A new US study shows that the path to becoming smoke-free does not always begin with a crystal-clear decision to give up smoking. On the contrary, many former smokers describe how vejp gradually replaced cigarettes, even though that may not have been the aim from the outset. The researchers call this phenomenon ”accidental quitting” – giving up smoking by mistake.
Quitting smoking is often associated with a major effort, a quit date and a clear goal of becoming free from cigarettes. But a new American study shows that the reality is not always like that. It has found that many smokers initially start using vejp for entirely different reasons – and then, without any specific plan, find that cigarettes have gradually disappeared from their daily lives anyway.
The researchers describe the phenomenon as ”accidental quitting” – simply giving up smoking by mistake.
The study has been published in the journal *Nicotine & Tobacco Research* and is based on in-depth interviews with adult smokers and former smokers who use vejp products containing nicotine. The aim was to understand how the transition from cigarettes to e-cigarettes actually takes place – rather than simply measuring whether it occurs.
Driven by curiosity
A recurring theme among the participants was that they did not buy their first vejp with the aim of giving up smoking. Some were drawn to it out of curiosity, others because of the flavours, the price or the opportunity to use nicotine in places where smoking was not permitted.
It was only after a while that many people realised they were smoking less and less. For some, this eventually led to cigarettes disappearing completely from their daily routine.
The researchers believe that the findings are interesting as they challenge the common perception of giving up smoking as a process in which motivation and an active decision always come first. Instead, the change can sometimes take place gradually, with behaviour changing before the person has really had time to identify with it.
Dual use can be a transitional phase
Another conclusion is that the period during which people use both cigarettes and e-cigarettes is not necessarily a failure. On the contrary, several participants describe how they switched between the products for a relatively long time before they eventually gave up cigarettes. According to the researchers, this type of transition risks being misunderstood if one only looks at a snapshot of people’s tobacco habits.
This line of reasoning is supported by Arielle Selya, an American tobacco researcher at Pinney Associates in Pittsburgh, who has commented on the study in her Substack.
– Dual use is often part of the process of giving up smoking, and not evidence that the attempt to quit has failed, she writes.
According to Selya, both research and public health work risk drawing the wrong conclusions if dual use is regarded as a failed attempt to give up smoking, when in many cases it is instead a transitional phase on the path away from cigarettes.
May influence attitudes towards giving up smoking
The researchers believe that the findings may have implications for how the healthcare sector and public health initiatives view smoking cessation. If some smokers do in fact give up cigarettes without making a conscious decision to do so, there may be grounds for designing support programmes that take into account the fact that change sometimes occurs in stages.
The study does not claim that all smokers will give up smoking by taking up vejpa. However, it does suggest that the path away from cigarettes may be more varied than the traditional view would suggest.
