According to the findings, former smokers had the highest intentions and interest in quitting, not surprising since most take up vaping in an attempt to quit cigarettes. Countless studies have indicated the effectiveness of e-cigarettes as smoking cessation tools, yet lead study author Amanda Palmer, does not seem to think this is necessarily the case.
“One of the best things you can do for your health is to stop smoking. While e-cigarettes may work for some people, they’re hindering quit attempts for other people,” said Palmer, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in MUSC’s Department of Public Health Sciences.
“What’s interesting about the people who keep using e-cigarettes after they’ve quit smoking is that we don’t really see that effect with other types of nicotine replacement drugs. It’s rare to see someone still using a nicotine patch or nicotine gum months or years after they’ve quit smoking, so there’s something special about e-cigarettes, even though they’re delivering the same drug.”
Most smokers are addicted to the hand to mouth gesture of the habit
Sadly Palmer is ignoring the fact that rather than being addicted exclusively to nicotine, most smokers are addicted to the habit of smoking. Hence the hand to mouth gesture of vaping which mimics the one of smoking, makes it easier for smokers to transition from smoking to vaping, than from smoking to any other NRT.
To this effect, many smokers who do not switch to vaping are likely to be unsuccessful at switching to another NRT, and would be more likely to keep on smoking. To this effect, one must recognize the harm reduction benefits of vaping products, even though quitting altogether would be the ideal scenario.
Another Study Indicates The Effectiveness of E-Cigs in Smoking Cessation Treatment
the reason many vapers in the US want to quit vaping is the way restrictions are making it harder to get devices and e-liquids they want to vape.
Vaping is far more effective than patches and gums in part because of the flavours, the combined success of all other NRT combined is half that of vaping but putting up hurdles and the mis-truths around vaping is putting people off trying something that may at least extend their lives (often close to that of a none smoker)
A further reason they want to quit but find it hard is the very high nicotine levels allowed in the US with very little ability to reduce these levels due to limited availability of lower nicotine e-liquids or pods