Decline In Teen Smokers As Vaping Gains Popularity

Hello fellow vapers.
Here is a topic I was thinking of lately and I wanted to ask your opinion/plans.

Generally speaking, e-cigs were invented in order to help smokers switch from smoking regular cigs to something much less harmful and eventually help people quit this (one of the worst) habit of smoking / adding nicotine to your system.

Ideal plan was to give a smoker something similar (as a process) with enough nicotine to satisfy his needs but without all that sh@t that cigs contain.
After some time this ex-smoker was suppose to start lowering amounts of nicotine in his e-juice up until he is OK with 0 mg. nic vaping.
And eventually quit vaping as well, eliminating the habit.

In reality, I'd say about 80% of ex-smokers who became vapers don't even plan to quit vaping, they have their preferred nic. level and they keep on vaping it year after year being happy about it.

So what's your opinion on that? Do you also plan to keep on vaping or you might quit it in the future?  

Friends,
I really have to stop reading the news.
Every single day there is a new article bashing and smearing vaping as a viable, healthy alternative to smoking the 'stink sticks' (I coined that yesterday, patent pending).
Anyway, it absolutely infuriates me when I read these one-sided articles that is backed by little to no research. Not to mention that these articles are most likely written with some sort of bias. Whether it be BT, BP or the numerous anti-smoking groups, very seldom do they actually ask anyone who knows anything about vaping and the initiative of the hobby/lifestyle and they sure don't interview actual vapers or want to hear the numerous stories of how vaping has saved so many lives.
They say they don't want to 'normalize or glamorize' smoking because it will make it more attractive to kids.
Well, you know what? The more you tell kids NOT to do something, the more they WILL do it. I know, I have 2 of them.
As a former smoker and now around 6 months smoke free, I detest smoking cigarettes. But having said that, I would rather see a kid puffing on a vape than on a Stink Stick.
So, yes, I can see the need for regulations, but the vaping industry does a good job with self-regulation and reputable businesses do not sell to minors.
But, kids will be kids and they will find a way to get their hands on cigarettes just like they do with alcohol.
Let's discuss and vape on!  

You can download all 499 pages of the regulations he https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2016-10685.pdf

We liveblogged the reaction: Deeming Live blog | vaping.com

Clive Bates on Stanton Glantz and the junk science which got us he Professor Glantz brings his anti-vaping crusade to Europe – I review his presentation

Here's the reaction from US vaping organisations:

SFATA:SFATA ISSUES STATEMENT ON FDA’S FINAL DEEMING RULE - SFATA | Smoke Free Alternatives Trade Association
VTA: (via Phil Busardo) - http://www.tasteyourjuice.com/wordpress/archives/12809
AVA: Not yet
TVECA: Not yet

And from ECITA, UK org: FDA ‘Deeming’ of e-cigs – designed to destroy? | ECITA - Electronic Cigarette Industry Trade Association

Individual commentors

Mike Siegel: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary: My Op-Ed in Wall Street Journal Points Out Folly of FDA E-Cigarette Deeming Regulations & The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary: FDA E-Cigarette Deeming Regulations are a Disaster for Public Health

Carl Phillips: Ecig deeming regulation — nothing new to see here

Rich Lowry: http://nypost.com/2016/05/09/uncle-sams-crackdown-on-e-cigs-will-make-it-harder-to-quit-smoking/

Sally Satel: What the US should learn from the UK's wisdom on e-cigarettes - AEI

Consumer organisations:

CASAA: CASAA: FDA Deeming Regulations: Release and Next Steps

Various articles
Washington Post: Why the FDA’s new e-cigarette regulations are a gift to Big Tobacco (and could actually harm public health)

Economics21: FDA’s New E-Cig Regs Will Kill

US News: What the E-Cigarette Black Market Will Look Like if FDA Stomps Industry

Reason: Government Officials Are Determined to Turn Vapers Into Scofflaws

PBS interview with Mitch Zeller: Skyrocketing teen use of e-cigarettes leads to new regulations

Clarityse: When two tribes go to war

Stock Transcript: The government crackdown is he What the FDA regulations mean for e-cigarettes | Stock Transcript

