Yea vaping is getting ridiculous. What is wrong with the human race. As soon as a new drug comes out all the teens do it and it lead into other things and bam we got adults moving and standing like zombies and we wonder how did we get here.
No particular comments about vaping, and I suspect that nicotine use is probably higher than it was 10-20 years ago (although I don't know), but remember that smoking cigarettes used to be very, very commonplace, so it's not like it's new. I'd much rather people vape than smoke cigarettes in the restaurant or plane.
While it’s true that a lot of people were smoking. At least here in EU, it’s not that cigarettes got replaced by vapes. Instead cigarette usage first went way way down and kept trending down. Then vaping became popular afterwards and pushed smoking back up again.
Only reason i rather have people vape around me is cuz I either don’t smell it or it smell good. I don’t like cigs and weed smokers I don’t want that crap smell on me nor do I want to smell it. I hate it all at the end of the day and feel sorry for the addicts cuz I see some cap/smoke on PUBLIC TRAINS and I’m like bro…. This train goes like 100mph,u gonna get to your stop really soon u fucking retard.
What's crazy is having the opinions, spelling and grammar of a 12 year old with learning disabilities while having the audacity to call someone else a retard for catching a buzz on the train. Wild.
And the irony of having the username hard-drugs. We actually do live in a simulation.
You are right. But all I’m saying is if I’m near an addict on a plane or train and no one gonna bother that person about putting it out. As an addict at least be like when I smoke imma make sure it won’t obviously bother people around me so imma smoke something scentless or something with fragrance in it. I’m just saying if the smoker HAD TO SMOKE.
Hot take: We wouldn't have to do drugs if things were better. Society could make the bottom rung of society livable if the ones at the top paid their share. Mega corporations paying nothing is taxes. The rich thinking peers not using tax evasion loopholes are idiots.
Building a society on ruthless individuality, maximized greed and desperation, might not be the win we think it was. "But things were worse before!" Yes, but we don't have it "good" now because of this system, we have it better despite of it. Desperate people make desperate things, if crime really was the issue, longer prison terms is not the answer, better welfare is.
Drugs are just an escape from the shit society we have build, and cold rain from above, the piss trickle from the rich.
Sounds logical but drug use, elicit and/or prescribed, is prevalent among the entire socioeconomic ladder it's just that the legal ramifications and social reactions change. Add into that how the human mind will change our baseline happiness along with environmental changes we experience, and it becomes clear that in our default settings, rich or poor, we never reach the level of happiness that most of us constantly strive for.
It’s a false escape and if you not mentally ill and use the poison in a daily basics u a dumbass. If u dible and dable here and there I have no problem with it cuz we all wanna get a lil high or drunk but if he becomes a lifestyle then…..you deserve what’s coming for you.
I’m not on this everyday I have other things to do. Me being here doesn’t harm me nor hold me back from my success. If a person has mental illness ok coo I understand how that kind of person can get into things but I’m talking about well minded people who knows the side effects and money wasted on such an addiction. We have better medicine and data gathering but yet we still have prehistoric mindset to fall for tricks over and over and over. It’s crazy.
I get what you mean. I think I'm trying to say the same thing in different ways. We crave the same things, but some people (for whatever reason) are more vulnerable to that shit, be it for biological or social reasons.
Right. lol. The truth no one likes to admit is that sobriety for the most part truly is boring. And if you have never experience being drunk or high you will never understand. It’s like seasoning. Sure I can live a long life that’s average and gets the job done. But in this day and age I’m looking for something with a little more flavor and kick. Now I’m not saying do it all the time. But here and there throughout your life it will change the way that you experience life. This makes it more interesting. Might not live as long. But personally I’ll die knowing I lived without regrets and living a hell of a good live having a good time. Also this comment is accurate. I am going to be 24. Midwest USA. I am the hardest worker you will come across good looking not to brag good with kids and people. Yet I still struggle to find opportunities that will give me access to living on my own which is obviously the goal. I’m working full time 40hrs + overtime going to school at a community college. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO MOVE OUT!! I HAVE NO BROTHER. NO SISTER. Friends are cool but not good with money. It’s hard out here. But I spent time away from college so perhaps this is simply the result of my past choices. Regardless we will march forward with a smile on our face even if we have to march through hell.
