VAPERS VOICES
Many adult South Africans have used vaping as a method to help them quit smoking and practice tobacco harm reduction.
Since the very beginning, VSML has invited people to share their experiences and what this innovation means to them.
Their stories should not be ignored.
Andre Welthagen
Current Smoker:
No
Smoking Years:
30
Vaping Years:
4
Flavours:
Like more than one type
1 did not stop because of any health reasons. I got fed up with the bin smoking. The smell of ash stomples and stains. So l got my first device, a Twisp. At the mall, l started vaping and never smoked again*
Date Uploaded: 20210222
Mike Van de Velde
Age:
56
Current Smoker:
No
Smoking Years:
34
Vaping Years:
6
Flavours:
Dessert
Tried everything to quit smoking including prescription meds. Nothing worked. Quit tobacco within a month of starting vaping. Can now breathe freely again. Doubt I would still be alive if I did not quit smoking. At the point I quit I could not climb a flight of stairs without stopping to catch my breath.
Date Uploaded: 20220120
Tyrone Naryan
Age:
45
Current Smoker:
No
Smoking Years:
15
Vaping Years:
5
Flavours:
Dessert
Date Uploaded: 20220115
Jaco Holtzhuizen
Age:
26
Current Smoker:
No
Smoking Years:
4
Vaping Years:
4
Flavours:
Dessert
Vaping helped me to leave the cigarettes because I have a chest problem that puts pressure on my lungs from birth, due to the cigarettes I felt that my health was declining and due to the stress work I could not leave the nicotine. From the first few months I started vaping felt that my health was getting better and an increase in my lung capacity and sincethen I started sleeping and breathing better
Date Uploaded: 20200703
James Bruce
Age:
50
Current Smoker:
No
Smoking Years:
30
Vaping Years:
4
Flavours:
Menthol/Mint
After being diagnosed with Diabetes and severe hypertension I made a conscious decision to quit smoking. I was suffering from shortness of breath, severe snoring , morning coughs and every winter I would get a chest cold that would develop into bronchitis and worse. I constantly suffered with sinusitis. 10 years into my marriage my wife started getting asthma attacks. Every year they became more frequent.
Once I quit smoking and switched to vaping my health started to improve. With in a month my morning coughs subsided. My chest cleared up and the wheezing disappeared. I could start smelling better. I stopped snoring so heavily. With in 6 months I was taken of blood pressure medication. That was when we discovered that my wife had also not had another asthma attack.
I nolonger get short of breath. Can’t remember when last I had a chest cold of sinusitis. I frequently go for long walks. I can sincerely say that vaping saved my life and it drastically improved my wife’s health.
Date Uploaded: 20230714
Franco Pretorius
Age:
30
Current Smoker:
No
Smoking Years:
9
Vaping Years:
4
Flavours:
Fruit
I went on holiday with friends who did not smoke, so for most of the way I was unable to smoke but I was able to vape. After not smoking for a couple of hours I realised I don’t need to smoke cigarettes, the vape satisfied me enough to just stop cold turkey. All previous attempts at quitting had no success to it.
My 2 main reason for quitting was the smell and health implications smoking had on me.
Mashrie Safodien
Age:
40
Current Smoker:
No
Smoking Years:
10
Vaping Years:
10
Flavours:
Dessert
I chain smoked for years until i met my wife, she was also a smoker but then got really sick with severe bronchitis and doctors said she will get emphysema if she didn’t quit, she quit the same day, I couldn’t kick the habit or go cold turkey as she did and I decided to invest in a Electronic cigarette device and various flavours of Eliquids, this was one of the best decision i could have made, I chucked the stinkies away immediately and never looked back. 10 years later I am healthier, my family is healthier.
Date Uploaded: 20210221
Zharn-Pierre Nel
Age:
32
Current Smoker:
No
Smoking Years:
2
Vaping Years:
2
Flavours:
Like more than one type
Date Uploaded: 20220116