always happened was I was unkind to myself. I was unkind if I smoked and it often felt unkind to not smoke.
In some cases, the least upset could get a cancer-stick in my mouth in no time flat.
With e-cigs, I'm not ingesting toxic material known to cause cancer. Am I getting nicotine? Yes, when I'm using liquid that has nicotine, although much of what I vape has 0nicotine. Does nicotine make me lie, cheat or steal? No. Is nicotine itself bad for me? From all that I've read, not in the quantity I ingest.
Is all of this rationalization? Perhaps, but one thing I know for certain, I have not smoked during a very trying period of time. I know if I didn't have my trusty e-cig, I'd be back smoking.
This is my experience, your mileage may vary.
Loren