24 September 2019
Douglas Androsiglio
I started smoking cigarettes when I was 17 years old. I bought into the idea that smoking was cool like most teenagers do. I also believed it would help lower my stress.
In adulthood, I came to understand that it only relieves the stress of not having nicotine in my system… and it is not as cool as it once seemed. So, I quit cigarettes cold-turkey and stayed off them for a while. When the urges came back, I did not want to start using normal cigarettes again; I jumped on the e-cig craze with everyone else.
As it turns out, I was duped by Big Tobacco once again. Only now, with a more modern coat of paint.
No real proof exists that a Juul or any other vaping device help cigarette smokers’ transition into life without nicotine. It is trading out one addiction for another. False advertising at its finest.
The convenience and potency of electronic cigarettes are quite enabling. The flavored pods, although a selling point for many getting away from combustible cigarettes, make me forget that I am inhaling a pack and a half’s worth of cigarettes a week.
I find myself going through pods at an alarming rate. I smoke about a pod a week now. Do you want to know how many packs of cigarettes I used to smoke? One pack every two weeks. If anything, vaping has made it harder for me to go back to being smoke-free.
The recent deaths surrounding vape pens, to be honest, got me shook. Here I was, thinking that I was taking a step towards weaning myself off nicotine for good. I am now more addicted to it than I ever was. And it might even kill me sooner than combustible cigarettes would have if I just stuck with those.
I am urging all of you to consider quitting vaping. At the very least, until the reasons behind the deaths are found.
Maybe it is, indeed, the additives and oils used in the pods and not vaping in general. Or maybe it is purely the off-brand, street-obtained vaping products that are to blame. It also does not appear to be affecting smokers that use the expensive vaping devices with the “specialty juices” or whatever. Yet, it is still unknown in many of these cases, what devices or brands the victims were using. Whatever the reason is, these recent stories are waking people up – myself included – from the illusion that vaping is a pathway to sobriety.
For our health and wellbeing, it is just not worth the risk. If you use Juul or anything similar, you should trash them. These companies could not care less if you ever quit smoking. Addiction will always yield a bigger profit than treating it. And it appears they, like Old Tobacco, are willing to accumulate a body count to make that profit. That is not cool.
Please join me in throwing away all vape products and stopping for good.