I began using tobacco products (mostly smoking) at age 12 (1990). I tried quitting ‘cold-turkey’, as well as using nicotine gum/lozenges with no success. I had semi-chronic bronchitis and had several bouts with ‘walking pneumonia’. I also suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, which is exacerbated by smoking. In recent years, I have experienced increasing difficulties such as becoming winded easily. I developed a love/hate relationship with smoking. My cigarettes were my ‘friend’, but I knew they were taking a serious toll on my health. Finally, a few months ago (2013), at age 35, I discovered the electronic cigarette, or personal vaporizer. For the first few weeks, I was smoking and vaping, but for several months now, I find I rarely have a craving for a ‘real cigarette’. When those cravings come (usually at work), I allow myself to have one. (At this point, 4-5 cigarettes in a week is a lot.) This is a tremendous improvement over my 24 year habit of smoking a pack of Camel Wides or Non-Filters every day. I actually PREFER ‘vaping’ to smoking, today. I currently vape 24mg e-liquid using an Ego-type battery or a ‘mod’ battery along with clearomizer/atomizer tanks. This crushes nearly all of my cravings, by providing nicotine AND that familiar sensation of inhaling a warm substance. Over the past few months, I have noticed a steady improvement in my breathing. I also found that my environmental allergy symptoms have been far less severe. (This may or may not be a direct result of my transition to e-cigarettes, but the correlation is certainly worthy of note.) I am just starting to make my own e-liquid, by mixing concentrated nicotine with proprlene glycol, vegetable glycerine, and flavorings (food grade artificial flavorings and/or infusing natural flavors into the pg part of the mixture). This requires time and knowledge for safe and proper mixing, and it also requires more expensive purchases for bulk ingredients, however, it is significantly cheaper in the long-term, as long as the materials are not wasted (kind of like shopping at Costco). The present potential prospect of the government banning (or heavily taxing) these items is frankly frightening to me, as this is the first alternative I have found to smoking, which has proven successful for me…and as previously noted, I am already feeling a reduction in many of the negative effects from smoking. I fear that if these items are no longer readily available to me, I would likely resort back to smoking. I acknowledge that long-term empirical research is needed to determine the potential risks of vaping, however, I don’t need that research in order to know I am more healthy than I was several months ago, and this change IS a direct result of my transition from smoking to vaping.