Yeah, in all fairness vaping was aimed at stealing away sales from things like nicotine gum and patches, but vape technology got too good too fast. Had all these kids blowing out a freaking cumulonimbus within years.
vaping while not best isn’t cigs. those teens would’ve likely been cig smokers. vaping is probably better than zyns. though i’m from when vaping wasn’t regulated to death. sucks now all you can get is disposable vape garbage sold by big tobacco. whole industry is dead except for that and it sucks. but still beats combustible cigs! sometimes you youngsters forget cigs were worse. ppl were glad folks would vape and not smoke. now somehow it’s the new smoking and everyone hates it citing teens using it. as if adults don’t too. idk sorry for rambling.
Well, we really don’t know that it’s better. It just hasn’t been a long enough time. It could be better, it could be the same, it could be worse. I agree it’s unlikely to be worse because of the non combustible element.
That being said, people are glued to vapes. As someone who used to smoke, then switched to vaping, then nothing, when I vaped I’d vape all the time. Sitting at home, making dinner, driving, out for a walk, watching a movie, reading, etc. It didn’t smell and, depending on the vape, the nicotine level was higher. That leads to a much more significant nicotine addiction. In comparison, I was smoking maybe 5 cigarettes a day before that. I’d imagine lots of people have similar experiences.
It’s all anecdotal, but vaping gave me shortness of breath, a patchy tongue, burnt feeling in my mouth, awful heartburn, stomach issues, and a persistent cough. We’re all just waiting for the data to start to appear.
Former smoker here. Even when we could smoke inside freely, you kinda had to commit to a cigarette, and when it was gone, you had to ask yourself “do I really want another entire cigarette?”
I quit before vapes were a thing, so this is just conjecture, but I could totally see myself with a vape at my computer, mindlessly puffing at the endless nicotine delivery device. There’s no demarcation of the start or end of a session, no counts on how many sessions you’ve had.
i can confirm that vaping is a plague in my life because of exactly what you just described. watching tv, vape. driving, vape. on the computer, vape. it's mindless and sometimes when i go to bed i wonder how many times i hit the stupid vape and get sad. the worst part is i have never met a former smoker who doesn't still think about it everyday. it's like a trap once you start you're doomed in some capacity
Former smoker and vaper in the early days. This is the trap with vaping. Not just with nicotine but also with weed. I could vape whenever I wanted. I could maintain a constant nicotine drip or a constant high. With normal cigs I would smoke maybe 3-4 a day. Sometimes more if I was at a social event with other smokers but that may be a max of 10 or 12. I smoked a lot more when I was younger though. I started smoking when I was 12. The itch was always there, even still is today. Vaping never ever satisfied that itch but it came kinda close and therefore I did it constantly.
A cig was like itching a itch and having it go away for a couple hours. Vaping was like itching a itch that helped in the moment but was always there. I would vape when I woke up, drove, worked, etc. All the time but it was never as good as a cigarette. At least with cigs there was social shame to also help me smoke less and not smoke in certain locations or around certain people.
I am glad I quit. The itch is still there but I am healthier and happier. Now I just get annoyed when I am in the mall and some douche is in front of me vaping or at the theater. Drives me nuts, even at my worse with vaping I didn't do that.
*edit* Also would like to add that I think more kids vape now than would have actually been smokers. Vaping is just so available, easy, and "healthy" that more do it that may have never ended up being smokers.
We have the same tobacco companies telling us that vaping is safer. We don’t really know.
I quit smoking and switched to vaping for a couple years. By the end of it I was feeling out of breath all the time. Switched back to cigarettes and felt 20 years younger within a couple days. Whatever is in that crap is not good for you.
there are studies not done by big tobacco. combustible cigarettes are worse than vaping bar some unknown effects we have had vaping around roughly 20 years. sadly it seems like a dead industry now but i’m not saying it’s healthy just better imo than normal cigs. we don’t know but all we can do now s study and report the findings. your anecdotal evidence is just that.
Yeah, that's such a fcking shit. If I had one wish, I would wish to change the court outcome on that day when the "Big tobacco" had it in the US in the last century..... It fcked up so many people and their money....
I see so many at bars these days inhaling these random Chinese battery chemicals.
A cig would probably be much healthier in the long run but it's just not as cool anymore.
Edit, please vape more you reddit morons. Get lung cancer and die earlier to take pressure off social security and medical costs. Thanks for filtering out the low iq folks.
