I am curious to hear from people who started vaping without having smoked beforehand.

I’m curious about these things - feel free to respond to as many or as few of them as you wish. Primarily I am thinking about nicotine, but feel free to reply if you vape something different.

  1. What age were you when you started vaping? Feel free to reply with a vague range (e.g. 12-15) or description (e.g. young teen / adult)

  2. Why did you start?

  3. Do you regret having ever started? If so, why do you regret it?

  4. Have you noticed any long-term negative health effects from vaping?

  5. Do you feel that the socialogical and/or legal issues around vaping are more or less of a concern than health effects? (e.g. having to go outside to vape, vaping being banned/restricted in certain places/situations/countries, the risks of vaping being more legally controlled in future, etc.)

  6. Do you feel that the financial cost of vaping is more or less of a concern than the health effects?

No need to follow the numbered format or anything, this isn’t a survey, I’m just looking for answers to these questions for my own personal curiosity! Also, feel free to add any more information that you wish!

Please only share from your personal experience - no links to news stories or studies, please.

Also, not interested in responses from ex-smokers, sorry - those can be found in huge volume already.

  • Blake [he/him]OP
    3·
    9 months ago

    Thank you very much for your really in-depth and informative response. I promise you I don’t have any hidden motives or plans - and I’m a lot older than 15, unfortunately! :-)

    I really appreciated how you were honest and open about nicotine, vaping and the effects it had (and still has) on you, I think that kind of transparency, talking about the short-term positive effects but the long-term downsides is really helpful for people, and it’s a much more authentic and convincing anti-vaping message than the usual crap we get.

    On the other hand, to return the favour, I guess I will be honest and say that a lot of the conversation around addiction seems a bit puritanical to me - obviously an addiction is never good, but it seems to ignore the fact that humans always seem to be looking for things to alter their brain chemistry for fun, and if we put nicotine (as vaped) alongside alcohol, caffeine and sugar, it doesn’t seem particularly more harmful than these. Obviously they are all different substances, but they all have their upsides and downsides.

    Wanting to avoid dependence on a substance is also understandable. I haven’t really smoked (tried it once as a kid, as we all do, and felt really unwell and never went back!) so I don’t know what those feelings are like. I also have ADHD so my dopamine receptors are basically already phoning it in and I have a very addictive personality, so I’m pretty terrified of using addictive substances. I smoke weed from time to time and if someone mixes it with tobacco it’s a hard no. But I’m definitely addicted to sugar and caffeine, and sugar is definitely very harmful, and it’s impossible for me to quit/significantly cut down, I’ve tried, and it’s always a miserable experience that ends with me over-indulging once I give up on my attempt. But you rarely see people saying, “don’t ever drink soda, not even once” and you never really see them being taken seriously, but it seems to me that it’s probably more harmful than vaping.

    It’s just a strange old world that we live in and I’m always trying to learn more about it. Thanks again for your response. I really appreciated it and enjoyed reading it. <3

    • rufus@discuss.tchncs.de
      2·
      9 months ago

      I like you being curious and asking the right questions. I think I can empathize with most things you said. I’m just a regular person, not diagnosed with anything. But I also can relate to caffeine, sugar, … playing a role in my life. Maybe I’m not spot on ‘normal’ when it comes to impulse control or dopamine receptors myself. People are different anyways… I absolutely like(d) the kick I got from nicotine. I could afford it and judging by the studies I read, it’s not that harmful. So I always continued. If I could just vape a bit in the evening on weekends, I’d certainly wouldn’t see a reason to stop and happily continue as of today. But unfortunately I can’t. I’d be full on addicted the next day.

      I think there is a range of addictiveness. And it depends on the substance. How easy it lures you in, how severe the consequences and health effects are, and the withdrawal and how complicated it is to overcome the addiction. These are independant from another. I think nicotine scores quite high on the addictiveness (for some people). But I can only compare it first hand to everyday substances. I’ve never done hard drugs and weed only once or twice. But I’ve cut down on sugar or caffeine. I’ve also had headaches from caffeine withdrawal. But it was easier.

      I think you can even smoke or vape and get away with it. You just need one of the few brains that are wired to allow this and impose strict rules on yourself to limit exposure. And judging by the people I know, odds are always against you.

      I think I should buy a mountainbike and from now on get my dopamine rush from speeding through the undergrowth instead of abusing substances. I’m going to continue using caffeine, though… abuse sugar and a beer or two every now and then. I’m not perfect. And I don’t strive for being a perfect human. Whatever that would be.