Burnt cigarettes have over 9000 different chemicals, several of which are addictive MAOI antidepressants. It’s not the nicotine hooking people to the level we see in smokers, it’s that, they’re having legitimate withdrawal symptoms from a legitimate drug dependency. Nicotine itself at the levels anyone takes it in is maybe a little more addictive than caffeine.

Ecigs, at minimum, have propylene glycol (GRAS) and nicotine which isn’t necessarily from tobacco, and even the nicotine is optional. Many have a couple other ingredients like vegetable glycerine (makes “smoke” clouds puffier) and flavorings, but even loaded up it doesn’t compare to the count in the first paragraph. Ecigs also don’t burn anything unless you’re doing it very wrong.

Also since I’m on the soap box anyway, when you hear fear stories about “vaping” they’re usually lumping in thc/marijuana which is effectively different even though it doesn’t need to be. Because it’s regulated if not illegal you’ll chance getting things like adulterated cartridges with oils in them, if you breathe in oil particles you’re getting pneumonia. So when you’re reading or hearing about some scary story it’s probably that and the one “reporting” is too lazy or too ignorant to make the distinctions they should.

This is what I did. Started at a “normal” nicotine level, then once I was used to that level and wasn’t getting any cravings (took a few months usually) I would lower my nicotine strength a little bit then repeat the process. It made it way easier for me to quit once I did. I barely got any cravings.

I vape now. I used to smoke a lot. I agree it can be effective but the end result may not always be complete withdrawal from nicotine.

While certainly not healthy, it’s significantly much less bad for you than smoking.

It’s much better, tbh, aside from the health benefits vs cigarettes. The stench is no longer there - at worse, it’s just this annoying sweet smell. No more cig butts that you have to dispose of all the time - I know use “pods” which, if I’m stressed, I replace after 5-6 days. If anyone’s a smoker, I’d recommend to switch to vape. But if not, I’d suggest they stay away from vapes/nicotine.

There are tons of harmful chemicals and tar you aren’t inhaling by vaping, instead of by combustion with traditional cigarettes. Not sure if they’re worse.

It seems useful for people who were addicted to cigarettes by providing a potentially less harmful alternative.

But, for the generation that didn’t have addiction to cigarettes prior to E cigarettes I wonder how many went on to pick up the addiction to nicotine they otherwise wouldn’t have, since smoking cigarettes seemed to be going out of style.

Estimates put out after research by Public Health England suggest that vaping is 95% better for you than smoking. So unless you’re vaping 20x more than you were smoking you’re probably benefitting.

Same situation here, vape more than I used to smoke.

Only concern I have is long term affects, since we don’t actually know what they are yet.

Use your willpower in a small burst to buy a low nicotine juice and literally throw away the high nicotine stuff. You need to actually toss it and never use it again. Yes, it costs money, but do you want to quit or not?

Now use the low nicotine juice for a set amount of time (say, a month) and then switch to zero nicotine juice. Try to keep the same flavors you’re used to already.

Eventually you will stop smoking because youre only getting the positive feelings from the habit itself and not the nicotine.

I did the same thing, about eight years ago. By day three, I wasn’t coughing up phlegm anymore. By day five, I could climb stairs without getting winded. After about a year, my dentist told me that my gums were way healthier.

Is it beneficial, when compared to not doing it? Most probably not. Is it far less damaging than inhaling tobacco smoke? Absolutely.

Research shows it’s around 95% better than cigarettes.

Well said. I’d managed to quit from cigarettes using a salt nic vape. It was a bit involved though. I learned how to make my own e-juice and properly dose nicotine (very important!). I titrated my dose down gradually over about 6 months until I was off nicotine. And then kicked the oral fixation by making a conscious effort to vape less. It worked alright for me. I wound up picking up the habit again a couple of years later after going through an extended period of shit just going wrong. Trouble is, I can’t do what I did last time because you can no longer order concentrated nicotine through the mail anymore. At least in the US

Same, I switched from smoking to vaping a pretty high nicotine juice at the height of the vaping craze. Slowly worked my way down to 0 nicotine and finally was able to drop the vaping. I haven’t had a vape in over a year and haven’t had a cigarette in about 5 years. I still get cravings but they pass and I’m fine. I was a pack per day smoker for 20 years, e-cigs can absolutely help if your intent is to quit.

Agreed. I know my technophile brain would take the reins if I made the vaping solution a gadgety one, so I deep-dived on vape rigs and pored over countless forums to find specifically what I was looking for in a cessation tool. At first, I kept it with me at all times, puffing whenever I felt the slightest urge, but soon put a little pressure on myself to hold off each time. Then, a little longer. Over the course of a single winter, I went from a half a pack a day habit to not a single cigarette and absentmindedly forgetting the vape rig at home. Another few months, and I noticed it sitting on my desk next to my monitor when I was tidying up and it actually had the tiniest bit of dust on it. I’ve since gifted the whole setup to a friend to help her quit, and she’s just recently gifted it to a neighbor with the same goal.

Worth every penny. Fuck lung cancer, and everything else that goes with a smoking addiction.

According to my cardiologist, nicotine is the part of cigarette smoke that has a detrimental effect on the heart and arteries. Way more harmful than caffeine.

An e-cigarette is just like a normal cigarette, but you’re not inhaling burned paper.

There are literally thousands of other burned compounds that you’re inhaling besides the paper. Everything in a cigarette combusts, and all of the byproducts are things you shouldn’t be inhaling. It’s definitely not just the paper.

Helped me quit cigarettes at least.

I smoked for over 20 years, and spent probably 15 of those years trying to quit. When I switched over to a vape pen in 2014 I had to be very cautious about which cartridges I bought because of the obscene nicotine levels in some of them. I can’t remember the name of the brand, but there was one that helped me quit because they had a lineup that had a really low level of nicotine in them. After a year I quit without a problem. Just over 8 years now since my last cigarette and almost 8 years since I threw out the vape pen!

It can help, but you have to be very careful which vape juice you use.

Not OP, but… Every vaper I’ve ever talked to on Reddit claimed they used them to quit. Every vaper I know IRL just likes the taste and “blowing big clouds” like they have the mind of a toddler.