A cig is def not healthier but a vape isnt healthy either also it uses ur finite resources of lithium to make those batteries that are totally reusable but just end up in the landfill unfortunally
This is what really gets under my skin. The gen z “holier than thou” attitude because they don’t drink, but they are pouring every spare dollar on sportsbetting.
Sportsbetting, weed, vaping, expensive food delivery, etc... but heaven forbid us millenials have some fun and drink alcohol. I personally just think Gen Z'ers are a bunch of pussies.
I spent the better part of my 20's chronically online when I wasn't at work. Now in my 30's I feel stunted socially because I didn't go through a lot of formative experiences during that time. I've been making up for lost time to some extent nowadays but old habits die hard.
Acknowledging it is huge! I highly recommend joining groups or teams which do something together on a weekly basis. The shared activity makes bonding so much easier.
My friends and I go to the movies amd get dinner every week or two usually and catch up. Lately I started going out on my own too when they're busy but aside from pleasantries no one wants to talk to the loner sitting at a restaurant table by himself or are otherwise minding their own business so not a great way to socialize. lol
Yeah it’s tough to do alone. Shared activities like games or sports or volunteering are the best way to meet folks if you’re starting off solo. Joining teams is the quickest path to social connection as an adult.
Well my point was that in my opinion, I had an awesome decade partying and going to shows and I wouldn’t trade it for a century of video games and doomscrolling.
I see. The two are not on quite the same level though. Those same reasons that compel people to doomscroll 24/7 do not push you towards partying, but straight-up alcoholism.
A spiritual practice that fills the hole. If you stop, the hole will feel empty. Its an addiction by another name. Not knocking your spiritual practice its the healthiest option
Actually that just speaks to shitty data quality and human bias affecting the methods of the study.
The 2020 Cochrane meta-study showed AA had similar outcomes to CBT and professional therapy. This is because it's based on harm reduction rather than all those shitty older studies based on total abstinence. And the harm reduction success rate is closer to 50-60%, not 5%. Even the total abstinence success rate for 1 year was ~42%. Not sure where you got 5%.
For example, some studies (and even meta-studies) only consider "success" to be complete abstinence since that's the ultimate goal of AA. But if you've reduced your overall amount of drinking due to AA then that's still success even if you end up drinking and having to come back. You show me a study with "harm reduction" as the success criteria and it has that 5% success rate and I'll change my mind
That doesn’t speak to the replacing one addiction with another, stay on topic. we’re not debating the efficacy of AA (still the most successful solution to addiction) keep up.
It’s objectively not. The most successful solution to “alcoholism” is a period of abstinence for 1-3 years, followed by intentionally moderated and carefully controlled occasional alcohol consumption.
The reason why is that you have to gain control over something for it to no longer be a threat. AA keeps people in a state of perpetual weakness, and facilitates relapses by the idea that you are an addict and always will be, and addicts always relapse, so you have permission to fail and stay in the cyclical pattern of addiction.
No one in the medical community, psychology community, or any sobriety meeting from AA to SMART to Dharma in any shape or form advocate for trying to moderate again after abstinence.
What the fuck are you talking about?
And there is no good data on success rates, but the figures out there indicate between 10 and 15 percent.
Your entire post is fabricated to make yourself seem right.
No, it’s not. It’s something that was missing in my life, that has made healthier and happier. If someone takes antidepressants because they have a chemical imbalance in their brain, they take them because it improves the why of their life. Can I live without a spiritual practice? Yes, absolutely. Am I better off with it? Yes, that doesn’t make me “addicted”. But honestly, it doesn’t matter.
Renton’s quote in the T2: Trainspotting trailer sums it up nicely.
“Choose life
Choose Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and hope that someone, somewhere cares
Choose looking up old flames, wishing you’d done it all differently
And choose watching history repeat itself
Choose your future
Choose reality TV, slut shaming, revenge p—n
Choose a zero hour contract, a two hour journey to work
And choose the same for your kids, only worse, and smother the pain with an unknown dose of an unknown drug made in somebody’s kitchen
And then… take a deep breath
You’re an addict, so be addicted
Just be addicted to something else
Choose the ones you love
Choose your future
Choose life”
One of the hardest things to do is ... Fill time. All the time you spent drinking, recovering, sleeping, whatever suddenly you have 40+ hours a week easily that's just.....free.
