Swaptober: “A Farewell to Cigarettes”

• Dr. Lindsay Reese successfully transitioned to nicotine alternatives after 20 years of smoking.
• Nicotine pouches and vaping played a vital role in reducing cigarette dependency safely.
• Harm reduction strategies empower smokers to make swaps that improve long-term health outcomes.
• Swaptober highlights the benefits of choosing safer alternatives and saying goodbye to cigarettes.

Get Swaptober Going With 30% Off

Want to try a new alternative? Keep Swaptober going with a 30% discount off any product on Haypp UK. Simply use discount code SWAPTOBER30 at the checkout. 

I’ll never forget my first cigarette, but I don't actually recall the last. In between I smoked about 100,000. When I finally found alternatives that worked for me, the urge to smoke melted away. And just like that…I was a former smoker.

My very first cigarette was at a sleepover. A friend had slipped a few out of her dad's pack, and our little troop headed to the woods behind my house to see what the fuss was about. Out of the four friends who shared that first furtive cigarette, only I went on to smoke many, many more.

At the time, a quarter of U.S. adults were current smokers, and a third of U.S. high school students were smoking occasionally. You could still light up in restaurants and even on school grounds (although this would change before I graduated).

By the time I headed to college, the habit was firmly entrenched. I didn’t like the smell, and it was becoming uncool to be spotted smoking.

But I loved using nicotine. My college major was Biopsychology and Cognitive Science, and I was fascinated by how substances affect the brain. It was interesting to learn that nicotine binds a specific type of receptor that can influence attention, learning, memory, and motivation.

This was before the term “neurodivergent” existed, but looking back I suspect that I had always smoked as a way to focus or relax. The science wasn’t clear then, but research going on at the time showed that people with ADHD are more likely to smoke and may have more difficulty quitting.

Next up, graduate school. I continued to study the brain and worked on my dissertation on Alzheimer disease, but I dabbled in other topics too.

The professor who taught “Smoking-Caused Disease” really shamed me about my habit, but I continued to walk the two blocks off campus a few times a day to where we were still allowed to smoke.

Still, the U.S. adult smoking rate hovered around 20%. Tobacco control was definitely coming into force, and cigarettes weren’t just bad for my health, they were becoming a social stigma.

After finishing my PhD, I headed off to Portland to continue researching neurodegeneration.

Cigarettes remained my constant companion, even though it was definitely more taboo to smoke in Oregon compared to Michigan or Texas. It was becoming embarrassing to admit that I was a smoker.

Unfortunately, there weren’t alternatives. It was still the era of “quit or die.” Early vapes (then only known as e-cigarettes) were nowhere near satisfying compared to smoking, and no one had ever heard of a nicotine pouch.

I experimented with patches and gum at least a dozen times but always ended up back at the gas station.

Fast forward a few years, and a new opportunity lands in my inbox. The recruiter asks if I would consider a contract with an American tobacco company. As a longtime smoker, I was intrigued!

Ironically, it would also start me on the path to switching from cigarettes. Viable alternatives were finally on the market, and smoking rates were actually on the way down. I learned about the science behind new products and tried them all. Vapes were helping a lot of people quit, but I never found one I liked. I also tried my first pouch, but I made a mistake.

My scientist brain thought about them like nicotine patches, where the box suggests higher doses for people who smoked more cigarettes. Surely the 8 mg pouch was the best option for me!

Dear Reader: It was not. I lasted about 2 minutes before the experience overwhelmed me.

In 2022, I moved to Europe, where heated tobacco products are widely available. I was sceptical, but a colleague gave me a challenge. “Switch for 3 days and see how you feel.” Still unusual in the U.S., they were the key to getting me off cigarettes for good.

I also had the opportunity to travel to Sweden where there are many more pouch options. The 1.5 mg dry nicotine pouch ended up doing the trick for me (hopefully there will be more flavours for this strength soon!).

I don’t know when I smoked that last cigarette, but I know I don’t think about having another one.

After more than 20 years of smoking, I knew the risks. I’d read the studies, felt the nagging cough, and tried to quit more times than I can count.

But quitting isn’t just about willpower—it’s about finding options that actually work. Harm reduction isn’t one-size-fits-all.

What matters is choice. What matters is access to safer options. And what matters most is accurate information.

Because if smokers mistakenly believe that vaping causing popcorn lung (false) or nicotine causes cancer (it does not), they will probably keep right on smoking. The science tells a different story, and people need to hear it.

Swaptober doesn’t have to be about quitting—it’s about switching smartly. It’s about empowering people with facts, not fear. If you’re still smoking, know this: there are better ways. I found mine. You can too.

Haypp has some great resources for doing just that. Below is a list of resources to understand what the products are and which might be right for you, as well as a way to compared product costs.

• The pouch that worked for me: 1.5 mg
• How to Use Snus & Nicotine Pouches: Beginner’s Guide
• Strength Guide for Nicotine Pouches
• How to Vape
• E-liquid Guide: Choosing the Right Type & Strength
• What is Heated Tobacco?
• Nicotine Pouches vs Vapes
• Nicotine Pouches: The Socially Acceptable Choice For Nicotine Users?
• Nicotine Savings Calculator