Quitting smoking. Not easy. Quitting smoking with the help of vapes? Still not easy, but at least easier. If you're among the many people looking to kick the tobacco habit, one of the first things you're probably going to look for is some guidance on the best vape to quit smoking. And that's what we have right here.
Below, we've highlighted a few selections for non-nicotine vapes that are popular with people looking to quit. So let's get to it!
Quick Picks
- ARRØ: A "flavored air" vape containing nothing but organic flavoring to deliver a satisfying throat hit without nicotine
- HELO/MELO: Two "functional" vapes that can help you deal with nicotine withdrawal symptoms
- QuitGo: A smoking-cessation device that uses nothing but the surrounding air to simulate the act of smoking
- HealthVape: A leader in the functional vapes category with a variety of nicotine-free vapes containing various vitamins and supplements
- Avida CBD: A leading manufacturer of vapes and other products infused with CBD
- Koi: Offers a wide variety of CBD vapes, as well as vapes containing other cannabinoids like CBN and CBG
- CBDfx: Pioneer in CBD-infused products that offers disposable vape pens and e-liquid in a variety of flavors
ARRØ
A major part of quitting smoking is getting rid of the habits surrounding the act of smoking — namely, the act of bringing something to your mouth, inhaling, and then exhaling. This oral fixation component is sometimes just as difficult to break as the chemical addiction to nicotine. That’s why many people start vaping non-nicotine products to help them quit.
ARRØ is designed to help break that psychological addiction to the act of smoking. ARRØ falls into the category of "flavored air" vapes because that's all ARRØ is. It contains no CBD, no supplements, no vitamins, no other compounds at all besides plant-derived organic flavoring.
ARRØ disposables are available in two sizes — a Regular size that should last for around 2,000 inhales, and a Max size that should be good for around 5,000. Flavors include Hawaiian Ice, Peach Berry, Watermelon Aloe Grape and more.
HELO/MELO
Two nicotine-free vapes that are two sides of the same coin, HELO and MELO are both popular with people trying to quit smoking, but for different reasons.
Despite the fact that many tobacco users believe smoking calms them down, nicotine is a well-known stimulant. Suddenly removing that from your daily routine — let alone removing the 20 stimulant jolts a pack-a-day smoker receives every day — can be rough. If that sounds familiar, HELO is for you.
HELO is a popular diffuser/vape with caffeine, meaning it can help replace the energy you would otherwise be getting from nicotine.
MELO, on the other hand, addresses another issue — the anxiety and general restlessness you might experience when you begin to break a nicotine addiction — by including calming melatonin in its formulation. Whichever effect you’re after, both HELO and MELO make our list of Best Nicotine Free Vapes and Healthiest Vape Pen.
Depending which of these issues are affecting you the most, you can turn to HELO or MELO (or both, perhaps at different times of the day) for help.
Both HELO and MELO are available as disposable vape pens and come in several popular flavors. For HELO there's Strawberry Ice, Pink Slush, Pink Lemonade, Baja Berry, Aloe Grape and more. MELO features Orange Dreamsicle, Cotton Candy, Cosmic Berry and Gummy Bear, among others.
Give one or both a try to help with the most common withdrawal symptoms you'll likely experience on your quitting journey.
Shop HELO here.
Shop MELO here.
QuitGo
QuitGo isn't really a vape as you're probably used to. In fact, it doesn't "vaporize" anything. All it does is pass the surrounding air through a flavored filter, which provides the experience of a throat hit while not actually delivering anything — no nicotine, no caffeine, nothing. This makes it essentially an oral fixation replacement. It gives your hands and mouth something to do besides smoke.
QuitGo looks like a cigarette, which isn't surprising given its function, and comes in five simple flavors — Citrus, Menthol, Fresh Mint, Cinnamon and Oxygen. You can order QuitGo from their website, but it's also available in many drugstores and other retailers nationwide.
HealthVape
HealthVape is on a mission to "help people kick harmful nicotine habits with a healthier alternative," so of course we have to give them a place on this list.
