The Center for American Progress reports:
Researchers are still trying to figure out what could convince the estimated 40 million smokers in the U.S. to kick the habit for good.
[...] That was the subject of an innovative study that tracked a group of [employees of the CVS drug store chain] who were recruited to participate in an incentive-based cessation program. According to the researchers, who published their results in the New England Journal of Medicine this week, offering smokers varying financial rewards and penalties in exchange for cutting out cigarettes worked better than they expected.
Participants were recruited through CVS and randomly assigned to several different groups. They could choose whether or not they wanted to join their assigned group or drop out of the study.
The control group offered standard counseling with free smoking cessation tools, like nicorette gum. The other groups were divided between "deposit" and "reward" strategies. In the "deposit program", smokers were required to fork over $150. If they successfully quit, they got their deposit back as well as a $650 bonus; if they didn't quit, they lost their $150 for good. In the "reward program", meanwhile, smokers weren't required to make an initial deposit and simply received a $800 reward for quitting.
Smokers were significantly less likely to consent to participate in the deposit program; about 14 percent of people agreed to join it, compared to 90 percent of people who agreed to try for the $800 reward. However, the people who did agree to pay out the $150 deposit upfront were much more successful at quitting.
[...] More than 80 percent of smokers in the largest rewards-based group had not given up cigarettes by the end of the study.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by takyon on Saturday May 16 2015, @02:38AM
Big Tobacco’s War on Vaping [nationalreview.com]
OpenSecrets: Electronic Cigarettes [opensecrets.org]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by sjames on Saturday May 16 2015, @07:55AM
Excellent links, thank you!
Interestingly, a lot of vapers are already preparing for regulatory issues either specifically, or as a side effect of DIY. My current PV includes a rebuildable atomizer. That is, the heating element is user replacable part and is nothing more than a coil of heating wire (kanthal or nichrome). Those are becoming more common. To make the coild, wind a length of heating wire from a spool onto a mandral (I use a small screwdriver), and give it a quick blast with a propane torch to anneal it into the coil shape.
I use it to vape liquid that I mix myself from 10% nicotine in propylene glycol, glycerin, water, and food flavor additives. If necessary, I could mix it starting with pure nicotine but that would require safety gear I don't currently have and it would be a hassle.
So if the regulators come in, you'll see a lot of people making home-brewed 'modular flashlight systems' with optional air warmer attachments and somehow getting their home made all natural insect control products in the heating coils. Imagine that!
A few are experimenting with home extraction from various relatives of the tobacco plant that are in themselves much too strong to smoke directly.
And for the obligitory think of the children, making vaping taboo is a PERFECT way to make sure teens take it up in droves.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 16 2015, @09:10AM
If you mix yourself, just be careful you don't run out of flavor with the pure nicotine left over. I much preferred vaping until I discovered that and the strength got out of control.