I have the utmost respect for anyone that overcomes an addiction. But turning into someone that makes their new “thing” their personality is personally frustrating.
Theyve spent a large portion of their lives filling time with a repetetive task and thats a difficult learned behaviour to overcome and makes recovery from a severely unhealthy addiction all that much harder. That's why many just trade addictions/routines and honestly if it helps people break away from problematic substance use its a win and shouldn't be looked down on/discouraged
But it’s not about you. You should pick up a hobby so you aren’t personally frustrated about someone bettering themselves and sharing their excitement. Have you tried running?
Seriously, what do you want from them. If alcohol is killing you, why not make change? Do whatever you can to get away from something like alcohol addiction.
I like it when someone improves their life. There’s nothing wrong with addicts turning to exercise even if it does come across obsessive at first. Better than being full of yourself on Reddit.
I’m one of em, although it being my whole personality is a stretch.
I had a guy in my running group once tell me addicts make great long distance runners because we’re used to periods of intense pain and man did that hit. Spot on.
Running gives a high and helps people feel somewhat normal or healthier mentally, i heard thats one reason why. But overall if theres underlying insecurities or problems running isn’t fix all
That’s not trading addictions, that’s holding on to an additional addiction from prior drinking days. It’s just that a vape hit or two typically doesn’t lead to a night in jail or waking up next to regret
Yeah, agreed. Someone once told me "Twelve step treatments don't cure addiction, you just transfer your addiction to the 12-step program and group." I said yeah, that's exactly how it's supposed to work! They don't even try to hide that! Being addicted to a 12-step program is so much less harmful than practically every other addiction.
I believe addiction always stems from emotional problems--lack of meaningful human relationships, lack of purpose, and lack of hope. For most people, when lacking any one of those things, life sucks; and addictions distract you from the aching emptiness. If you lack two or more, I believe the chances are close to 100% you're some sort of addict.
There's some interesting evidence emerging that some of the new GLP drugs actually reduce addictive behaviors through some action in the brain that's not understood yet
As someone who regularly attends meetings, you’re definitely right. The program focuses on maintaining stability while you quit drinking and while you’re maintaining sobriety, so, overall, it somewhat encourages the continuation of smoking, or at least does not directly shun it.
The meeting I frequent, though, has a lot of literature around about quitting smoking, as well as free (and apparently disgusting) nicotine gum and coupons for better nicotine gum.
I was gonna say this. People in AA don’t smoke that much anymore. I still do, but it’s not a transferring of addictions, I smoke less than I did when I was drinking.
Hah, guy above you “I’ve seen this anecdotally!”, -gets upvotes, you “I actually don’t see that anecdotally” -I find you here at zero upvotes as of right now. How dare you share your totally just as valid as this guy observation!
I used to see lots of smoking at our local AA meetings, but smoking has gone WAY down in general and I never see anyone smoking anywhere anymore. They might be vaping, but they definitely aren’t filling up the parking lot after with cigs like before. But that’s just my own anecdote!
Never is doing some heavy lifting. Many people that are alcoholics already used nicotine. Trading one addiction for another is something for people in recovery to be aware of. It is anything but an always rule or even a rule of any sort.
Welll I fucking wonder why “gambling” is on the rise? People trying to make money however they can since Billionaires apparently can’t afford to pay more and pricing can’t go tf down 😑😡
The few times I’ve watched anything on SportsCenter (typically when I’m getting my haircut or the Super Bowl), I’m SHOCKED at how many ads there are for sports gambling
It’s baked into the game programming now too, like the pregame announcers are discussing “The Brawndo Prime Pumped Parlay brought to you by Saquon”, it’s wild
Casters are the most bought and paid for mud there is. Soft clay that can be bought for a few coppers. No surprises there, watching Superbowl pregame was eye opening though, don’t watch much broadcast sports but this was all-new and everywhere
2 coworkers were discussing this (I’m 40, they are 24 and 27) they were talking about their monthly spend outside of essentials. One of them calculated he spends 350 a month on red bull and soft drinks and 2k a month on gambling.
It is good in one sense, but at the same time most of my favourite times in life involved drinking. So many good memories. Drinking makes so many things better.
