We all have our own personal experiences, and come from different places. But at the end of the day, this decision made by the FDA and/or the courts is going to have a huge impact on the future of vaping and the ability of other smokers to quit.
It seems that this thread has become construed as a "war on cigAlikes" .. which was never my point to begin with. CigAlikes rock, and those who use them as a method for quitting or cutting down also rock.
I LOVE cigAlikes. Because we all wouldn't be talking about this, if it weren't for them, and the smokers who have quit, or cut down, because of them.
The question is ... which way forward?
I don't think of this thread as 'war on cigalikes' but do think of it as yet another ECF thread (or vaping thread) where bigger device users feel very okay to bash cigalikes. If this is your first month or first 6 months of vaping, that may seem new. Ever since about my 2nd month of vaping (now more than 2 years ago), I would call that par for the vaping course. And in both my opinion and experience, it stinks when it shows up. Like when non-filter users used to bash on filter users, only different cause didn't have much of an internet back then and so didn't seem like an everyday thing.
Plus, and more importantly, non-filter users weren't constantly towing the cessation line.
I get that FDA is partially about 'let's get all people off those evil things.' But it is clearly not only FDA, even while FDA appears to hold all the cards right now. In reality, they do not, nor ever will.
This incessant ideology calling for cessation has to cease at some point. I reckon that is years away, but in my time of vaping I have seen the tide turning, and think it is very good. At same time, the prevailing politics around eCigs/vaping is 'whatever keeps you from smoking is great.' Which is not so great from the dual users perspective. Not horrible because I'm guessing I'm part of a large crowd that thoroughly enjoys smoking less, due to (existence of) vaping. But sucks that my dual usage would be perceived by anyone as 'still part of the inherent problem.' Ya know, cause I still have some appreciation for those 'evil things.'
Yet, my experience does bring to the table more years of going cold turkey than most, if not all, vapers have been in cessation mode. Thus, I feel like I fully get what it is like to not ever want an 'evil thing' again. My relapses (plural) from cold turkey to smoking were always made by choice, and never something BT did to me, that I had no say in. I call phooey on that sort of thinking whenever it arises, in whatever form it takes. This notion of, 'golly gee, really didn't know smoking was bad, and so I blame BT. After all, did you hear how they manipulated them to make 'em more addictive. Boy, does BT suck. Let's all blame BT for their wicked and constant attack on our pure innocence.'
As much as some vapers really really want smokers to cease smoking, and can't wait to help out on that front, actively seeking converts, I am not in that boat. I often times really really wish all vapers would smoke moderately. I hear many vapers claim if they had just one, it would be back to full time smoking, but really? I mean, you quit smoking, because a) you wanted to and b) vaping made it so darn easy, then why wouldn't that be true next Thursday, or Saturday or the Tuesday after that, if you had just one smoke today? I would say the reality is you don't want to smoke again, because you are afraid that you would
choose smoking over vaping. Which would be great if that sort of honesty was expressed, but never comes out that way. Also, would be easy to deal with because if you want to quit, and realize vaping does work (in reduction), then kinda sorta doesn't matter what your choice is unless your choice is, I'm going to abandon vaping.
I really really like moderate smoking because it is far healthier than abusive smoking and is not an experience I am accustom to since, well ever. Never saw the moderate smoker growing up, except for in the fantasy world of movies/TV where they (characters in a story) seemed to have about 3 to 5 in the course of a whole story, and looked oh so suave when doing it. Not seemingly dealing with the inner cravings that I experienced when I was active abuser. With moderate smoking, especially with vaping in the picture, I truly believe the addiction/cravings has ended. Not, I kinda think it has. It has. From my cold turkey decade of experience, I know what it is like to have an entirely different mindset around smoking, but unlike my cold turkey days, I now have added confidence in my ability to choose just a few smokes a week without thinking/being tempted to go back to full time smoking, or abusive behavior.
And with moderate smoking, I honestly feel the politics of what FSPTCA is about, is put in proper perspective. They say 'prevention' or 'cessation' but constantly, and very visibly, play in the arena of hypocrisy. Constantly downplaying own willpower, at the expense of believing the solution to 'the great evil' is outside of the user in this message, or that substance, or this device. Constantly downplay the choice to smoke, the appreciation for a good smoke, and the liberation that one may experience from smoking. When you ignore, or downplay all that, your cessation claims and advocacy fall far short of reality. And you cease to be a wise advocate for actual prevention.
All this, and more, I intend to share in comments to FDA. Likely being one of very few voices coming from this angle. And fully realizing that this game of cessation, prevention, hypocrisy and continued abuse will play out nationally, if not globally, for awhile longer.
But as I noted earlier the tide is turning and the cigalike vs. better device debate is just more of the same old thinking. In this thread the tide has visibly turned and is microcosm of how it can go the other way. Don't need to bash smokers/smoking for people to realize there are options available that may be just what suits you going forward, and that ultimately prevents you from becoming an abusive smoker.
Just read any of the numerous ProVari threads. 
