Horizon TV Program

[Perpetua]

May 22, 2016 23:43:42 GMT VapingBad said:

 I wish they had included the view of long term vapers that either didn't want to or have given up on giving up.  As a group I think we provided the material for that and other stuff.

I missed something being included along those lines also - thinking of the people I know, how many of us actually want to give up vaping?

Certainly I don't, nor was it ever my intention to - just to find a less damaging means of getting a nicotine fix - which I do think the program gave a positive message on.

E-cigarettes/vaping are 95% less harmful than smoking . . . . . that'll do me very nicely.

[striker42]

May 23, 2016 5:33:31 GMT Perpetua said:

May 22, 2016 23:43:42 GMT VapingBad said:

 I wish they had included the view of long term vapers that either didn't want to or have given up on giving up.  As a group I think we provided the material for that and other stuff.

I missed something being included along those lines also - thinking of the people I know, how many of us actually want to give up vaping?

Certainly I don't, nor was it ever my intention to - just to find a less damaging means of getting a nicotine fix - which I do think the program gave a positive message on.

E-cigarettes/vaping are 95% less harmful than smoking . . . . . that'll do me very nicely.

I'm with the assistant CEO of the forum on this one, I have no intention of giving up vaping but I always wanted to give up smoking. I don't take kindly to people who intrude on my vaping habits. Especially the "do you think you'll ever give up vaping" which often draws a reply of "do you think you'll ever mind your own business". The most annoying thing is, the same people never asked me if I was thinking of giving up smoking !

[meganemerald]

Nice to see you VapingBad!

[VapingBad]

May 23, 2016 6:06:08 GMT striker42 said:

May 23, 2016 5:33:31 GMT Perpetua said:

I missed something being included along those lines also - thinking of the people I know, how many of us actually want to give up vaping?

Certainly I don't, nor was it ever my intention to - just to find a less damaging means of getting a nicotine fix - which I do think the program gave a positive message on.

E-cigarettes/vaping are 95% less harmful than smoking . . . . . that'll do me very nicely.

I'm with the assistant CEO of the forum on this one, I have no intention of giving up vaping but I always wanted to give up smoking. I don't take kindly to people who intrude on my vaping habits. Especially the "do you think you'll ever give up vaping" which often draws a reply of "do you think you'll ever mind your own business". The most annoying thing is, the same people never asked me if I was thinking of giving up smoking !

We were asked "what would it take for you to give up vaping" and everyone said they had no intention of doing so.  I answered "cigarettes being declared safe" and remnant answered "death" which got a mention in Mosley's closing piece to camera, I guess the flavour tests pushed our bit out.

I really liked Peter Hajek's closing statement @ 57:36  "Books and pHds and movies will be made about how was it possible that people from within public health were vigorously opposed to something which provides such a huge public health benefit"

[tonyb]

I missed the start of the program and was quite shocked to see some familiar faces from the London meets sitting round a table when I did turn the TV on.

I thought that most of the content was positive, but who knows how it will be thought of by the general public and non-vapers.

[sparks]

I watched the program twice, and found it to be generally well balanced, informative, and fairly unbiased. The science was interesting, but left several questions unanswered, and failed to equate the health aspect with other potential 'risks' we encounter in our daily lives (like micro-particles belched out by vacuum cleaners and air-conditioning systems, not to mention scented air 'freshener' aerosols and strong perfumes - the list is too long to continue here). It was also amazing that there was no mention of the huge cost incentive in switching to vaping.

BUT... There was one thing that annoyed me immensely, in common with virtually every other documentary on vaping that I have seen, and that was the huge focus on what I think you call 'cloud chasing'. They even went to great lengths to enhance the visual impact by stage-managing the lighting and using dark backgrounds. This is just the kind of adverse publicity that vaping doesn't need, and is bound to alienate public opinion against it. I am a committed vaper of over 6 years, have many friends that vape, and noticed countless people out and about that are vaping, and it is rare to see anyone do this. I wonder how many people that do, realise how ridiculous it looks, and likely to give a false impression of their mentality. I put it in the same category as spitting in public. One of the first tricks I taught myself when I first started vaping was the art of 'stealth vaping' - the exact opposite of cloud-chasing, so as not to draw peoples' attention. This is particularly useful in desperation in places where vaping is prohibited (but not unlawful). 

One thing that did come out from the program was the question mark over flavourings, which did not surprise me. In my first year of vaping I started out using commercial flavoured juice, but I gradually found that my breathing was not as good as I would have expected, and I coughed a lot. I then switched to mixing my own, mainly for economic reasons, but I did not get any improvement. Besides this, my wife complained of the sweet smell of the vapour which she said was not particularly pleasant, so I experimented with making a flavourless brew. After a while, I came up with the perfect formula and have used it now for the past 5 years without any breathing difficulties. Interestingly, my friends have also converted to this and I regularly supply them because they are too lazy to mix their own.

When I ceased smoking cigarettes, I went cold turkey. I still had 2 packs left - one was unopened, and the other had one left in it. I stashed these in the glove box of my car as a 'safety net' but, strangely, as time went on this also helped me because rather than being a temptation they became a constant reminder and physical evidence that I was succeeding in my determination to quit. After a month of pure hell I experimented with NRT which took the edge off my cravings, but it was not until I happened across vaping (I was an early adopter) that life became good (really good) again.

What happened to those packs? Well, after a couple of years I was going to frame them as a trophy to my success, but by then I viewed them with such revulsion, and guilt that I had let them rule my life and my pocket for so many years, that I ripped them apart and put them in the bin. It felt so good!

Here is a cost and health breakdown of my own experience of switching from tobacco through NRT to vaping, using current prices. I should mention that I used to smoke up to 3 packs a day, and was also a smoker for over 50 years

    Cigarettes £820/month - regular bronchitis, wheezing, and unable to exercise energetically 

    NRT (mainly gum & lozenges) £140/month - regular gastric problems, still often had unpleasant withdrawal symptom 

    Vaping £9/month (including expendables) - no noticeable health problems, did/do not suffer withdrawal at all  

Finally, I recently had a health mot, and they found my lung function was nearly 80%, blood oxygen level was normal, and an ultrasound test on my main arteries showed they were perfectly healthy. This was a huge improvement on the results of a similar examination performed ten years earlier. Apparently, for someone of my age, I was told, it was as if I had never smoked...

Jeff 

[Chrissie]

May 24, 2016 16:39:21 GMT sparks said:

Here is a cost and health breakdown of my own experience of switching from tobacco through NRT to vaping, using current prices. I should mention that I used to smoke up to 3 packs a day, and was also a smoker for over 50 years

    Cigarettes £820/month - regular bronchitis, wheezing, and unable to exercise energetically 

    NRT (mainly gum & lozenges) £140/month - regular gastric problems, still often had unpleasant withdrawal symptom 

    Vaping £9/month (including expendables) - no noticeable health problems, did/do not suffer withdrawal at all  

Finally, I recently had a health mot, and they found my lung function was nearly 80%, blood oxygen level was normal, and an ultrasound test on my main arteries showed they were perfectly healthy. This was a huge improvement on the results of a similar examination performed ten years earlier. Apparently, for someone of my age, I was told, it was as if I had never smoked...

Jeff 

Similar here Jeff, up to 3 packs a day on a bad day

And what a result from your recent health MOT

[dagl]

The Horizon program is being repeated at 11.15 tonight BBC2, if anyone's not yet seen it.