Science Explorer: FDA Announces That E-Cigarette Products Will Now Be Regulated Like Regular Cigarettes

NYT Health: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/11/upshot/e-cigarettes-are-safer-but-not-exactly-safe.html

Weekly Standard: FDA Moves to Kill E-Cigarettes

Think Tanks:

FEE: How the FDA Is Helping Big Tobacco and Encouraging Teen Smoking | Jonathan H. Adler

See also Sally Satel at AEI above
Videos

Brent Stafford (regulator watch): NO MORE CASUALTIES - VAPING BECOMES COLLATERAL DAMAGE IN WAR ON SMOKING - REG WATCH (E28) from Brent Stafford on Vimeo  

Got this from the world wide web and wanted to share it here.

Apologies if it's already been shared. It's a handy list for reference as well as informative.

E-CIGARETTE POLICY BRIEF: Seven Things Policy Makers Need to Know

All references are hyperlinked to official WHO and government reports, and peer-reviewed studies

The death toll from smoking is enormous

8 million people die every year from smoking-related diseases (WHO), including 480,000 in the USA (CDC) 1.1 billion people smoke worldwide (WHO), including 34 million in the USA (CDC) In the USA, smoking is now concentrated among low-income and LGBTQ people, people living with mental illnesses, and indigenous peoples (American Lung Association)

→ Tobacco smoking is, by far, the world’s leading cause of preventable cancer, heart and lung disease

Harm reduction can reduce that death toll

There is growing independent consensus that e-cigarettes are safer than smoking (35+ official public statements) There is strong evidence that smokers who switch to e-cigarettes have lower risk of cancer, heart & lung disease When not in tobacco smoke, nicotine itself does not cause cancer, heart or lung disease (CDC and IARC/WHO) → Other examples of harm reduction include seat belts, bicycle helmets, parachutes, methadone and condoms

Safer nicotine alternatives help smokers quit

Big pharma nicotine patches & gum (NRTs) cause neither addiction nor cancer, heart or lung disease (FDA; CDC) NRTs increase quit success from 5% (cold turkey) to 9% (on average, smokers try and fail 30 times before quitting) E-cigarettes are two times more effective than NRTs (Cochrane review of 50 peer-reviewed studies worldwide) Many adult vapers “quit by accident” with e-cigarettes (online survey); NRTs only benefit those who want to quit 92% of US all vapers are ADULTS; 4.3 million US adults have quit smoking completely with nicotine vapes (CDC) The adult cessation total may be 5.4 million because 26% of those who quit with e-cigarettes later quit vaping 2.1 million UK smokers (UK government) and 7.5 million EU smokers (Eurobarometer) have quit with e-cigarettes ‘Flavors’ are up to 2.3 times more effective for smoking cessation than tobacco flavor (Yale study) (UK study) 80% of US adult vapers prefer fruit, dessert or candy flavors that don’t remind them of smoking (FDA submission) → Forcing ex-smokers to vape tobacco flavor is like forcing recovering alcoholics to drink rum-flavored club soda

Teen vaping is undesirable, but not a crisis

In the UK, which promotes nicotine vaping for adult smokers, teen “current use” by never-smokers is just 1% US high school “current use” of vaping products dropped 29% between 2019 and March 2020 (CDC/NYTS) By March 2020, only 1 in 20 US high school students vaped daily (4.4%, but 53% of that may be THC not nicotine) US youth & young adult vaping dropped another 32% during the pandemic (JAMA survey up to November 2020) If both surveys are combined, just 1 in 10 US high school-age teens are now “current users” (13%) → If this assumption is correct, then US teen past 30-day ever-use is now lower than it was in 2015 (6 years ago)

Proposed policy “cures” are worse than the “disease”

Proposed policies to reduce teen vaping include higher taxes, ‘flavor’ bans, online sales bans and shipping bans E-cigarette taxes have caused cigarette sales to increase in 8 US states (National Bureau of Economic Research) E-cigarette taxes “increase prenatal smoking and lower smoking cessation during pregnancy” in female smokers Ecig flavor bans increased cigarette sales in San Francisco; Washington; Rhode Island; New York; and Nova Scotia Online sales and mail shipment bans reduce adult access, so are also very likely to strengthen cigarette sales → Higher taxes, ‘flavor’ bans, and online/mail bans protect big tobacco’s main cash cow: deadly cigarettes

