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Comment by andy_ppp | Hacker News Reader

I actually don't think vaping is good because it allows the nicotine user to never realise it's possible to get over their addiction instead requiring constant replacement of smoking. This is not needed if they accept fully the difficulty of giving up but realise that every exertion of will power promotes their escape and weakens smokings hold on the user.

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Counter arguments.

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?

I just believe vaping makes it harder to quit for me; it is better if instead I can convince myself that it's a process that takes time but I'm improving at. For example hardly wanting to smoke after a delicious dinner tonight is great progress, if I'd have vaped I would have got a nicotine hit that wasn't as enjoyable as smoking and I would have wanted to smoke keeping me trapped in the idea I need a puff to be happy.

While I certainly don't encourage anyone to just start vaping for the sake of it, there is noting good about putting anything into your lungs other than air. But if you have tried everything else to quit smoking and nothing has worked. Vaping can help. I've seen quite a few who have just given up on the idea of quitting smoking simply because there was no alternative to the nicotine addiction. It can be a life saver in those cases.

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