It is the reality that long-term smokers try not to think about – smoking cigarettes is a deadly habit which causes harm not only to the smoker but to the people around them. However, this reality cannot be ignored for long by smokers and when asked, most smokers do say that they would like to quit. But the truth is that quitting is very difficult, in part due to nicotine addiction, and also because smoking is a habit that many people find to be enjoyable and stress reducing.
Thankfully, switching to E-cigarettes, also known as “vaping” may help even heavy smokers to reduce their use of traditional tobacco, and even to quit completely.
What is vaping?
Vaping involves the use of smokeless “e-cigarettes” – rather than burning tobacco, these devices have vape tanks or atomizers that heat up a liquid until it forms a vapor that can be inhaled. These liquids come in different flavors and are available with or without nicotine.
Nicotine replacement
There are different concentrations of nicotine available to refill or replace capsules, and E-cigarettes with nicotine can help smokers avoid the negative effects of going “cold turkey.” Smokers can wean themselves from nicotine gradually over time, while immediately eliminating the harmful effects of inhaled smoke.
Habits
Even when smokers get nicotine from stop-smoking aids like patches or gums, many still feel the desire to smoke for a number of reasons that vaping can address.
For example, many smokers find it difficult to break the habit of having a cigarette with their first coffee, or after a meal. Vaping allows smokers to enjoy the physical aspect of smoking and to receive a dose of nicotine if desired without the harmful effects of smoking tobacco. This allows the smoker to break the process of quitting into manageable pieces that can be dealt with one at a time.
Other smokers find that social smoking is difficult to give up. Many of these smokers don’t smoke on their own, but do give in to temptation when they are with smokers or at social events. Vaping allows these part-time smokers to enjoy the social act of smoking without risk of developing a nicotine addiction.
For many smokers, it is the act of smoking itself that is the thing they enjoy most, and the thing that patches or gums are not able to replace. E-cigarettes often resemble real cigarettes in appearance, and also in the way they feel in the hand. Some also have an LED tip that glows as you inhale the vapor. The vapor that is inhaled contains no tobacco or carbon monoxide, but it can be felt as it is inhaled, and gives a satisfying smoke-like appearance and feel as it is exhaled.
Whether you are interested in quitting smoking altogether or simply in having an alternative to traditional cigarettes when you are in settings where smoking is not permitted, vaping provides many of the features that smokers seek, while significantly reducing the harm that is caused by cigarette smoking.