There is a "crutch", and one I have refrained from talking about because the support from health organizations and tobacco control was sketchy at best. But for the first time this year, it is officially supported as a way to stop smoking by the UK NHS, and actively promoted during their "Stoptober 2017" campaign.

Stoptober - Home

That gives me the confidence to mention them here. Once.

E-cigs have been controversial for a long time, for many reasons. So much so that mentioning them usually causes lengthy discussions - something that I'd like to avoid. If you feel it's not for you, just stop reading here. There is no doubt that quitting altogether is by far the better option. Not quitting is the worst option. E-cigs is a way to get from B to A.

References & disclosure: I always remembered the manager of the rehab facility talking about smoking, about how he has lost too many people who got sober from alcohol but then got sick from cigs. That always stuck in my mind. But it also stuck in my mind that you never want to endanger getting sober, and one trap is when you fail at stopping with smoking, that feeling might turn into a "see, I can't get my act together, I'll probably fail at staying sober as well".

I tried in January 2014. I had read up all the books you can find about quitting smoking. I had registered with websites that give support. I had talked to my wife about it, I had talked to my GP about it. I was not going to smoke ever again. I was ready, I was 18 months sober. I was 110% motivated. If you can stop drinking, you can stop smoking.

Ugh.

I have never felt so miserable as after about 3 weeks. I did not want to give in, but sleep had become an illusion. I jolted awake after 3 seconds sleep, hour after hour after hour. I became horribly depressed. My blood pressure was all over the place. After 4 weeks I went to see my GP to ask for a reference to a counselor, ask for help. I did not want to give in, but when my GP saw me, she told me it might be better to postpone the quit attempt, and indeed see the counselor. I went out to buy a pack, lit up, and felt better & a born loser at the same time. I did sleep that night though.

At that point I had been smoking for 38 years. 70 a day in the end. I had started smoking at home at age 13 right after my father had passed away, and my mum didn't have the strength to stop me.

Anyway, I wasn't done, and before I could see this counselor, I talked to friends online who had gone through the same, and who pointed me at e-cigs. I dived into one of my manic "find the facts" sprees, bought a simple starter kit online. I didn't believe it would work, but I was desperate by this time to stop smoking again. I still was 110% motivated.

The package came (illegal at the time!), and 3 days later I smoked my last cigarette ever. Yes, ever. I know that I will never touch a cigarette ever again.

I'll skip a few months now. The counselor turned out to a) have worked at the rehab I went to before she set up her practice and b) was one of the official government advisors on smoking prevention. When I told her about the e-cigs, I had expected her to be scornful. I was wrong. She was still skeptical, but the first thing she said was "people crave nicotine, the least toxic substance in smoke, but die from the rest". She was amused by how much I knew about them (I had read all the science, joined forums, discussed it to death, devils advocate stuff, it was almost 24/7). She allowed me to further convince her.

6 months later, she asked me to give a presentation about them to 100 health professionals in Antwerp. These were all docs, hospital managers, nurses, stop smoking experts, so "a tough crowd". The presentation before me was done by our country's leading toxicologist. Together, our presentations both shocked and exhilarated the audience. We didn't convince all of them, but many ended up being more open to the idea. Prof. Jean Tytgat (KU Leuven who's who - Jan Tytgat) had been doing research since 2007 - the very beginning) and ended with "If you step outside after this presentation, breathing the air in Antwerp for one minute will be more toxic than using an e-cig for a day", and my presentation was about my personal experience with them, how I had managed to quit drinking but NOT to quit smoking, until I found vaping.

Now, given the lies tobacco companies had told about cigarettes in the past, and how even doctors fell for it, people are rightfully skeptical. Especially health professionals. "What if it turns out to be just as bad?" "Is this another ploy by big tobacco?" (answer: no, BT actually dislike e-cigs with a passion, 90% of the e-cig industry has nothing to do with them)

It's been a long battle, and it's still going on. The UK is leading the way. The big turnaround was when Public Health England and the Royal College of Physicians decided to deem vaping (using e-cigs is called vaping) "at least 95% less harmful than smoking". This was a BIG statement. But they didn't say it lightly.

E-cigarettes around 95% less harmful than tobacco estimates landmark review - GOV.UK

If you remember anything from this post, it should be this: smoking is burning (pyrolysis) organic matter, e-cigs is creating an aerosol. The tar from the burning is what kills you. Both contain nicotine, a substance arguably as harmful as caffeine.

The world's leading expert on smoking cessation, Prof. Dr. Robert West, who created the "Toolkit" study which allows to research smoking & smoking cessation consistently world wide, is a proponent of vaping.

I am no longer active as an (unpaid, sadly) advocate - it burns you out after a while - and I never ever "recommend" it to other people. I alert them to the possibility, and tell them to find out the facts for themselves. Some choke (pun not intended) on the often crazy headlines; the newspapers love scaring the hell out of you. Some try it and become smoke free. Some of them quit vaping after a while, others continue to use it as a less damaging alternative.

I still vape. I make my own e-juice; that way I know *exactly* what's in it. It's also cheap, as vaping costs me & my wife $10 every 3 months (or about 5 cents a day per person) instead of $25 daily. At the time I had bought enough materials to last us 15 years , but in the mean time it became legal in the EU anyway.

Anyway, long story short: check it out. If you are in Australia, double check, because the rules differ in the different states/territories. If you are in Malaysia, you can go to jail if you use/sell them. It's legal in the US, but the FDA is having a hard time setting up the rules (search for "deeming regulations"), but it's legal and will remain so. If you are in the UK, you can get free advice on how to use them from the NHS Stop Smoking Services. The world is all over the place at the moment, but I'm confident that will change. I will not mention it again, I will not tell you what to buy, I will not even recommend it (!) here, even if the NHS does. Just have a look around, ask your doctor (my GP is 100% pro), inform yourself. If you are not a smoker, please don't even think about it. But if you are and want to quit, it's one of the options, and you need to be aware of it. It may save your life.

Hope you find this useful.