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About-US-VSML

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.

Edward Abbott

Age:
39
Current Smoker:
No
Smoking Years:
20
Vaping Years:
4
Flavours:
Fruit
Smoking drained my finances aswell as my health. I would start to cough alot with cigarettes and my sleep pattern was also buggered. My teeth started rotting from smoking. All these negative effects as in all disappeared after i started to vape
Date Uploaded: 20220807

Loren Simpson

Age:
31
Current Smoker:
No
Smoking Years:
15
Vaping Years:
1
Flavours:
Fruit
I always wanted to stop smoking cigarettes, but i could find a way to give it up. When i got introduced to vaping i gave up smoking that very same day. I am still going strong and i don’t think i will ever go back to smoking cigarettes ever!!! Vaping changed my life, i feel healthier, my skin looks and feel good and i don’t have cigarette odour on my hands, clothes and hair.
Date Uploaded: 20221012

Lynn Reay

Age:
42
Current Smoker:
No
Smoking Years:
1
Vaping Years:
4
Flavours:
Fruit
First actually being medical. Believe It or not, nicotine helps my medical condition. I have a very rare autoimmune disease called Behcet’s. One of the many symptoms is that t causes hectic skin ulcers including in the mouth. Nicotine helps more than I can tell you in words. The 2nd because it gives my hands something to hold on to when I am anxious and overwhelmed and lastly it gives me time out when I just need 5 minutes to recollect and think, The last two are because I am a single mom of 2. Vaping truly brings me joy, gives me something to look forward to and helps me medically
Date Uploaded: 20200703

Suzette Victor

Age:
53
Current Smoker:
No
Smoking Years:
10
Vaping Years:
8
Flavours:
Menthol/Mint
Stop smoking cause vaping was a healthier choice. Start running after a year of stop smoking. Now I do marathons and Ultra marathons.
Date Uploaded: 20230714

Jeffrey P. Macabangon

Age:
30
Current Smoker:
No
Smoking Years:
1
Vaping Years:
2
Flavours:
Fruit
Date Uploaded: 20210717

Rashal Patel

Age:
32
Current Smoker:
No
Smoking Years:
8
Vaping Years:
6
Flavours:
Like more than one type
Date Uploaded: 20220115

Paul Anderson

Age:
44
Current Smoker:
No
Smoking Years:
26
Vaping Years:
3
Flavours:
Dessert
I started smoking at the age of 15, by my late teens I was smoking 25 to 30 cigarettes a day. I tried to give up many times but I wasn’t able to do it. At the age of 41 in 2019 I believed that quitting was a lost cause and that I was destined to smoke for the rest of my life, until a friend loaned me a vape device. I had been unwilling to spend the money on a vape device as I didn’t believe it would help me quit but my friend suggested I try it, just to see what it was like. I bought a bottle of Caramel Apple Cake flavoured juice and tried vaping, just to try it, but I didn’t intend to quit smoking. I enjoyed the flavour of the juice so I kept going back for another puff, just to enjoy it. within 10 days I was getting enough nicotine satisfaction from the vape that I had dropped to 10-12 cigarettes a day without realising. on 1st august 2019 I smoked 1 cigarette first thing in the morning and then got ready to go out. I decided to go for my morning out and try to see if I could do the whole morning without smoking, and I did. and the afternoon, and so on. three years on I still have not smoked another cigarette. soon after I switched to vaping I could feel my health improving. I could walk and cycle further and faster, I was sleeping better, I have had fewer days off work sick and my sense of smell and taste have improved. I truly believe that vaping has make me healthier and extended my life. I also think that the flavour’s of vape juice available were a significant factor, if I had not enjoyed the flavour so much I would not have kept going back to the vape. Even now, three years smoke free, I wont vape tobacco flavours because I worry that inhaling tobacco flavour vape will connect me to smoking and draw me back.
Date Uploaded: 20221010

Jean-Pierre

Age:
27
Current Smoker:
No
Smoking Years:
10
Vaping Years:
5
Flavours:
Like more than one type
5 years ago I was diagnosed with scar tissue on both lungs due to smoking, the doctor said if I didn’t immediately stop that I would die before I was in my mid 30’s, you’d think that would make someone stop smoking immediately….well cigarettes are more addictive than heroin..go check it out the research for yourself, after 2 more years of coughing, chest pains and having episodes where I STOP BREATHING without me knowing it (and only realising it because im getting dizzy and about to pass out) anyway a mate of mine introduced me to vaping and I stopped smoking immediately, went from 24mg to where im at 3mg now, recently went for a scan and my lungs are as healthy as a bull in his prime, completely healed. vaping saved my life
Date Uploaded: 20220116