One of the leaders when it comes to "functional vapes" (vapes that include things like vitamins and supplements), HealthVape offers a number of different options depending on the effect you're after.
Boost's featured ingredient is vitamin B12, Energy contains caffeine, Vital is packed with vitamin C, Chill contains chamomile, Soothe contains melatonin, and Restore includes collagen. Flavors vary and depend on the formulation you choose, but include things like Lavender, Citrus, Peppermint, Mango and Jasmine, among others.
HealthVape's pens should be good for around 500 puffs. The pods are estimated to contain enough vape juice (1 ml) to last for around 200 puffs each.
CBD Vapes
We're putting vapes that contain CBD into a category all their own. That's because multiple studies have shown that CBD can both help soften withdrawal symptoms and blunt cravings — a great one-two punch that anyone who's ever tried to quit smoking will tell you is a pretty big deal.
One randomized controlled trial found that smokers who took CBD actually smoked less, while another study from Washington State University found that CBD interfered with the body's ability to metabolize nicotine, which in turn means it should make it easier to give up altogether. Finally, yet another study found that CBD helped lessen smokers' reaction to "smoking cues." Again, another indication that CBD may make it easier to give up cigarette smoking once and for all.
Here are some CBD vapes that can help you take advantage of these purported benefits.
Avida CBD
Avida CBD offers three different "levels" of CBD-infused products — full spectrum, broad spectrum and isolate. Without going into tremendous detail, the difference between those three is how much "other stuff" — flavonoids, terpenes and THC — the CBD contains.
Many users swear by the "entourage effect" you get from full and broad spectrum CBD. That basically means you get more and better effects because these compounds complement each other. When CBD has been extracted and put into its isolate form, those additional compounds are stripped out. Still, some prefer CBD isolate to ensure they're not ingesting trace amounts of THC.
As for the Avida vapes themselves, they offer e-liquid, which requires a diffuser or vape device to work, and standalone disposable vape pens called PUFF.
Avida's e-liquid and PUFF pens are available in a wide variety of flavors, including Mint, Vanilla Custard, Manga Mango, Watermelon, Epic Apple and more.
Koi
Koi offers a lot more than CBD vapes. You'll also find vapes containing other cannabinoids like CBG and CBN, as well as vapes with various forms of THC, as well as gummies, edibles, tinctures and more. For our purposes, we'll stick with Koi's lineup of THC-free vapes.
Koi offers both disposable vape "bars" and e-liquid, and there are lots of different formulations to choose from, with each one containing a different cannabinoid combination.
For example, Koi's Balance Bar contains 250 mg of pure CBD isolate. It's guaranteed to last for at least 6,000 puffs, and is available in flavors including Piña Colada Ice, Strawberry Banana Ice, Watermelon Bubblegum Ice, Sour Apple Ice and Cola Ice. This makes the Balance Bar Koi's most "straightforward" CBD vape option.
Other choices include a full spectrum CBD + CBG disposable vape bar, available in Pineapple Punch flavor; and a full spectrum CBD + CBN disposable in Papaya Twist. In terms of juice, Koi offers three different strengths — 250 mg of CBD, 500 mg and 1,000 mg. The vape juice is available in six flavors — Watermelon, Green Sour Apple, Vanilla Caramel Custard, Strawberry Milkshake, Blue Raspberry Dragon Fruit, Tropical Popsicle and Flavorless Koi White.
CBDfx
CBDfx has been in the CBD game for more than a decade, making them one of the original proponents of CBD's benefits. All of their products contain CBD that's derived from organic, USA-grown hemp. Also important to note — the CBD they use is extracted using the CO2 method, which is the cleanest method currently available.
Like Koi, CBDfx offers "any and all things CBD" — from the ever-popular gummies and oils, to capsules, topicals, tinctures and, of course, vapes. You'll also find many of those same offerings in a THC version, but we'll stick to the CBD lineup here.
