What does it mean to be a vaper? I have personally been asked this question many times, and I am going to take the next couple of minutes to try and put my thoughts in stone — not for the millions of people in the United Sates and around the world who identify themselves as vapers, but for the hundreds of millions who see what we do as just another dirty habit. This is not a post about what vaping is, how the devices work or even about the war that is currently raging to stop governments around the world from banning this technology, it’s here purely to give you a brief look inside the minds of the people who believe whole heartedly that vaping saved their lives.
The overwhelming majority of vapers have one thing in common;
They Were Smokers
If you get on the CASAA website and read their testimonials page, you will see a thread that is repeated time and time again. Most of the stories start off with the sentence “I smoked for x number of years and tried everything to quit”. After many years of trying and failing, smokers were able to quell their addiction to tobacco by switching to a 95% less harmful alternative. These people rarely used the phrase “I am a smoker”, because the act of smoking was something that was frowned upon by society, yet they wear the moniker of being a vaper as a badge of pride.
There may be something in your life that you tried to get away from over time and have always failed. What happened when something finally helped you to break free, you identified with it and were proud to accept it as a major part of your accomplishment.
Vapers Are No Different
c/o T.Bailey Photography and Vicki Smith
There are approximately 9 million people in the United States alone who have used, or are in the process of using this technology to break free of the chains of addiction that have held them in social disgrace for many years. It has been proven to work, but they are up against a wall of opposition at every turn from health care organisations and governments alike. The technology is over a decade old, yet we are still under threat of ban because not enough is known about it (we are not going to get into that subject here today, even though it is a contributing factor to the vapers mindset). Under constant threat of losing the technology that has helped them, and removing the potential for helping millions of others is turning a lot of these previously politically dormant people into advocating animals.
Think about the thing you believe has helped you the most in your life, O.K? Now what happens when the government threatens to take that away from you?
Vapers Are Ordinary People
Trying to live their lives in the best possible way that they can, most of them parents, and professionals from every walk of life just trying to stay away from cigarettes using the only method that has ever worked for them.
If you truly want to know what it means to be a vaper, ask one of them. I am yet to meet a person who uses a vaping device who didn’t have a heartfelt story to share and information that may just change your perspective, not just on their way of life, but your entire world.
I was a smoker for 48 years. Tried everything from gum, patches, Chantix, and nothing worked. I started vaping last October, doing both for about a week (cigarettes and vaping), then on October 22nd, I stopped the cigarettes. I truly hope the government gets this one right!