I'll start off by declaring interest here. I have vaped heavily previously and while I no longer vape a number of my family still do so. I certainly hope vaping is the lesser of two evils and more qualified people than me seem to think that it is. During my annual physical a couple of years ago, the doctor recommended that I switch to vaping if I was not prepared to give up smoking.
Terminology is probably where we should start in framing the discussion. A little while back Public Health England endorsed a statistic that assessed vaping as being 95% less hazardous than smoking. Now it is important to look at the wording there. I don't like the way people actually throw around the word safe or safer in relation to vaping. We should be talking about how hazardous it is and it falls short of abstinence.
And here we also get onto the fact that there is more than one way to vape with a myriad of different devices. Certainly the basic devices, that are similar in usage to cigarettes, seem to largely be falling by the wayside and a more common sight is sub ohm vaping. Think the vast clouds that you see spewed forth from any number of people walking along the street these days. I think most people who use these do so because they actively want to vape and some people will continue to do so for ever more. This doesn't mean that electronic cigarettes can't be used to give up nicotine, but it is unlikely that those people will be thinking in that way.
Martian makes a good point about the addictive nature of vaping, although I believe it to be a little more nuanced than a question of pure addiction. I think what you are seeing is people with compulsive behaviours using vaping at extreme levels as you don't tend to get the same negative physical feedback when you over indulge. I know I used vaping in a fairly extreme manner and I think one of the things we are in danger of is seeing illnesses develop in different ways. For me I was unhappy with the mental turmoil. My compulsion meant I wasn't enjoying the precious time with my family as I was constantly looking for an out.
In terms of a push to allow people to vape anywhere they want it should not be given the time of day. It is ignorant, ill mannered and puts the desire of the individual to do what they want, when they want, above having the best possible environment for a community as a whole.
I am not surprised that young people are trying vaping and some will go on to smoke regular cigarettes beyond that. However I don't buy the arguments that I hear about it being a gateway to smoking. Most people will choose the things that they want to experience in life up to the point where the potential negative effects scare them too much to try it. I think those kids that vape and then move on to smoking were always going to smoke.
Ideally people will choose not to smoke and for those that do, when they give up, the best outcome would be that they manage it cold turkey. If they can't stop cold turkey and need an aid then by using Champix/Chantix or the route I took in NRT.
But here's the thing. If the people I love were to say to me it is smoking or vaping, I can't go without, then I'd plead with them to switch to vaping. I would love both my brother and sister to do so, because smoking will get them all too soon. I'm near certain that vaping would not be doing them the same level of physical damage. So really the question is what does quitting mean? Is it getting off nicotine in its entirety or is it getting off cigarettes? I think that is going to be one for the individual to make their minds up.
There was an interesting programme on TV here a couple of years back, a copy of which has been loaded to the dailymotion site for anyone that wants to watch it. It is informative, but given the subject matter, obviously doesn't have all the answers by a very long way.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5875ke
