E-Cigarettes Linked To Helping People Quit Smoking, Says Study (theverge.com)

According to a new study, electronic cigarettes help people trying to quit smoking. The Verge reports: For the study, published today in the journal BMJ, researchers analyzed survey data from over 160,000 people spanning almost 15 years. They found that smokers who used e-cigs tried to quit smoking more often and succeeded (for at least three months) more often than smokers who didn't use e-cigs. Overall, more people quit in the latest year that data was available -- the 2014 -- 15 year -- than in the 2010 -- 11 year. Today's study didn't address whether e-cigs are luring people who would otherwise be nonsmokers. But it did find that e-cigs do have a role in helping people quit. The researchers looked at several population surveys that cover the years 2001 to 2015. These surveys provided smoking-cessation rates, and the most recent survey, from 2014 to 2015, had information about e-cigarette usage. The results show that 65 percent of e-cigarette users had tried to quit smoking, versus 40 percent of people who smoked but didn't use e-cigs. About 8 percent of e-cig users succeeded in quitting for at least three months, compared to about 5 percent of non-users. Overall, the number of people who quit smoking increased by 1.1 percentage points in 2015 from 2011. This might not seem that impressive, but it still represents about 350,000 people.

Comments

Re:Reduction?

[MysteriousPreacher]

There's a certain kind of mentality that drives some people to see vaping as just another form of smoking, which they also consider to be evil. It's why we see these attempts at laws, particularly under the "think of the children" banner.

That these people group vaping in with smoking shows that they really don't care about health. If these things help with smoking cessation, and they don't carry the passive smoking risks, then why are we being told to go stand with the smokers? I'm actually trying to avoid smoking, yet I'm having to go stand in an area that exposes me to the risks of passive smoking.

Such things are driven by emotion and ideology rather than any serious concern for health.

Re:Reduction?

[totallyarb]

There's a certain kind of mentality that drives some people to see vaping as just another form of smoking, which they also consider to be evil... Such things are driven by emotion and ideology rather than any serious concern for health.

Very much this. What you have to bear in mind is that for a lot of people, "it's bad for your health" was the rationalisation for smoking bans, but not the actual reason. For a lot of people (me included) cigarette smoke is unpleasant and annoying. But a complaint on that basis doesn't carry much weight politically, because it can always be answered with "well, go somewhere else where there isn't smoke, then". The smoker and the non-smoker are on an even footing if it's just a matter of annoyance, and complaining about smoking in a bar would be the equivalent about complaining about loud noise in a nightclub. Don't like it? Don't go.

But if you can make it about health then the arithmetic changes. If your smoking damages my health (in even the most minor way), then obviously that's way more serious than mere annoyance, so suddenly I've got the political clout to force you to stop. [Full disclosure: I actually oppose smoking bans, but the principle is there.]

So obviously, with e-cigarettes, those who are really motivated by simple dislike of smoking (and who are perhaps somewhat morally dubious) are going to do everything in their power to try to keep eCigs classified like regular cigarettes - which includes trying to drum up any kind of evidence for potential health risks, as well as tenuous "gateway drug" style arguments.

Re:whole tobacco alkaloids

[Anonymous Coward]

I quit a couple of years ago after being an nicotine addict (quite heavy) for about 20 years ... One morning i just stopped..
I did fail a couple of times due to different circumstances, but it was just a smoke or two while being weak..

What i learnt from this...
- First week is terrible.. Try to have everything you need at home, and loads of things to keep you occupied.
- Patches just prolongs your addiction.. Try to stay away from them... (but we are all different)
- Stay away from secondhand smoke for the first 2 months or so..... For me it caused big cravings that where really hard to ignore..
- Stay away from nicotine completely at least for the first 2 years.. A single smoke during this time can make you have another round of cravings.
- For the first 6 months try to stay away from stress.... At least the one that is continuous for multiple weeks.

If you tell, and possibly plan for things in advance, most people around you will understand and even help you.. Including your boss..

But all of this is my own experience from the ordeal.. But i hope it may help others that want to quit too..

The feeling from waking up in the morning without wanting to have a smoke... And not stressing out because you are out of smokes before going to bed... Or spending 12+ hours on a long flight... Or having thousands of $ extra per year to spend on things i like.. Or the realization when you eat food after a few months and realize that everything tastes more now when your sense of smell and taste has been restored. Or missing to go outside in the middle of the winter just to have smoke..

Good luck to anyone else that is planning to quit... Remember to plan a bit ahead.. If you fail try to learn from why you failed and jump back on the horse..

