I am curious to hear from people who started vaping without having smoked beforehand.

I’m curious about these things - feel free to respond to as many or as few of them as you wish. Primarily I am thinking about nicotine, but feel free to reply if you vape something different.

  1. What age were you when you started vaping? Feel free to reply with a vague range (e.g. 12-15) or description (e.g. young teen / adult)

  2. Why did you start?

  3. Do you regret having ever started? If so, why do you regret it?

  4. Have you noticed any long-term negative health effects from vaping?

  5. Do you feel that the socialogical and/or legal issues around vaping are more or less of a concern than health effects? (e.g. having to go outside to vape, vaping being banned/restricted in certain places/situations/countries, the risks of vaping being more legally controlled in future, etc.)

  6. Do you feel that the financial cost of vaping is more or less of a concern than the health effects?

No need to follow the numbered format or anything, this isn’t a survey, I’m just looking for answers to these questions for my own personal curiosity! Also, feel free to add any more information that you wish!

Please only share from your personal experience - no links to news stories or studies, please.

Also, not interested in responses from ex-smokers, sorry - those can be found in huge volume already.

  • possibly a cat@lemmy.ml
    2·
    1 year ago

    I think one factor is that it is a stimulant, and one that doesn’t require a sugary drink or else a bitter drink. Stimulants are extremely popular in society, legal and illicit. Dosing can be more controlled than with most popular caffeine sources.

    And although I suspect the MAOIs in tobacco are a strong component, there is an antidepressant effect that I don’t think has been entirely isolated - studies show that smoking often has an effect in patients where pharmaceuticals do not (and for some people who do not medicate traditionally due to severe side effects which is a relatively common problem). Last I checked, it was possible that nicotine itself contributed to this effect and so would have some effect on its own. (To note a link, caffeine also has an anti-depressant effect).

    The lack of MAOIs is believed to make vaping much less addictive than smoking. Many studies on nicotine show a fairly mild risk (and addiction) profiles for healthy individuals, even compared to many OTC medications or other household items. There is also, of course, less of a mental health stigma about having vaping in your history than a track of prescriptions.

    For someone looking to self medicate, for energy or depression, there can be various appeals to vaping. I tend to worry more about what in society is driving people to self-medicate so much.