You’re right about all of that, but cigarettes can still make quitting easier for some people.
When I was quitting nicotine, I switched to vaping and my habit got worse for three reasons that are unique to vaping:
E-liquid concentrations
Increased convenience
No visual cue to stop
E-liqiuds concentrations let you get a much higher dose of nicotine in a single hit. I forget the exact numbers, but I remember doing the math on the back of an envelope back then and even 8mg/mL (the “standard” dosage) was nearly twice as much nicotine per puff out of my rig, the way I smoked it. I don’t think most people go through all that so they probably don’t realize what their nicotine intake is while vaping.
You can vape in way more places than you can smoke. Is it too hot, too cold, or too rainy outside? No problem, just hit the vape; you don’t even have to get up from the couch. At work and having a craving? Just step into the bathroom and sneak a few quick puffs. Having a craving but don’t to stink up your car? Just hit the vape, now it smells like grape.
Finally, once you get into a rhythm, a cigarette eventually ends, but a vape will keep supplying you nicotine until you get sick. By the time you run out of juice or the battery dies, you’ve consumed several packs worth of nicotine.
With cigarettes, you know there’s a consistent amount of nicotine in each one, so you can track how much you’ve had and control your intake more precisely than with a vape. You can say, “I smoked four cigarettes yesterday, so let’s try only three cigarettes today.” It’sdifficultto do the same with a vape. Also, the inconvenience of having to smoke outside is helpful in resisting cravings.
Even though they’re unquestionably less healthy, I definitely understand why some people find them helpful when trying to wean off nicotine. They were the way I started and, after many, many attempts, finally the way I quit. I’m retired from smoking for about five years now.
You can’t directly compare nicotine content like that.
They’re not the same substances. The form of nicotine in cigarettes is different than the freebase nicotine or nicotine salts used in vapes. Freebase nicotine is already about 25% as bioavailable as cigarettes, and nicotine salts is even less bioavailable than freebase. Cigarettes also have a lot of other chemicals that increase the bioavailability.
In general, people are pretty good at self-titrating to a certain nicotine level. Even if they go from a cloud chasing rig to a stealth vape, the actual amount of nicotine they consume is pretty consistent.
It’s really easy to keep track of how much you’re vaping. Many mods even keep track of how many hits you’ve taken, and disposables often come with a max hit count and display a percentage of liquid left. For me, I keep track by how long it takes before I fill my tank.
You’re right about all of that, but cigarettes can still make quitting easier for some people.
When I was quitting nicotine, I switched to vaping and my habit got worse for three reasons that are unique to vaping:
E-liqiuds concentrations let you get a much higher dose of nicotine in a single hit. I forget the exact numbers, but I remember doing the math on the back of an envelope back then and even 8mg/mL (the “standard” dosage) was nearly twice as much nicotine per puff out of my rig, the way I smoked it. I don’t think most people go through all that so they probably don’t realize what their nicotine intake is while vaping.
You can vape in way more places than you can smoke. Is it too hot, too cold, or too rainy outside? No problem, just hit the vape; you don’t even have to get up from the couch. At work and having a craving? Just step into the bathroom and sneak a few quick puffs. Having a craving but don’t to stink up your car? Just hit the vape, now it smells like grape.
Finally, once you get into a rhythm, a cigarette eventually ends, but a vape will keep supplying you nicotine until you get sick. By the time you run out of juice or the battery dies, you’ve consumed several packs worth of nicotine.
With cigarettes, you know there’s a consistent amount of nicotine in each one, so you can track how much you’ve had and control your intake more precisely than with a vape. You can say, “I smoked four cigarettes yesterday, so let’s try only three cigarettes today.” It’sdifficultto do the same with a vape. Also, the inconvenience of having to smoke outside is helpful in resisting cravings.
Even though they’re unquestionably less healthy, I definitely understand why some people find them helpful when trying to wean off nicotine. They were the way I started and, after many, many attempts, finally the way I quit. I’m retired from smoking for about five years now.
I have a coworker who occasionally forgets he is at work and he will legit pull out his vape and hit it at his desk.
There are no windows and the office is like 30 cubicles lol.
You can’t directly compare nicotine content like that.
They’re not the same substances. The form of nicotine in cigarettes is different than the freebase nicotine or nicotine salts used in vapes. Freebase nicotine is already about 25% as bioavailable as cigarettes, and nicotine salts is even less bioavailable than freebase. Cigarettes also have a lot of other chemicals that increase the bioavailability.
In general, people are pretty good at self-titrating to a certain nicotine level. Even if they go from a cloud chasing rig to a stealth vape, the actual amount of nicotine they consume is pretty consistent.
It’s really easy to keep track of how much you’re vaping. Many mods even keep track of how many hits you’ve taken, and disposables often come with a max hit count and display a percentage of liquid left. For me, I keep track by how long it takes before I fill my tank.