Whether they like to admit it or not, the demonization of dual use is common amongst advanced vapor users. While over 97% of those people are ex smokers themselves, they seem to have forgotten the transition that they went through from combustible tobacco to purely vaping. The reality of the situation is, this needs to stop.
While some of us are able to seamlessly make the transition from smoking to vaping, with dual use lasting a very short time there are a variety of reasons why people may continue to smoke after picking up their first vaporizer.
The Reality
While the online community may be made up of mainly advanced vapor users, we make up a tiny proportion of the actual market. This is because until we have found our vapor shops, electronic cigarette users are rarely aware the online community even exists. We are all heavily ingrained in the culture and community of the vaping world and have, in all honesty, become a bunch of cigarette haters acting like we never smoked.
A recent study in the United Kingdom estimates that 3 out of 5 vapers are currently dual using , both the new technology and the old combustibles. Many of those surveyed did not start vaping to quit smoking cigarettes, they chose it purely as a safer alternative to the plethora of chemicals they were routinely ingesting. As with everything else vape related , when I first started I was fed with what has turned out to be a lie. I was told that dual usage would be detrimental to my health as the chemicals in the vapor would react with cigarette smoke and cause severe damage to my lungs which caused me to make a decision: quit cigarettes cold turkey or quit vaping. I chose to vape but there are countless others who hear such stories and chose to drop vaping as they already know what smoking does to them.
I Hated The “Need To Quit” Routine
We have enough entities outside of our community trying to keep people away from our less harmful alternative without helping them from the inside. When I was a heavy smoker, every time I saw a CDC commercial on the television telling me how bad cigarettes were, I instinctively lit another cigarette. It was as if I was subconsciously telling the TV that it wasn’t going to tell me what to do, even if it was right. Every time you feel the need to tell a dual user that smoking is bad you are telling them to light another cigarette as their defense mechanism kicks in to tell you to go “F@#$ yourself”. Every cigarette that person doesn’t smoke is in reality a victory, for them and for our industry, but it is not our job to push the subject. After a short time of being harassed, that dual user will form the impression that vapers are a bunch of self-righteous, sanctimonious people who they do not want to be associated with. That is when they go back to the cigarettes and we lose an ally.
How Do We Move Forward
Many of these dual users are still in the grasps of the tobacco industry and just haven’t found their way out yet. Our job is not to hit them around the head with a stick, hoping that one more bash may push the point home, our job is to offer support and help them figure out the magic combination that sets them free. My job as a vaper is to talk to people about their journey, to find out where they are and why they are at that point. If I can use a part of my journey to help them to find a way toward a life free of combustible tobacco that is an amazing step in the right direction. More than anything else, these people need us to encourage and understand their point of view, while offering advice and information when it is requested. The way I have come to look at this is simple.. a pushy salesman never makes any money.
As always, enjoy your vaporizer and vape safe!
