If You Smoke Electronic Cigarettes ....

[naomi24]

... are you a smoker or a non-smoker? Just wondering how that is viewed by the medical profession.

[woofgang]

well, neither as there is not standard for what the vapour stuff contains...you might be inhaling nicotine and you might not.

"The Chief Medical Officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, acts as the UK government's principal medical adviser. She has said:
"I believe that electronic cigarettes have the potential to help smokers quit smoking, but at the moment they are not regulated, and some include additional flavourings. The variable quality and lack of data on their long-term safety is such that they cannot be recommended for use." "

http://www.nhs.uk/smokefree/frequently-asked-questions

[237SJ]

I`m not a medical person (sorry) but there is no smoke involved so users of electonic cigarettes must be non smokers. They might be imbibers of nicotine but that doesn`t make them smokers.

[woofgang]

people who intake tobacco by other methods (eg Paan) acoem under the NHS scheme and for the purposes of that scheme are "smokers" too

[237SJ]

But if you intake tobacco by other means then you aren`t a smoker are you? You don`t smoke it so you aren`t a smoker.

[mikey4444]

E cigarettes contain nicotine, which is the main reason why people started smoking cigarettes in the first place. Smoke or no smoke, its still smoking to me.

[Sqad]

Not sure about the other members of the "medical profession" but in my eyes instead of being addicted to nicotine in cigarettes, one still remains addicted to the e-cigs.

In my opinion, e-cigs may be fine for a few days of transition, but then one goes " cold turkey." If you can't then you are still addicted.

[pixie373]

I would say smoker. A non-smoker wouldn't use them.

[divegirl]

I call myself a 'vaper' ... and yes I am still addicted to nicotine but it's a whole lot healthier [in my opinion] than smoking a cigarette.
Also I have no plans of giving it up... I enjoy it :0)

Lisa x

ps I don't use one that looks like a fake fag lol

[woofgang]

i thought this question was not about how vapers viewed themselves but about how docs/ the nhs view them?

[mccfluff]

to me - you are inhaling something so you are a smoker

I don't go with the NRT approach, i can't see how you can beat an addiction by staying addicted. (im now nearing 11 months going cold turkey)

[divegirl]

My apologies for going off topic woofgang.

In that case, my doctor knows that I vape and considers me a non-smoker.

[naomi24]

Sorry for any confusion. It’s two questions really.

1. Do people who smoke electronic cigarettes consider themselves to be smokers or non-smokers?

2. Do doctors consider them to be smokers or non-smokers?

A friend has taken to using fake cigarettes and insists that because the tobacco, tar, chemicals, etc, aren’t present in them she is now a non-smoker. I just wondered what other people thought.

[jomifl]

The dangers of smoking are mostly related to the combustion products of the tobacco and cigarette paper, not to the nicotine (although it is a poison). Although e-cigs. don't of themselves cure nicotine addiction they do reduce the risks. I agree with 237sj they are no more smoking than a patch is. To describe use of e-cigs. as smoking is lazy use of language.

[divegirl]

I do consider myself as a non-smoker. That said I have had it said to me that I didn't give up smoking.. just changed brands, to a brand that contains none of the carcinogenic chemicals.
If I could have been offered a cigarette that contained none of the nasties I would have smoked that.
As I have said before, yes I am still addicted to the nicotine. The juice [liquid] that I use comes in varying strengths right down to zero nicotine but I prefer to use the one that gives me the 'hit' still.

Lisa x

[Baldric]

//are you a smoker or a non-smoker?//

You are a delusional smoker imo!

[naomi24]

Jom, I didn't think of nicotine patches. Good point.

[DTCwordfan]

Electronic cigarettes - what a shocker.

I believe Sqad summed it up, a good way to cut out smoking if you use them to take you down and then go cold turkey - otherwise you are a smoker. There's nicotine in them and other interesting additives that are attracting scientific attention, so yes you are still smoking and, therefore, they should be banned in public places and regulated as to minors.

[DrFilth]

if i go back on the patches and have the odd blast from a e cig would i then become an epatche

[pixie373]

There is no harm using them in public places, but my sister went from smoking cigarettes, to smoking ecigs and so did a friend. They have them in their mouths almost constantly and I've said i think they are kidding themselves if they think they have "given up". At least patches are a measured dose and remove the hand-to-mouth habit.

[woofgang]

the medical answer Naomi, is as I have said. Its impossible to say unless the contents of the e cig are known. Assuming that the e cig recipe contains nicotine then from a medical POV deffo a smoker. Even if the e cig contains no nicotine, there is no guarantee that what it does contain is harmless.