Unintended consequences and logical inconsistencies

Probable outcome of ‘flavor’ bans: Teen vapers will switch to THC vaping or to cigarette smoking; many adult vapers will relapse to smoking; fewer smokers will quit; an illicit market (with no age-checks) will arise

The same organizations that claim teen vaping is a gateway to tobacco smoking, also claim tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes repel teens (i.e., banning ‘flavored’ nicotine vapes will reduce teen vaping)

→ Definitions differ: adult current use = daily or regular use; teen current use = past 30-day ever-use

Full context of adult products that teens use, but should not use

US teens are more likely to smoke pot or use illegal drugs than to be “current users” of e-cigarettes (NIDA MTF) US teens are 2X more likely to binge drink than vape “frequently”; 3X more likely to binge drink than vape daily US teen binge drinking causes 3,500 deaths and 119,000 ER visits/year (CDC); US policy response? Age-checks US teen “current smoking” rates dropped 3X faster than historical trends after 2012 (NIDA MTF) → Teens should not vape, smoke, drink or use cannabis (and adults should try to avoid irrational moral panics)  

The news of a looming flavor ban is sickening! As an adult former smoker who used ecigs to liberate myself from cigarettes, I am appalled!

It is not my fault that kids are vaping flavors and nicotine intended for adults.
It is not my fault that people are vaping dangerous chemicals in THC mixes.
It is not my fault that people who lack knowledge about vaping consider it on par with smoking.

Parents need to own up to monitoring their own kids! These teens would be smoking cigarettes if they weren't vaping- just as they were doing before vaping came along. Teen smoking numbers are down because of vaping. It is this teenage generation's alternative to cigarettes. This should be part of our national conjecture on the topic!!!

We (legitimate adult users of vaping supplies) need to stand up for ourselves!!! There are millions of us.

Let us be heard!

We need to stand together and protest around our country on the same days/times to have our voices heard.

I say we all go to our local city halls and/or right outside of our workplaces near smoking areas on the same day/time with signs of protest to demand that our opinions be heard.

I also say that we compile lists of pro-vaping and anti-vaping elected representatives so that we may be able to vote our haters out of office!!!  

I've tried to quit smoking using vape stuff many times over the last two years or so. I've made it two weeks twice and otherwise have not made it long enough to remember. I had a dream last night that I was vaping. When I woke up I got excited about that (that I wasn't smoking in the dream). I went back to bed and woke up this morning in the middle of a dream that I was smoking. Ahk!

I know that I cannot ever have another puff if I want this to work. There is a thread about how gross smoking tastes after vaping. It's true that for me, smoking is sort of gross and leaves a nasty taste in my mouth, but clearly I like it no matter how disgusting it is.

Around February, my boyfriend said he wanted to quit smoking in the spring. We quit on the same day (last Monday). He uses nicotine gum and I have my vaping. He enjoys taking a puff off my equipment. But a "puff" has turned into about as much as I use it. Last Saturday he said he only had one piece of nicotine gum because he vaped most of the time. I'm trying not to be annoyed, but it kind of irritates me a little. Mostly because I chain-vape and don't want him to take it from me. A few days ago, I noticed he kept adjusting the voltage and handing it back to me without changing it back to where I had it! I made sure he stopped doing that.

Last night he asked me what stuff I buy (the battery, clearomizers and liquid- sorry, I don't know the correct terminology for everything). He was reading up on vaping. I am hoping he's considering buying his own stuff.

I'm thrilled that he quit smoking and want to be supportive of him regardless of how he does it but I sort of want to say, "get your own!"  

Because it has a coil? Because it has a tank that contains VG or PG? Because the user expels vapor that looks like smoke ? Because it has a battery? Because the tank holds liquid that contains nicotine? What if the tank does not contain nicotine? Is it still an E-Cig?

