IMO Vaping is a far safer alternative to smoking for getting nicotine.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/e-cigarettes-around-95-le...
1. Many people that vape use it as a method to wean themselves off of nicotine completely. Since you can adjust the level of nicotine, they just use less and less until they aren't having any at all. Out of people I know that vape 3 have quit vaping/nicotine completely after a year or two, 1 vapes with no nicotine, and I vape with 1mg/ml of nicotine.
2. If someone has tried to quit smoking but keeps falling back, isn't vaping a better alternative? If someone is going to be addicted to nicotine, isn't it better that they vape rather than smoke since the harm is drastically less?
"5 people killed in riot" is still a 95% improvement over "100 people killed in riot" but that doesn't make it a good thing.
That being said.. people are going to do it anyways. Sugar, caffeine, McDonalds, and hundreds of other things on the list that are not great for you but people do anyways.
If people are going to do it, why not choose the healthiest way to do it?
If you must take nicotine as a nootropic, take it orally. Vaping is much more addictive than letting a 2mg lozenge slowly dissolve. Relative addictiveness of different ROAs is directly correlated with how quickly the drug takes effect, and when you vape the nicotine hits your bloodstream within seconds.
Also I can't mention enough that if you take an MAOI you should stay far away from nicotine.
And I'd say 95% healthier is a pretty good margin.
There’s still debate as to whether the bulk of the nicotine is even absorbed in the lungs vs. deposited vapor in the nasal and oral mucosa. But whatever the route, vaping is significantly slower than smoking—something that a lot of “switchers” don’t appreciate. (They don’t get the instant gratification that they did when taking that first drag off of a cigarette.)
I don’t mean to refute your point. The hierarchy of drug intake is legitimate. But vaping is more like “inhalation*” with an asterisk. Maybe faster than a lozenge or patch, but definitely slower than smoking it.
Can you explain more? You mean in addiction terms (I'd agree) or something else?
"Currently available evidence indicates that electronic cigarettes are by far a less harmful alternative to smoking and significant health benefits are expected in smokers who switch from tobacco to electronic cigarettes."