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Comment by russley | Hacker News Reader

Juul is reported to have higher nicotine levels though.

Isn't higher concentration better? Users titrate the dose to their preferred subjective effects, so the only difference concentration makes is the exposure to the carrier liquid and the flavorings, which are less well understood than nicotine.

If all alcoholic drinks contained 1% mystery liquid, would you rather drink beer or spirits?

I see. I'm not very familiar with their product. I would think that their product is good for weening "adult smokers" off of nicotine through tapered usage (e.g. reducing nicotine intake over a timeline by using specific dosage cartridges). Which of course go against a sustainable business?

They actually did just introduce lower level nicotine packs of their pods. The device worked for me because if you look into the world of vaping, it is almost like another hobby. So many parts, batteries, coils, juices, etc... the juul was dead simple and really just replaced my 13 year pack-a-day habit. It is a little unfortunate how it took off in schools and I do truly believe that was never their intention. It really works as a "cigarette replacement" if you aren't ready to quit cold turkey.

Thanks for sharing! That's an interesting point regarding simplicity of design and how the complexity of vaping can actually create a hobbyism that keeps you in the realm.

If you don't mind me asking (and you sharing): How long did it take to stop smoking? Can you describe the weening process?

Sorry for late reply. It was literally overnight....I didn't wean myself off the real thing it just sort of changed. It felt good and certainly has social benefits, but the downside is I can smoke the juul basically anywhere, including indoors. I would still recommend it for some who "wants" to quit (but doesn't really want to). No more smells or coughing up gunk every morning.

It's pretty easy to control dosage with number of inhalations. A counterpoint could be that it may be better to give someone a tool to quickly satiate that will be used less frequently. A lower concentration would likely increase the number of 'hits' to satiation, so may increase frequency of use.

Would be interesting to see a model of nicotine satiation.

That is true, the concentration is higher. But you get a lot less vapor so it evens out. Think about the people who blow clouds the size of cars. Even with 3mg nic the volume of vapor makes the difference.

Yep. One of the reason school administrators are particularly concerned with Juuls is that they produce so little vapor that students can inhale and hold for a few seconds, and by the time they exhale no visible vapor emerges. Kids are even doing it during classes.

Speaks to the 'lack-of-unnecessary-chemicals' but unfortunate unintended consequence.

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