I??m a two-time quitter. From the time I was 16 years old until age 26, I smoked 1 to 2 packs per day. I decided to quit smoking when I was 26 after learning about a coworker??s father who passed away from lung cancer. I quit using the nicotine gum. Twelve years later, at age 38, I began smoking again. It started out as occasionally ??bumming? a cigarette from a friend. Within a few weeks, I was back up to the 1+ pack per day habit that I had given up twelve years earlier. Two years ago, my life was saved when I heard about these strange things called ??electronic cigarettes.? After doing some research, I bought my first ??e-cig.? Within two weeks of continuing to smoke ??analogs? and using my ??e-cig,? I was able to quit smoking once again. I am not a smoker. I am a vaper. Over the past two years of being a vaper, I have steadily decreased the level of nicotine that I use from 18 milligrams/milliliter down to 4 milligrams/milliliter. Early on in my vaping habit, I was approached by an acquaintance (a smoker) who saw me using my personal vaporizer. He asked me if there were any ??side effects?? to using electronic cigarettes. After pondering his question for a moment, I replied, ??Yes, there are some pretty significant side effects.? It was obvious that this piqued his curiosity, so I continued, ??First of all, you??ll find that you can climb a flight stairs without losing your breath. You??ll also stop coughing in the morning and throughout the day. And, let??s see??uhhh??you won??t smell like cigarettes or burn holes in your clothing anymore, and not only that, but you??ll also be able to actually taste your food again, so if your wife isn??t a good cook, just remember??I warned ya.? As he thanked me for letting him know about the ??side effects of vaping,?? he started to walk away. I stopped him and added, ??Oh, there??s one more. It??s the strangest thing??but, ever since I started vaping, I??ve noticed this strange bulge right here??? Of course, this got his attention. As if in pain and with an exaggerated cringe on my face, I twisted my body and reached into my back pocket. Smiling, I pulled out my wallet and held it up. I no longer refer to my device as an ??electronic cigarette? or ??e-cig.? Too many people have such negative feelings toward ??the C-word? that simply uttering it will cause some people to start coughing and wheezing. It is a ??personal vaporizer,? ??PV,? or ??mod.? Like many other vapers, I have learned to mix my own e-liquid and I now repair and rebuild the devices that I use. I use only food grade ingredients in my liquid and I wish skeptics would realize that when I vape, the vapor that I am exhaling is *literally cleaner* than what they are exhaling as they voice their concerns, mostly due to the propylene glycol and its antibacterial properties. Just the fact that it looks like smoke does not automatically mean the vapor is anymore harmful than that from an asthma inhaler. Would anyone protest if an asthma patient used an inhaler and exhaled that ??vapor?? while sitting next to them? Unfortunately, much of the general public still perceive the vapor as smoke.