They're worse in one particular way, which isn't the most significant way that cigarettes cause harm. They're not worse overall. Vaping has been a major public-health success story, and it's odd to see people trying to discourage it with misleading headlines. The perfect is the enemy of the good here.
this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2025
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And they’re talking about cheap Chinese gas station vapes here. If you use quality coils, there won’t be lead at all.
They’re also a worse pollutant. Policies that favor disposable vapes over refillable ones are a travesty but ultimately disposable vapes are far more profitable for big tobacco.
Yeah except smoking rates have increased since the invention of vapes. It if was strickly people smoking cigarettes swapping to vapes then maybe we could call it a success
You can always count on the tobacco companies to turn a useful tool into something evil.
You can always count on the ~~tobacco companies~~ massive corporations to turn a useful tool into something evil.
I admit I don't see people vaping as a major problem. The harm is not so severe that it overcomes my inclination to let people make their own choices. This is especially so when the harm is not intrinsic to the act but rather the result of contamination.
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PLEASE stop using disposable vapes.
I quit cigarettes 10 yrs ago and had been exclusively using the old school refillable box mods. The kinds with big clouds, not the nic salts like disposables. I was doing fine, great even, for the last ten.
But this past year, after picking up those disposables, I kept having breathing problems. I would stop using them for like two weeks before I picked them up again. The cycle finally led to me going into atrial fibrillation, a cardiac emergency. Had to have my heart shocked. in my 30s!
I ended up quitting nicotine entirely now. it was surprisingly easy to quit! once you wanna do it, it's already done. as long as you don't mope about it and celebrate it instead. it's easier than the whiners would have you believe!
My grandfather wakes up in the hospital after his third heart attack. The Doc comes over and says "you'll need to stop smoking or else" and my grandad asked "or else what?" The Doc leaned forward and stared him dead in the eyes "Sudden death"
Apparently it worked. He said he never smoked after that
After i read "sudden death" in the smash announcer voice, i thought your grandpa was going to smack his doctor
Wow, congratulations for quitting. And thank you for spreading the message.
Can I ask: What caused you to go from refillable box to disposable? And what is the draw to them?
Great question. I used both concurrently. The reason for the disposable: accessibility.
The old school vapes are just getting harder and harder to find. I had to order parts online. The juice companies were getting shut down. I didn't want to give up my addiction, and I felt so much better on vapes than i had on cigarettes, so I figured it was fine. (Nicotine alone is a bitch to your heart, though...)
I started trying out the disposables because they were readily available. I could pick one up anywhere, I didn't have to bring juice around with me, no giant batteries or kits to maintain on the go... and in exchange a much harsher hit.
this also led to me doubling my nicotine strength. I had been using 3mg juice for ovet a year by then, but all the disposables measure out to 6mg. Nothing weaker was available. had to switch to stronger stuff on the box mod.
it pisses me off how much they enshittified vaping. it was a really cool and helpful tool that got me off of tobacco. but they started targeting it at minors. instead of rich savory flavors you get all this fruity menthol crap that middle schoolers like. you get tiny vapes with flashy blinking light and fixed high potency. you get bans on it, and regulations/fees so strict that indie vape companies that started this shit for people like me now have to shut down.
oh well. it was all a facade anyway. nicotine itself is the problem. it pushes your systems into overdrive and then wears you out on seconds, until you cant even be at homeostasis without nicotine in your system. the joy of smoking is just the temporary relief of withdrawal. it's like wearing a pair of tight shoes just so you can enjoy taking them off for 5 minutes. I'm done living my life in withdrawals. so happy to be free! (and it was honestly fucking easy, you all can do it too)
I've been vaping type 2 cannabis for several years with a dry herb vaporizer. It's great, I have these small cartridges that I fill with herb and that's good for me for a session. It's a relatively low THC hit but it's perfect for me.
