I quit cigarettes in 2016 in favor of vaping. I was encouraged by my kids and quit after almost 40 years as a smoker. Now, 6+ years later, my lungs are clear and I will never go back to smoking regular cigarettes.

Vaping literally saved my life. In 2014 (after smoking for about 32 years) I had 3 pretty scary bouts of pneumonia. I was told I had COPD. My episodes were basically feelings of suffocation. Scared me bad! I knew I had to quit smoking but it is one of my great pleasures. I decided to give vaping a try. After a bit of adjusting I found it to be a totally happy alternative to smoking. My health has improved immeasurably. No more pneumonia and very few episodes that I need my rescue inhaler. I am using a very low nicotine content and find no adverse issues. It was convenient and inexpensive to find the things I needed online. Of course, this has changed drastically! All the the online sites I had used in the past are now defunct. It’s getting harder and harder to find what I need. I am so frustrated and angry that the “government” has found the need to stick their noses where it REALLY doesn’t belong. They have put numerous companies out of business and made it nearly impossible for people like me to get their supplies. I understand that vaping has put a hardship on big tobacco companies but is that a BAD thing? Government is basically taking away my right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

While I wish I could quit smoking altogether I am a victim of nicotine addiction. I have been a tobacco smoker for almost 60 Years in that time I have been an ardent pipe smoker. As result of pipe smoking I have suffered irreversible teeth and gum damage. As a cigarette smoker I have wasted thousands of dollars. I now vape.

Hello My name is Sharron and I am 52. I started smoking at 17 and have smoked for 35 years. I have tried to quit many times throughout the years, ranging time periods from 3 months to 7 years.This last period of smoking has been 4 years. I tried a disposable vape for the first time a few months ago and within 3 days I preferred the vape and have not had an urge to smoke again. I still vape but have cut down to the point that it’s not a need anymore. I must say I found the experience of converting to vapes very easy even after 35 years and I know that if I can have a vape when and if I need I will never touch cigarettes again. My health has improved, I don’t cough as much and I am really happy with the outcome. I used to smoke hand-rolled cigarettes and now use a disposable vape or refillable pods vape. This vaping has really changed my life and addiction to smoking.

I started smoking after I graduated in 2013 with the help of peer pressure from one of my best friends from school. It didn’t last long, but I smoked every brand of cigarettes you can think of. I was a dual user for a while till I finally quit smoking with a flavor from a local vape shop called Blueberry Cinnamon Crumble. After I quit smoking with the switch to vaping, I felt a lot better over the past few months; I didn’t smell like smoke and my car didn’t smell like smoke anymore. Also, when I smoked, I had problems with wheezing and shortness of breath. After a few weeks when I quit, those problems went away. If you or a friend smokes, educate them about vaping!

I was a Camel smoker for 23 years and during that time my mind convinced me that i could not quit. After a few attempts of my daughter pleading me to stop, as she did not want to lose me earlier than needed be, I started to seriously consider putting a halt to a habit. I knew it was detrimental to my health. As a Biology teacher, i needed to convince myself first that ecigs was a better alternative and that took more than a year of research. Finally i made up my mind to change and never looked back since that first inhale of my first ecig ….. still remember the flavor …… coffee cake. 🙂 That was about 6 years ago and have never touched a cigarette since. So so so thankful to the vapor device that i will always praise its’ use above that of smoking. By far the best alternative as a way to quit smoking.

I quit smoking almost by accident, not looking to quit, no desire to quit. I was born in 1980, a time period where it seems everyone in France smoked everywhere: my parents at home, my teachers at school, people at Metro stations, inside restaurants, malls, school courtyards, on television, on planes, on the train, in hotel rooms… Smoking cigarettes was associated with being an intellectual artistic rebel. Philosophers and writers would smoke on national television. There were posters of famous grunge and rock band artists with a lit cigarette in their mouth. Sartre, De Beauvoir, Sagan, Camus, all writers I studied in school, smoked and most pictures of them are seen with cigarettes. And I did start smoking. I wanted to be a rebellious intellectual artistic person. Then vaping came along. Around in 2011 my husband bought a strange device from a far-off land and filled it with liquid nicotine. I saw him manipulate the object, puff on it, have to repair it, but mostly I saw him stop smoking completely. Him, a pack-a-day smoker, that had started at age 13, easily quit. I was not convinced though. These were strange chemical products coming from foreign countries, not approved for consumption in France. I stayed with what I knew, cigarettes. Then, little by little the strange vaping devices became more user-friendly. My husband was able to buy his liquids in France instead of importing them. I decided to give it a try. It was strange at first, not at all like smoking. The effects of nicotine did not “hit” as hard or fast as with a cigarette. The aerosol did not feel as “heavy”. It was an enjoyable experience, but I wasn’t ready to give up smoking. I would keep the vape handy in case I ran out of cigarettes, or instead of going outside to smoke when it was cold or rainy. I never expected the following. Little by little I got bored of smoking, did not want a cigarette in certain circumstances. It started with walking the dog. I could not stand to smoke a cigarette when I took my canine companion outside. Then in the car. Even before going to sleep. I was enjoying my strawberry flavoured vape much more. I quit smoking almost by accident, not looking to quit, no desire to quit. It helped me that my superiors at work encouraged me to vape and accepted that I vape on site. It immensely helped that I had different flavours to go to. I started out with a butter-scotch crème liquid but quickly got tired of it and have been on strawberry crème for some time now. I am still addicted to nicotine, and frankly have never had any desire to quit it. It helps me focus and concentrate, and every single time I quit smoking in the past, I went back to it when I felt overwhelmed by too much “chatter” in my mind. With vaping, I have a less harmful means of getting my nicotine. I don’t have many vices: I do not gamble; I don’t drink alcohol very often; I don’t consume cannabis or any of its derivatives; I don’t eat meat on a regular basis; I don’t drink coffee or tea. I enjoy walking my dog, going to my workplace by bicycle, gardening and spending time with my husband, and my only vice: vaping. I would not be able to vape menthol or tobacco flavours. I have tried many different flavours before I settled on strawberry crème with is my “all-day-flavour”. Some like menthol and tobacco I find disgusting. Some like strawberry or whipped cream, I enjoy immensely. I do not have a high-risk high-paying job, am a little over minimum wage and would not continue to vape if there were excise taxes on the product, as vaping does have a few more expenses than smoking (batterie, resistance, liquid). I would either go back to cigarettes, which I don’t enjoy any longer, but most likely would turn to the black market. My house smells much better since I made the switch, I can ride harder and faster on my bicycle and have been able to even save some money instead of spending it all on ash. I thank anyone who has read me. Vaping has helped me stay off cigarettes when patches or gums never have. I find the regulations in France quite reasonable and would like to see more independent-peer-reviewed scientific studies in the future concerning vaping. I never thought I would quit smoking, but I am thrilled that I stumbled upon vaping.

Il vaudrait mieux interdire le tabac qui tue, rend malade les non-fumeurs, les voisins qui ne peuvent ouvrir leurs fenˆtres sans se prendre les fum‚es de tabac d‚plac‚es par le vent : c’est l’enfer !