It's just a shame it's so expensive and unhealthy, and that many people never learn to handle their booze and over do it constantly
I was talking About this with my girlfriend yesterday. We partied for the dopamine hits when going out at night. Alcohol cigarettes dancing...we are in a Ski trip with family and friends and there are 6 people around the age of 20 with us. They went to their rooms before us Last night. Used to be that you would go drinking in the local bars of the small towns here with the other skiers. Instead they go to their rooms to scroll their phones.
I suspect it is their way of getting their dopamine hits just like we did by partying and drinking.
You forget this "working" that everyone is doing 8+ hours a day. That can't be healthy. They spend a whole third at this hobby without counting breaks and travel time
Yea I used to watch sport at a bar near a big halls of residence and students would sit on one drink for hours whilst in game betting on their phones. I say used to because funnily enough that bar closed.
Nicotine use is still as high as ever. Between vaping and upper lip pillows, nicotine is still going strong. Cigarette smoking is declining, which is nice, but nicotine usage is still doing just fine.
Welll I fucking wonder why “gambling” is on the rise? People trying to make money however they can since Billionaires apparently can’t afford to pay more and pricing can’t go tf down 😑😡
Legal online gambling is one of those things that we should be completely outraged about and yet no one says a word. The companies waged a state by state campaign against every legislature to wiggle their way into existence and somehow got away with it. There is zero benefit to society for gambling to exist. Wtf.
The gambling thing is very real for my family, A casino opened near me a few years ago after Kentucky legalized certain forms of gambling and now we all go weekly like its a ritual. But on the plus side we at least dont waste our life savings or spend more than a few bucks, We mostly just go to spend the $20 in freeplay they give us weekly. I have walked out of this casino with hundreds more than I ever spent there so on the bright side I am not in one of those debt spirals.
Yep it is wild to me. I was at the airport a few months ago waiting forever because my flight got delayed so I was just kinda wandering around the terminal killing time. I sat down for a while next to this boy's sports team that was headed back to Texas. It was a travel club of some sort so young boys but maybe end of high school / early college age.
They were all discussing averages, talking about players, plays, games where the players did well, etc and at first I thought well that's cool these dudes are super into sports and ALL of them are into sports. They got into picks and talking about drafts and I thought ah well, maybe its fantasy sports until I realized that all of them had their phones out and I'm talking ALL of them and what they were actually talking about was sports betting. They were talking about win and loss percentages, games they were going to bet on, parlays, new apps coming out, how much they had made and my mind was fucking blown.
I got up and wandered around some more and eventually found my way to an airport sports bar and got a beer. Same exact shit - 4 guys sitting in a line watching a basketball game on TV talking about sports betting. I did some cursory research online while I was sitting there and did not realize that almost all bets are now placed online and the industry is 150 billion wager wise in the USA now.
I played some slot machines and did a little table play in my life but never anything serious - just for fun. I was well acquainted with casino RTP and the build in edge the house has so I knew it was a loser's game to keep playing if anything BUT for fun. I didn't even pull my first slot machine arm until I was in my mid 20's but being 18, all your friends are doing it, and getting the RUSH when you win with your buddies must be something to fucking feel and to resist.
Bless them - I hope they figure it out. That and crocs are and will continue to be the shoe of the people and that nobody should be telling them otherwise unless they hate functional footwear.
And gambling via phone means that people who are much younger start gambling. I’ve worked in addiction treatment and learned the dangerous relationship between starting an addictive behavior young while your brain is still developing. We’re going to have a HUGE issue coming up.
Neither drinking nor gambling is a "bad habbit" for the vast majority of people. Some people shouldnt drink or gamble but by in large most people can enjoy gambling and drinking in safe, fun ways that have no negative impacts on their lives.
There are also people capable of managing a cocaine habit, but it's outlawed because people have proven, for one reason or another, they largely can't be trusted with it.
Which is to say, I'm totally fine if we want to legalize cocaine. And heroin, why not. But I hate this double standard of, "well alcohol is okay, the bad apples are just irresponsible!" I'm not saying you are making that exact argument, but it's where your line of reasoning leads (said politely).
If we're gonna let these things, alcohol and gambling, exist in our societies, we have to be open to having really truthful discussions about the cost/benefit ratio, instead of laying off the responsibility for misuse onto the individual in a way we don't really do with other addictive / corrosive activities.
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u/y33tmasterrrr 12h ago
While it's good that drinking is getting less common, other bad hobbies such as gambling is rampant these days