Smoking or Cessation?
By Paul
I do just want to warn you there is some bad language (and possibly grammar too) in this post.
I want to put this out there from the start.I am a former smoker. I smoked best part of four packs_per day_ for almost twenty years. Do I regret it? NO I do not.
Put it this way, it was my choice to start smoking, and it was my choice to continue to smoke despite knowing the potential risks involved.
Does this mean that I’m now adverse to smoking? Fuck no. If you want to smoke, smoke. If you want to vape, then vape. It is entirely your choice, I’m not here to judge you one way or the other. (There’s plenty of people in public health and tobacco control that could fuck off with their Views)
So why am I talking about smoking on a blog about vaping?
Simple, they are linked. They both give the person the nicotine “hit”, they both satisfy a ritualistic habit and they are both_enjoyable_. So why did I mention cessation in the title of this post? Well, it boils down to how society is now perceiving smokers (and by association vapers). They are vilified, demonised, ostracised and made fun of. The nanny statists continuously tap the average smoker for more tax money in a half-arsed attempt to persuade them to “quit”. Public Health grandees continuously beat the anti-smoking drum along with the “think of the children” cymbals to the point where if anyone lights up (or vapes) in a public area, you can feel the intense hatred emanating from various anti-smoking zealots nearby.
Frankly, it is fucking disgusting that these nanny statists are allowing the average person to be vilified in such a way, but they’ve been doing it for years. So long in fact, that for the average non-smoker it is almost considered “normal” to look down and sneer upon their fellow human being as they light up a cigarette to satisfy that persons desire for their own personal enjoyment. Admittedly there are some smokers that do want to qui’t and have, more often than not tried the “traditional methods”, I know I did. They beg the NHS for help which doesn’t always work out. Fortunately for these “troubled souls” there is a middle ground, with one fucking enormous drawback - the nanny statists insist that it is still smoking.
I have two words for those nanny statists. Fuck Off.
But never fear! NHS Stop Smoking Services (SSS) in some areas are now offering a lower risk alternative to smoking. Yes! electronic cigarettes are being made an option in at least two NHS SSS areas. They don’t actually provide the hardware, but they do offer rational, impartial advice on how to use one, where to get it and so on. They’ve studied the available information, and have concluded what we already knew in that electronic cigarettes (which I’m going to start calling “personal vaporisers” just to annoy people) are substantially less harmful than cigarettes.
The NHS, whilst not openly saying “yes, use e-cigs” they are actually starting to support their use as an aid to quitting smoking, which as we all know is exactly what those in Tobacco Control want isn’t it?
Well, sort of. It seems that the “war on tobacco” has actually devolved into “anything that looks like smoking”. All propped up by money they make from the tobacco companies of course which is completely abominable.
But with the NHS SSS starting to come around to actual harm reduction using electronic cigarettes, this war is only just the beginning.