A few months ago I went to a dispensary in a neighboring state and picked up a disposable THC vape pen. It is really cool and convenient, but it can fuck. you. up. With the dry herb you've gotta pull on it very hard, especially the first hit... and that's how I hit the disposable the first time. Ruined my night.
oh you're talking about a whole different drug. yeah, the vape pens are problematic for sure. they are way too strong to be a medicinal dose.
if you're actually taking medication, you want to take exactly as much as needed to achieve the desired effects. building tolerance is one of many potential criteria for developing a substance use disorder.
the dry herb vapes are nice, though. I broke mine a while ago and have been using just a glass piece. been using CBD flower, and noticed i increased my use this past week. ironically, I think my lungs are a bit worse than when i was vaping (nicotine) lol because I'm replacing it with more smoke! oh well, can cut back on CBD too! not going back to the nicotine shackles either way. day 6 feels amazing.
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Plus those disposables create massive amounts of e-waste.
*New study shows one brand of disposable vapes causes higher lead exposure than cigarettes
The researchers tested flavored and “clear” versions of three of the most popular products — Esco Bar, Flum Pebble, and ELF Bar — and found “excessive emissions of toxic metallic elements” in the aerosols from each of them.
All three of which are from the same company. I'm not seeing any information there about where these are manufactured, but if I guessed China, I probably wouldn't be wrong.
Are any not made there?
Eta: I'm not sure this is a manufacturer as much as a dealer.
Oh yeah, that's what I meant. I'm sure they're not making them themselves. They're sourcing them from overseas somewhere for sure.
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if you're hooked on nicotine and you havent tried them, then give nicotine pouches a try. i switched to them from vaping and all the asthma went away overnight. plus no one knows when you've got one under your lip
Everyone knows when you have one under your lip
ok. i've never been asked to "go outside to nicotine pouch" so whatever
Funniest statement I've read today 🏆
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Do they offer low-nicotine ones to wean off? Or are you just limiting yourself to oral cancers instead of oral, lung, etc.?
Yes, they do offer them in varying levels of nicotine. I decided about a month ago to stop vaping after doing it daily for 10 years. Ordered some patches and some gum, and while I was waiting on those I tried the pouches. They do work and you can get them in lower strengths to wean yourself off.
If your goal is to quit nicotine entirely, be careful that you don't just fully swap one addiction for another. I'm still working on getting off of the pouches, but it's getting better, and my lungs feel so much better now.
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I find the pouches really easy to quit cold turkey, so there's not really a need to ween off once you've switched to them, but it is an option with pouches ranging from stupidly high to almost no nicotine content. It does suck for the first day not using them, but by day 3 I've completely forgotten they exist. Totally different experience quitting pouches vs a vape.
I've quit and picked up the habit several times, mainly because they're so easy to quit that I don't see a huge harm in using them again after a long period without. I wouldn't touch a vape again because it was such an effort and pain to quit.
Also nicotine isn't a carcinogen (tobacco is), and nicotine pouches are not linked to any cancer risk. Nicotine is basically as harmful as caffeine.
Nicotine products in general have been linked to reproductive harms such as stillbirth, premature birth, and low birth weight. Conversely, non-tobacco-based nicotine pouches (also known as "nic pouches") are classified as non-carcinogenic since nicotine itself is not a carcinogen. However, they are still harmful to cardiovascular health due to their nicotine content, and are associated with moderately higher risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and reproductive harms.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snus
Nicotine itself is currently classified as non-carcinogenic according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and according to the Royal College of Physicians nicotine in itself is not a hazardous drug. In turn, it is hypothesized that if nicotine can be delivered without tobacco and smoke inhalation, most, if not all of the harm of smoking can be avoided. However, if not carcinogenic, nicotine is still moderately harmful to cardiovascular health, therefore long-term use of non-tobacco nicotine pouches very likely causes higher risks for cardiovascular diseases, stroke, and reproductive harms.
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To help put things in perspective, the researchers compared the health risks of disposable e-cigarettes to other types of smoking, and found that Esco Bar devices released more lead during a day’s use than 19 packs of traditional cigarettes.
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Fortunately there is a 100% natural plant based alternative to vaping.
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Since the toxins are transmitted via the aerosols: can there something be said about the effect on involuntary "passive smokers"?
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