 

Selection Bias?

[pr0t0]

It seems to me that people who are using e-cigarettes are already unhappy with some aspect of smoking already. Be it cost, health, convenience, or something else, something drove them away from traditional cigarettes to e-cigs. If they were committed enough to make that change and stick with e-cigs, they may have been more likely to have had success quitting smoking in a world that e-cigs did not exist.

So instead of a headline like "E-Cigarettes Linked to Helping People Quit Smoking", perhaps a more accurate headline would be "Committed Cigarette Quitters More Likely to Try E-Cigarettes As a Stepping Stone"

Re:whole tobacco alkaloids

[daniel23]

I was hunting for that stuff when I started the transition from a moderate long time smoker to vaping. WTA is unavailable in Europe, the best I could find was drinking tea of maracuja flowers (which happen to carry higher levels of some of the alkaloids).
I did some other things to strengthen my back, like documenting every single day in a huge excell sheet. Sounds anal but it helped me in many weak moments to look at the column of pyro-free days and tell myself I'd have to start new all over if I smoke a cig now.

Smoking for >42 years. Vaping for 528 days now, with a period of mixed use of just one month. I never thought I could let go of tobacco until I got that box with an usb port that even lets me fiddle with its firmware so I can run an open source firmware on it

There is a lot of anti vape propaganda around, the government hates me avoiding tobacco taxes, anti-addiction fundamentalists happily join with big tobacco lobbyist to push all sorts of FUD against vaping. The tobacco industry looks at dwindling sales and the anti-addiction evangelists fear for once guaranteed funding.

The talk of health is just that, talk. If health organisations like the WHO were seriously trying to help reduce the health impact of smoking they would at least research the phenomenon before opposing it. But vaping as a way out of smoking endangers the position of professional tabacco abuse specialists, simply because they are not needed for it and it wasn't their idea. Vaping emerged in a grass root way, uncontrolled by institutions or corporations and the opponents of vaping agree that this is unacceptable.

Re:Reduction?

[arth1]

There's a certain kind of mentality that drives some people to see vaping as just another form of smoking, which they also consider to be evil. It's why we see these attempts at laws, particularly under the "think of the children" banner.

I think at least a good part of that is caused by the most visible and obnoxious subset of e-cig users: the cloud chasers. Their goal is to create as big mist clouds as possible, by far exceeding what cigarette smokers do. They deliberately use mixes high in vegetable glycerin, and use low resistance atomizers that increase the amount of mist produced to the maximum.
And completely ruin it for the ones who go out of their ways to be discreet and get a personal fix so they won't go for a cigarette.

Re:Reduction?

[Mashiki]

Such things are driven by emotion and ideology rather than any serious concern for health.

Much like other things, from sex and violence, to video games and literature. What's interesting is just who is pushing for the bans these days. I can't speak for your neck of the woods, but in mine it's the liberal-left(liberal party of ontario), who are pushing the "ecigs are just as bad as cigs, if not worse *insert bogus study here, which was actually a questionnaire and not peer reviewed*." On the flip side, the conservatives see it as a money maker to replace cigarettes and cigars with something far more healthy, but can be taxed at a lower rate. And that gives a two-fold effect. First the revenue would remain the same or increase(ecigs are seen to be far more socially acceptable), but the healthcare costs from smoking would significantly be reduced within 10 years.

Re:Reduction?

[arth1]

No, second hand smoke is proven to be a cause of cancer. I should not be required to increase my risk of cancer to go to a club, simple as that. Your analogy is plain stupid.

Loud music is also proven to cause hearing loss. People know this, and choose to go to clubs and concerts - or to not go. But nobody seems to cry for a ban of loud music, or use arguments like "I should not be required to increase my risk of hearing loss to go to a club, simple as that".

Re:Reduction?

[Lord Kano]

There's a certain kind of mentality that drives some people to see vaping as just another form of smoking, which they also consider to be evil. It's why we see these attempts at laws, particularly under the "think of the children" banner.

That these people group vaping in with smoking shows that they really don't care about health. If these things help with smoking cessation, and they don't carry the passive smoking risks, then why are we being told to go stand with the smokers? I'm actually trying to avoid smoking, yet I'm having to go stand in an area that exposes me to the risks of passive smoking.

Such things are driven by emotion and ideology rather than any serious concern for health.

I think that these people got so used to fucking with smokers that they feel cheated by vaping.

