Former vape users kick the habit due to new information, but some fall back to cigarettes

COLUMBUS (WCMH) — In a hazy sea of mixed messages, former quitters are once again picking up lighting up as doctor’s decades-old directives appear to be going up in smoke.

“Any tobacco-like smoke is better than an electric cigarette,” said former vape user and current cigarette smoker Mohamed Dabos.

Some former “vapers,” like Ian Woods, credit news reports for kicking the short-lived habit.

“I don’t wanna find out about the bad things I’ve been hearing about it,” said Woods.

Most were hooked, initially, they say, by purported claims at the time as a healthy alternative to smoking and a way to wean off nicotine.

Turns out neither were true.

Just ask Derek Hall.

“It almost got to the point that it was constantly. All the time, 24-hours-a day,” he said.

Hall, 29, started vaping after smoking at the age of 19.

After three years of smoking cigarettes, he started vaping.

Then, at the age of 29, he started to notice he was tired all the time.

“This past April I started having issues with breathing. It was a constant feeling of not being able to take a deep breath,” he said.

It’s the kind of thing Ohio Health Doctor Ben Bring says they’ve seen in ER’s recently.

Bring said concerns about vaping are two-fold. Too easy to use anytime anywhere, vaping also utilizes a method of delivery that blasts a flood of nicotine or THC into your system.

“And it can cause a condition called hypersensitivity pneumonitis where basically the lung tissue gets really inflamed and can eventually lead to respiratory distress or difficulty breathing,” said Bring.

Concerning enough that some would rather take their chances with cigarettes again.

For Dabos, that means returning to smoking cigarettes but not e-cigarettes.

For Hall, it means he hasn’t picked up either since he quit vaping in April.

“I’ve quit. I’ve quit all activity,” said Hall.