While most people who are quitting tobacco say they are trying to quit smoking cigarettes, the Quitline also helps people trying to stop using other types of tobacco. If you want to quit snuff, dip or chew, or maybe quit using an e-cigarette or nicotine vaping products, the Quitline can help.
Why should I quit vaping or chewing?
Only you can make the decision to quit using any type of tobacco. All types of tobacco contain nicotine which is the highly addictive drug found in the tobacco plant. Nicotine can also cause or worsen health problems on its own and so it should not be used long term.
Other chemicals found in smokeless tobacco and vape products can cause other health problems, including cancer, or can make your immune system less effective. When you want to live your healthiest life, being free from any tobacco product is an important step.
Benefits of quitting
There are many benefits of quitting tobacco even if you don’t smoke. When you quit chewing or vaping, some of the benefits you might see are:
- More money in your pocket to spend on things you care about
- Less worrying about spots on your lips
- No more dry cough and sore lungs
- Better mood when you don’t crave nicotine
How does the Quitline help?
The Quitline program offers specialized help with becoming tobacco free no matter what product you use. Our Coaches are trained to understand nicotine addiction and how it impacts your daily life. We can offer tools that make it easier to quit and design a quit plan that works for you.
Your Coach will also talk about switching to a medical nicotine product, like the patch, gum or lozenge as the safest form of nicotine. Switching to nicotine replacement medications allows you to wean off nicotine while avoiding the other chemicals that cause health problems. When you sign up with the Quitline, you are more likely to quit for good compared to if you try to quit on your own.
I thought vaping/chewing is safer than smoking?
There’s almost nothing worse than smoking when it comes to the health of you and the people around you. While vaping and chewing may not be as unhealthy as smoking, these products can still cause harm to your health. Chew and vaping products have fewer of the harmful chemicals compared to smoking but they still contain some. And, for vaping the truth is these products are still very new and the health effects of vaping may not be fully known for many years.
Some people switch from smoking to vaping or chewing to reduce the harm from smoking. The best research to date suggests switching will only be less harmful if you stop smoking. This is a good first step and the next step is to set a quit date for your chew or vape. The Quitline can help you take the next step to reduce the harm from all tobacco until you become completely free from nicotine.