They have been working for 50 years to demonize smoking (and smoking should be demonized) in all facets of life. They've been making great progress. When I was a kid, people could smoke virtually anywhere. People could smoke in hospitals. People could smoke in movie theaters. People could smoke in department stores. People could smoke in supermarkets. Now, people can't smoke in any of those places. There is even talk of prohibiting smoking in private automobiles if children are present. There was even once a proposal that could have forbade smoking in private homes if someone else was there to perform work. Somewhere along the way, it stopped being about health and became about fucking with smokers. It stopped being about demonizing smoking and became about demonizing smokers. People who vape just side-stepped them. People who vape get to continue their enjoyment of nicotine while not making everything stink like smoke.

They've been feeling smugly superior to smokers for so long that they're now addicted to that feeling and they don't want to give it up yet.

LK

Re:My success...

[Orgasmatron]

Once upon a time, I read pretty much every post made on ECF. Between that and me talking to other people, I think I've heard over 1000 stories from people who have quit, or tried to quit, or intend to keep smoking after exposure to electronic cigarettes. I have come to the conclusion that different people have different levels to tendency towards addiction to the other alkyloids.

The short version is that personal anecdotes don't necessarily apply to you.

If someone is not at all addictable by other alkyloids, they pick up an e-cigarette one day, and never smoke again. Which is fantastic for them, but when they generalize that to everyone, they can cause a lot of harm. (note to beheaderaswp, I'm not accusing you of this - your post just seemed like the logical place to post this) Genetically thin people have a similar problem - they ascribe their thinness to some imaginary moral virtue and then berate others for not exercising this virtue they think they have.

Different people have different tendencies to gain weight. Some stay thin no matter what they do. Some people are OK as long as their eating isn't completely stupid. Other people need to be very active and careful about controlling their diet if they want to stay thin. Similar thing to smoking addiction - some people just aren't wired for it, some people will get addicted, but can quit without too much difficulty, and some people, once exposed, will not be able to live a normal life without it ever again. And there is a diverse range in between the extremes.

So, if a personal anecdote doesn't apply to you, what then? The good news is that there are a LOT of anecdotes out there. Read enough of them and you'll come up with something that has a good chance to work for you. The other good news is that this is still young, barely out of infancy. If your solution doesn't exist yet, it probably will soon.

My general advice, based on my own experiences, and what I've distilled from the stories of hundreds of others is this: Try an electronic cigarette. If it works and you don't need to smoke any more - great. If you still smoke, try a gradual reduction. If that works - great. If you can't get to zero gradually, try snus when you feel weakest. If that works - great. As far as I can tell, the majority of people are done by the time we get here, and we are on the edge of the current knowledge. At this point, people branch out. Some live their lives with ecigs + snus. Some live with ecigs + a few cigarettes a day. Some are pushing the envelope with exotic vaping fluids. And, sadly, some give up and just go back to smoking.

Personally, I'm down from ~2 packs a day to 2-4 cigarettes on weekdays, 4-6/day on weekends and sometimes more when I'm driving a lot or working in the garage. And I'm OK with that for now, since I know that I can sustain it for years at a time. I've used snus to reduce down to zero before, but that state is fragile for me - very easy to end back up at 2 packs a day from there.

Re:Reduction?

[Calydor]

Is it better to breathe air with or without car exhaust traces?

Is it better to drink water with or without added flavors?

Is it better to have safety or freedom?

Be very careful what you're advocating for - do YOU want a world where nothing can be done for fun because it is 0.00001% more dangerous than not doing it?

Re:Reduction?

[Gr8Apes]

Is it better to breathe air with or without car exhaust traces?

This is the reason various governments are now looking to remove ICC engines from vehicles. So yes, it is better to breathe air without car exhaust traces.

Is it better to drink water with or without added flavors?

Personal choice.

Is it better to have safety or freedom?

I choose the freedom of not being forced to breathe your vaping exhalations in public areas?

Be very careful what you're advocating for - do YOU want a world where nothing can be done for fun because it is 0.00001% more dangerous than not doing it?

Non-sequitor. What is being advocated in this specific instance is that the public should not be forced to suffer your specific mode of entertainment, much like one not being allowed to race through the playground in a car.

Re:Reduction?

[elrous0]

I think at least a good part of that is caused by the most visible and obnoxious subset of e-cig users: the cloud chasers.

Yep, there is a HUGE difference between the moderate vapers, many of whom use it as an alternative to smoking, and the hipster cloud-chaser douchebags who feel the need to compete over who can blow the most obnoxiously huge clouds. Sadly, it's the latter who are most visible and most associated with vaping, though they're FAR outnumbered by the less-visible former.