Vape to Quit

It’s been said that quitting smoking is harder than, or at least as hard, as kicking heroin. That’s how addictive nicotine in. And beyond the addictive nature of nicotine, there’s the habit nature of it.

electronic cigarette

There’s been a lot written the last few years about the power of habit. It’s mostly about the habits of effective people and how to create new, positive habits. But smoking is a habit. They say (and I use the phrase “they say” because I’m not sure there’s any hard, Oxford-university level research on it) that it takes 30 days to create a new habit. There’s a popular Internet fitness meme about it.

But they don’t say how many days it takes to BREAK a habit. How many days of not doing something that’s become so natural, so much a part of you until it doesn’t feel like you forgot your right arm in a cab?

That’s a big part of the equation when it comes to quitting smoking. You can use the patch or the gum or take that pill that makes you want to vomit when you smoke (okay – I don’t know if that last one is real but if it isn’t, I’m pretty sure someone is working on it) – but what keeps you from wanting to go outside, kick back, light up and relax. This is especially tough if you work someplace where there are other smokers. They’re your buddies. Your pals. You bond over smoking. Ever work someplace where you and the boss are the only ones that smoke? Yeah. That day you tell the boss “Sorry, I’m quitting!” The boss’ll say: “Good for you!” and then he’ll find someone else to share his secrets with.

But with vaping…see, you can quit cigarettes, but still hang out with your friends. You can still have an excuse to get out of the office and hang outside on nice days. Yes, we know that the second hand dangers with vaping are few, if any. But it still freaks people out and you want to be an ambassador for vaping. Don’t make yourself the enemy. Go outside with the smokers (maybe the boss!).

Like the patch and gum, you can control the amount of nicotine you get with your vape. You can do this to a certain degree with cigarettes, too, but with vaping you have more control. Not only the amount of nicotine in your liquid but HOW MANY TIMES YOU USE THAT LIQUID! Think about it. So you go down to a low ml of nicotine. You can switch that off with another vape! You can still get a throat hit. Still have something in your fingers or your hand (depending on what kind of device you like), still hang out with your friends and maybe not even have any nicotine.

You can choose how much nicotine you want (like the patch or the gum), you can still vape something instead of smoking something and, when you dial it down all the way…

The habit is still there, but the dangers are markedly reduced. You still have your friendship and your break time, but you DON’T have tar-filled lungs. AND you can replace the taste of cigarettes (Or the gum – did you ever taste that? Mint? Sure. Mint mixed with acid.) with — anything you want. You won’t smell anymore. Your fingers won’t be stained. Ever see an older smoker with a moustache? You know, the yellow stain under the nose? That’s attractive, huh?

You won’t get that.

So keep the habit and lose the poison. Vape away!

Matthew Ma
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