Imagine you have been a smoker for decades.
You’ve tried to quit smoking many times. You tried with nicotine patches for weeks, despite that annoying rash on your arm.
You put up with Champix, despite the weird dreams it gave you. You tried nicotine gum, despite the unpleasant, burning sensation in your mouth. But in a moment of weakness – and it only takes one in the midst of many moments of strength – your old friend, the cigarette, lures you back in.
But then one day you try vaping. The hand to mouth action, the sensation of breathing in vapour, the sudden hit on the back of your throat, the vapour dancing and swirling across the room – it may not be smoking, but it’s so damn close it works for you.
Then you go to work. Suddenly, you realise you aren’t allowed to vape inside. In your break you head to the smoking shelter in the cold, damp grey outdoors.
James Dunworth – Ashtray Blog – 2021-11-17.