CBDfx offers vaping devices as both disposable vapes and pods. The pens should be good for around 800 puffs, while the pods come in three sizes — 30 ml, 60 ml and 120 ml. CBDfx's flavors include Blue Raspberry, Strawberry Lemonade, Tropic Breeze and Fresh Mint.
FAQs
Are vapes a good way to quit smoking?
Yes … and no. While it's true that many people think simply switching from smoking cigarettes to using vaping devices is going to magically help them quit smoking, the truth is a lot more nuanced than that, and depends on what kind of vape you're switching to. This is a pretty important question, so let's go over some more details here.
First, you should know that nicotine vapes may do more harm than good. A meta-analysis of studies of the effects of e-cigarette usage on smoking cessation found that smokers who switched to vapes (or e-cigarettes) that contain nicotine were actually 28% less likely to quit than those who used nothing at all. So not the best track record.
We can speculate as to why, but we're not psychologists here, so we'll just trust the numbers and advise that you not turn to vapes with nicotine to help you quit.
However, as we mentioned above, consider CBD vapes to help quit smoking if you haven't before, because here's another study that brings some good news – the journal Addiction found that CBD can help reduce the appeal of smoking cigarettes.
Note, we didn't say CBD necessarily reduced tobacco or nicotine cravings. But it did have an effect on the cues that drive people to light up. It's possible that CBD's ability to help you relax (a well-known effect of the compound) can make those cravings easier to deal with, rather than making them disappear.
What's the safest vape?
There's no single safest vape or vaping device that will help you quit smoking. There are vapes that are safer than others, so that's what we'll limit ourselves to here.
It's fairly common knowledge at this point that there are certain compounds in particular (that were once fairly common in vapes) that can be extremely harmful. These include things like vitamin E acetate, diacetyl and formaldehyde. So if a vape contains any of those "big three," steer very clear.
Beyond that, vapes like ARRØ, which are essentially just flavored air, strip out all of those harmful chemicals and leave you with nothing but a diffuser that delivers a satisfying throat hit.
Going up the ladder a bit, you have vapes that deliver what are generally considered to be safe substances — melatonin, caffeine, vitamins, etc. There are not, however, any studies that show that it’s either safe or unsafe to consume those substances in vape form.
Finally, you have vapes that contain nicotine, which are a bad idea for any number of reasons. They can get you addicted to nicotine, if you aren't already, and can make you less likely to quit smoking if that's a goal.
There are also vapes that contain THC, the compound in marijuana that gets you "high." One would generally consider those types of vapes less safe than the ARRØ, for example.
What's the best way to deal with nicotine withdrawal when you quit smoking?
A non-nicotine vape may be the best way to deal with nicotine withdrawal when you quit smoking, because it should help you break your addiction. But if you're going to choose a non-nicotine vape to quit smoking cigarettes (which is the only smart route to choose according to the studies mentioned above), that means you're going to go through at least some level of nicotine withdrawal. Luckily, there are plenty of things that can help.
Products like nicotine patches, gums or lozenges can be a great way to wean yourself off of nicotine. They still deliver some nicotine, but not as much as you'd get with smoking, and not as quickly. So you don't get the sudden rush that you get with a drag of a cigarette, but you get enough to dull the cravings.
In conjunction with a nicotine-free vaping device, which can go a long way toward satisfying any oral fixation you may have developed from smoking, you'll now be attacking the problem from two angles, which means it may be easier for you to quit smoking.
Help is Available — Take Advantage of it!
No one ever said quitting smoking was going to be easy. But you can probably make it a lot less painful by taking advantage of a non-nicotine vaping device or some of the other products we've mentioned here today.
To quit smoking, choose a nicotine-free vape to help break your oral fixation (and perhaps help with nicotine withdrawal symptoms), and nicotine replacements like patches, gum or lozenges to help cut down on cravings and give yourself the best chance at success. And, of course, make ARRØ's plant-powered diffusers a part of your plan. Good luck!