#Vapril 2019 is into its first week and if you’re considering making the switch from the cancer sticks the NNA has produced a superb guide on how to get started.
“Switch Onto Vaping” is a main feature of this year’s campaign and is an illustrated vape guide written by vapers for newbies looking to stub out the stinkies and take up e-cigarettes.
It’s a four step guide with easy to read advice from making the initial decision to switch – choosing the right vape device and e-liquid – and above all ‘exercising patience‘ as in:
You may have heard of friends who tried vaping and instantly switched, but don’t worry if that doesn’t happen for you.
As many of us who have successfully made the life changing transition know only too well – the smoking to vaping journey is not the same for everyone and for many it can take time.
This year’s #Vapril campaign is once again ‘fronted’ by TV GP Dr Christian Jessen from the extremely popular ‘Embarrassing Bodies” show and he says:
The Switch on to Vaping Plan, written independently by the New Nicotine Alliance, draws on the experiences of those that have been there and done it, successfully giving up conventional cigarettes for vaping.
The plan is created by vapers to help smokers on their own journey to vaping so that they never look back once they’ve made the successful switch.
Research suggests that if you can make it to 28 days without a cigarette you are five times more likely to quit for good.
You are indeed and if you’re looking for inspiration from the team here at EcigClick, then do look at how a few of us made the switch in our ‘Personal Vaping Stories‘ section – it makes for an interesting read if I say so myself 😉
The Personal Rather Than Medical Approach To Helping Smokers Quit
The New Nicotine Alliance is a UK advocacy charity that as the name suggest fights the corner of vapers – the vaping industry and indeed ‘reduced risk products’ such as SNUS.
A spokesman explained the reasons behind getting involved with #Vapril:
Our contribution was to offer hints and tips from our personal experiences in switching and it is important to highlight why we believe that our input is, indeed, intended to be beneficial to smokers and not yet another hammer to beat them with.
Traditional campaigns aimed at smokers have always focused on nicotine abstinence and nicotine replacement therapy as the only options; public health organizations have only seen quitting smoking through the lens of clinical treatment without recognizing that smokers do not see themselves as being ‘sick’.
It is all very well setting up clinics and waiting for smokers to come and ask medics to wean them off lit tobacco, but most find that option unpalatable.
Absolutely – especially as not only has funding been cut to many UK Stop Smoking Services – but data does indeed show smokers desperate to quit are rejecting the ‘medical approach‘ to quitting.
Whilst #Vapril is led by the vaping industry – in this case the UKVIA – the NNA says the medical establishment should embrace it fully – particularly as the UK Government has made it clear that’s what it wants to happen:
The Vapril campaign, although industry-led, should not be dismissed by public health, because it not only speaks to smokers who are looking to choose to quit smoking but is also consistent with recent government advice..
A report by the Science and Technology Committee in August recommending that more should be done to encourage smokers to take up alternative nicotine products was endorsed in full by the government, and last year’s Tobacco Control Plan pledged “to support consumers in stopping smoking and adopting the use of less harmful nicotine products”.
Additionally, vaping has been included as an option for smokers seeking to quit by the annual Stoptober campaign for two years now.
And the NNA’s gives one final thought about the public’s perception of the health merits of e-cigarettes and vaping.
As we know only too well there’s an undercurrent of anti-vaping sentiment from many groups and organizations. Sadly it seems the worldwide media chooses to report on these misguided – fake news scare stories rather than promoting the harm reduction vaping offers.
The NNA say:
…the Vapril campaign can hopefully have an impact in redressing the disappointing decline in perception amongst smokers about the merits of switching to safer products.
An avalanche of unscientific scare stories and click-bait media articles promoted by health professionals who should know better has turned many smokers away from the idea of trying vaping to see if it could work for them.
Considering the Royal College of Physicians assesses vaping to be at least 95% less risky than smoking, it is to the VApril campaign’s credit that it includes messages like that in its literature along with more populist and accessible advice for smokers who have dabbled with trying vaping but may have been put off before.
Wise words indeed.
And do checkout the #Vapril 2019 website and social media for details of free vaping masterclasses in your area.
Useful Links For Those Looking To Quit Smoking Via Vaping
OK here’s a few links to get you – your family – friends or work colleagues to help make the switch:
- Vapril 2019 website
- Vapril Facebook page
- Switch On To Vaping – including a plan you can download
- NNA article: The many reasons why the #VApril campaign should be supported
- Good For Beginners – our guide to the very best vape kits for newbies
- Blowing Away those Vaping Health Myths
- Who Says Vaping is 95% Safer than Smoking?
- Spend Time With a Vaper If You Want To Quit Smoking
And please do use the comments or contact button to ask us any vape related questions – no matter how silly you may think they are! Remember the only silly question is the one never asked! Jonny and the rest of the team are always on hand to help – I would say me too – but I’m not the most knowledgeable [true story bro lol]!
If you are making the switch – then the very best of luck – you can do it 😉