These are my burning questions for tonight while watching Modern Marvels on H2 (History Channel 2)

That and I really need to know what exactly constitutes an E-cig. I've been tobacco free, smoke free for almost two years. Vaping exclusively. I'm close to zero nicotine now. Will I still be an E-cig user when I go to zero? Obviously yes, but why ?

I really dig vaping a million times more then I dug smoking. I hated smoking. Just did it for 40 years 'cause I couldn't get off the stinkies til I discovered E-cig (24 mg/ml when I first quit smoking) almost two years ago. Still can't believe I've been smoke free for so long.

Hope you weigh in on the subject of "What constitutes an E-Cig ?"  

I am enjoying vaping soooooooooooooooo much..

I know most of people here are veterans and won't be Soo excited ofc anymore

But man....my first attempt on vaping was in 2014 and for many reasons didn't go well and I was back to cigs...ew

Anyways... now it's being 4.5 months vaping
I started with a drop in coils atomizer and now I use rebuildable also and make my my own e juice ofc and blah blah.blah....

Vaping is soooooo good.....never going back to cigs eeeeeever....actually cigs seem sooo bad now and I hat a hit to remind me what a nasty thing I was smoking all those years....ew

The benefits of vaping are more that u think and u only realise when u start it...

Besides health benefits...that ok some may say vaping is now sooo risk free but I don't care even if was same bad as cigs...even tho I am sure it's not

My sense of taste and smell is much better now....

I can adjust my nicontine levels and lower it and now I have less cravings...(I was crazy smoker)

My hands or facial hair don't smell and they don't get a yellow colour from cig smoke that I had to pull off my skin to remove ...(I was always with a cig on my hand)

Clothes don't smell and I don't feel bad to hug my niece now

My car don't smell cigs....my kitchen don't smell cigs...(I used to smoke to kitchen)

My mouth hygiene and gums is better now confirmed by dentist also...already only 4.5months vaping!!!

I sleep better and wake up better no cough or hard breathing...

In my case I used to skip brushing my teeth sometimes cause in my opinion it would ruin my smoking experience but with vaping I tend to want to brush my teeth after every meal if I can cause I enjoy vaping taste more

I still drink coffee but water is a great match with vaping for me cause it reset the flavour in mouth so I drink less coffees and beverages...
with cigs I was always drinking loooot of coffee or some kind of beverage usually unhealthy cause it used to match with horrible taste of burned paper and tobacco lol

If I needed my nicotine I used to roll a cig and then I was smoking it all ofc...even tho I wanted just a few puffs...with vaping I can take my puff aaaanytime I want as much as I want...

The cost is less even tho some may spend a looooooooooot money hhahaha but if u are a casual vaper is cheaper ....but even if was the same or more still worth it....



P.s I know I don't say anything people here don't already know but just happy excited about vaping and sharing it  

I quit smoking to start vaping and have never once missed smoking. A little over a month ago I quit vaping all together after two years of slowly working my nicotine level down from 36mg to 0mg.

I quit vaping at zero milligrams of nicotine and never experienced nicotine withdrawal symptoms.

I guess these would all be good things except for the fact that I miss vaping. Multiple times a day since I quit the thought of having a vape pops in my head and just as soon as it does this weird feeling of loss follows as I realize I no longer vape. I would think by now these feeling would have subsided but they have not.

I wouldn't think much of it but since quitting I have gained 10lbs, have little to no energy, find myself easily frustrated and worst of all have found myself drinking a lot more than normal (which is probably why I gained 10lbs anyway). A huge part of me just wants to go back to vaping.

I guess my question is, Did anyone else quit vaping and experience weird side effects from quitting? If so, how long did it take you to feel normal again?  

I have been vaping for a month with a pod kit (voopoo argus air) using pnp coil .8 ohm for MTL. I was smoking for more than 10 years and I want to quit but everytime I vape I feel a tightness on my chest and it induces me to cough. When I am smoking an analog it is so smooth I don't even cough. I really want to quit smoking but with this unpleasant experience on vaping it is hard to leave smoking. My juice is a salt nic with 24mg/ml nicotine strength.