Let’s be perfectly plain. Electronic cigarettes are intended for smokers. Not teenagers, certainly not children, and not for anyone who doesn’t currently smoke.

But let’s also be absolutely clear about something else. E-cigarettes are exponentially safer than smoking burned tobacco products, which is the number one cause of preventable death, with some 500,000 people in the United States dying of tobacco related diseases each year.

The rush to condemn vaping as the cause of a mysterious outbreak of lung illnesses evaporated when the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) identified THC products tainted with Vitamin E acetate responsible for the vast majority of the illnesses.

Smoking burned tobacco products, primarily in the form of cigarettes, adversely affects the lungs because smokers are not only breathing in nicotine, but a wide variety of toxic chemicals, including carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, tar, lead and ammonia, to name just a few. And these same dangerous chemicals cause disease outside the lungs as well, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, eye damage, skin weathering and even increases a woman’s risk of having a low birth weight baby.

So it’s not surprising that seventy percent of the 46 million Americans who smoke want to quit. While there are a variety of methods, including nicotine replacement via a patch, gum, mouth spray, lozenges and more, using e-cigarettes to quit is another viable option. One of the top reasons people choose to vape is that they want to quit smoking.

A study published in the February 19th, 2019 New England Journal of Medicine compared vaping with other common nicotine replacement methods. The researchers randomly assigned 900 people who said they wanted to quit smoking into one of two groups. One group received nicotine replacement (such as gum or patches) and the other group received e-cigarettes.

The study found e-cigarettes were more effective than nicotine replacement for smoking cessation. Vaping was the clear winner in spite of the nicotine replacement group being given expert guidance, as well as access to a range of nicotine replacement choices, with the majority of this group using not one, but a combination of replacement options.

Why did the e-cigarette option come out on top? One factor was face to face support for four weeks, but the nicotine replacement group received that as well.

This trial, unlike other earlier studies, used refillable e-cigarettes and gave the participants in this group their choice of choosing the strength of the nicotine as well as access to any flavors they liked. Plus, they could vary both the strength of the nicotine as well as choose different flavors throughout the length of the study, tailoring the experience to their own needs.

But here’s another interesting finding this particular study uncovered. After the study was completed, many of the e-cigarette users chose to continue vaping, instead of going back to burned tobacco products or quitting altogether. For heavy smokers who are at high risk for relapse, the continuing use of e-cigarettes is a very positive outcome.

This finding simply underscores the assertion that many tobacco smokers continue to smoke because they derive pleasure and relaxation from the activity. The same thing is true for smokers who decide to switch to vaping. E-cigarettes create that familiar vapor which produces a throat hit, similar to smoking cigarettes, but minus the toxic chemical soup found in burned tobacco products.

Other reasons people find vaping so attractive is for social reasons. They love being part of a community, a tribe of people who appreciate and enjoy the sensual pleasures that come from savoring deliciously appealing flavors such as Fruit Monster, Butter Brew and Red Apple E-Juice. Other vapors enjoy collecting vape mods and tanks, all with different performance levels, price points and features, such as the stunning iJoy Shogun UNIV 180W Mod.

Another advantage for people who can legally use medical marijuana, is that vaping is a very, very effective and rapid way to get the active components of cannabis into the bloodstream, via inhalation, into the lungs. Patients who desperately need relief from nausea and pain associated with cancer and it’s treatment, or depend on this medicine to reduce epilectic seizures and a host of other conditions, want immediate relief and this method delivers.

In the long run, vaping is cheaper than smoking. Yes, the initial upfront investment puts off some people, but calculated over an entire year, the cost is substantially less. Plus, the consumer can control expenses via the choice of equipment and e-liquids.

E-cigarettes provide substantial benefits for those adults who decide for themselves to use them. The evidence for their superiority over burned tobacco products is clear. Whether consumers choose e-cigarettes as an aid to quit smoking, as a medicine delivery system, or because they want to be part of a community of vapors who simply enjoy vaping’s immense pleasure and enjoyment factor, vaping is here to stay!