Can Electronic Cigarettes Really Help You Quit Tobacco Cigarettes?

Last updated on August 31st, 2023

It's great that vape products are becoming so popular, but despite the continued growing acceptance, ecig companies can't advertise their products as a smoking cessation device. Why?…It's only a matter of time, as large scale test results now show that more people are able to quit smoking using vapor products.

According to a survey conducted by the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco,  3.2 – 4.3 million e-cig users no longer regularly smoke cigarettes.

There are new electronic cigarette safety studies and medical research projects in progress, but until more conclusive studies are conducted, successful electronic cigarette companies like Vaporfi will continue to focus on promoting the many other advantages of e-cigarettes such as..

• no tar
• no smoke
• no tobacco smell
• no flame
• no ash
• lower cost than traditional cigarettes

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UPDATE AUGUST 2023. A new study published in The Lancet’s eClinical Medicine – the largest electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) clinical trial in the U.S. to date – confirms the role of e-cigarettes in smoking cessation. Specifically, the new research supports that e-cigarettes can be a viable means of quitting or reducing more harmful combustible cigarette use for adult smokers (21+). This study, significant because it supports the role that e-cigarettes play on cigarette reduction or quitting in the real-world setting (i.e., without detailed instructions or additional cessation support)

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2015. Public Health England issued a groundbreaking report that confirmed “ecigarettes are about 95% safer than tobacco”.

Despite what the FDA and E-cig companies choose to promote, many people choose the smoking alternative of E-cigarettes to wean themselves off tobacco cigarettes. 

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How To Make the Switch

We at Cloud Nine continually receive comments on our posts from vapers who have successfully made the switch from tobacco cigarettes to electronic ecigs and vaporizers.  Here's how some former smokers went about it. 

1. Start by recognizing your smoking trigger activities.

Some examples of activities that trigger you to light up are:

• talking on the phone
• having a cocktail
• finishing a meal
• driving
• taking a cigarette break when a TV commercial appears
• taking a cigarette break at work
• having a smoke after sex

2. Begin slowly. Use your electronic cigarette or vaporizer for the first trigger activity on your list. Don’t smoke the E-cigarette for longer than 12 minutes at a time.  You can still smoke a regular cigarette for the other triggers at this time if necessary. 

3. Set your own pace. Once you are satisfied with your first substitution, move on to the second smoking trigger, substituting your electronic cigarette for the tobacco cigarette.

Continue substituting until you are happy smoking your vape for all your smoking triggers.

4. Reduce the Nicotine. If you become satisfied with substituting, consider vaping a lower nicotine e-cigarette filter.

Remember, all e-cigarettes are not alike. Before you buy the first ecig you see at the convenience store, do some research! This website has scores of reviews — even a best selling ecigarette comparison chart for traditional ecigs and vaporizers.

Also remember that many on-line e-cigarette brands offer nicotine at various levels. You can start with a high nicotine content and move to lighter or no nicotine as you are weaned off the traditional cigarette experience.

•  Always have a spare, fully charged E-cigarette on hand.

Many starter kits come with a second battery and several fresh filters (called cartridges or cartomizers.

• Not all electronic cigarettes are alike! There are many styles from which to choose – from cigalikes, Mods, to disposables.
  

• Experiment with different e-liquid flavors.
• Don't buy cheap products or clones!.

Some e-cigarette companies have a wide selection of tobacco flavored filters. Other brands like VaporFi have a huge assortment of eliquid flavors that are truly enjoyable. Vaporfi actually lets you customize your flavors and there are over 30,000 combinations!

Many vapers found that the non-tobacco flavored e-liquids such as chocolate, vanilla, and fruit flavors, made the transition to e-cigarettes easier because it did not try to mimic the tobacco experience. Some people reported that all tobacco flavor became distasteful to them after a while.

Here are some positive statements about e-cigarettes issued from Universities and Medical Journals.

A survey carried out by researchers from the University of Alberta, School of Public Health found that most E-cigarette users are switching over as a complete replacement for cigarettes.

The AAPHP (American Association of Public Health Physicians), in April 2010, said that it supported the sale of E-cigarettes to adults “because the possibility exists to save the lives of four million of the eight million current adult American smokers who will otherwise die of a tobacco-related illness over the next twenty years.”

A Boston University School of Public Health study, which was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found that 31% of 222 respondents in an online survey said they had not smoked any tobacco products since buying the electronic cigarette six months previously. The authors said that compared to the lower rate of between 12 and 18% achieved with nicotine patches and gum, E-cigarettes may be a promising tool to help smokers quite.

The researchers concluded:

“Findings suggest that e-cigarettes may hold promise as a smoking-cessation method and that they are worthy of further study using more-rigorous research designs.”

[source: Medical News Today]