I started smoking cigarettes the first time when I was in Junior High. That lasted about a year till I decided one day that it was cutting out my wind when I played football. It was also the first time I realized how hard quitting can be. I might have smoked four cigarettes a day then, and it was still an exercise in willpower to quit. I started again in High School, and smoked for about five years. Most of that time I was ‘trying’ to quit! I finally managed to get smoke free, and remained that way for a good while. I was smoke free for about twenty years… that’s right 20 years. Then one night at work, bored, and surrounded by co-worker friends, I sneaked a cigarette. That started about a twenty year habit. I know now that once a smoker, always a smoker, and it only TAKES ONE. I tried several times to quit, but was never successful. I frankly didn’t try that hard because I also became somewhat cynical about the whole cigarette thing away. You see I am a Registered Respiratory Therapist! That’s right, the co-workers and friends I started to smoke with were mostly Nurses, and other RTs! I can’t tell you how many patients I have taken care of in my career, that have COPD, or some other respiratory ailment, that NEVER smoked a DAY IN THEIR LIVES! I am sorry. I digress…getting back to my story. I won’t speak for my Wife, but I know she probably smoked more and longer than I did. A few years ago we found out about the ‘new’ e-cigarettes. These were the kind that tried to imitate a real cigarette. We thought they were cool, and got a couple. They were…..okay…but too much trouble and never really took away the desire to smoke analogs, as they call them. Flash forward a couple of years, and one of my Sons shows up at the house with something odd. He had a friend that was a heavy smoker ‘turn’ him on to a new kind of e-cigarette, called a Reo-Mod. His friend had broke a three pack a day habit with it. It was very different from the ones we tried before, and soon we found ourselves sharing his Reo when he was over and hardly touching our analogs. After about the third visit, I looked at my Wife and said…’maybe we should get one of those?’. She agreed, and I began a long research process. You see back then Reo Mods were VERY hard to get ahold of, and very expensive. While we waited for our opportunity I began to study the whole e-cigarette world. I was shocked. Here under EVERYONE’S noses was a completely new way of dealing with the problem of cigarettes, and their problems. One THAT WORKED! A way that apparently did away with most if not all the damaging issues caused by cigarettes. I learned a lot and when our chance came we jumped on the wagon and rode away with our Reo’s. That was over two years ago. We have not smoked analogs since. Now, why do I think they are a good idea, and why do I think the GOVERNMENT should back off, and not stick its nose into the regulation of e-cigs. I KNOW they my health is better. Not only did I quit wheezing, but I GAINED WEIGHT! Just as if I had quit analogs all together. My Wifes lung health has improved too, and my Son, who had a bad smokers hack…..no longer hacks at all. I can’t PROVE it to you, but I don’t care. I know it has made a difference. We no longer feel, or consider ourselves as smokers! Besides all the good things they have done for our health, they also DON’T STINK, they taste good, they are convenient, and cheaper than a regular cigarette! In other words they have all the things about smoking we liked, and none of the bad. I don’t know for sure what the long term effects are, but if the short term effects are this good, the long term effects have to be better. At least when compared to analogs. Why should the Government back off? Let me be frank. I don’t give a sh-t if cigarettes kill me. That is NOT why I quit. I quit because it’s ……CHEAPER! We saved so much not buying cartons of cigarettes that we paid for our Reo mods(not cheap), and ALL of the accessories in ONE MONTH! We all know that if the Feds get involved in this product, they will try and crush it. It will drive up prices, and take away one of the biggest, and best ways to quit cigarettes. I have lived long enough to know that our Government is filled with corrupt, money-hungry, bureaucrats. They don’t give a damn about me or you. We cannot let them continues to erode our freedoms for the sake of a little safety. My story is much more detailed, and I have much more to say about this, but I will spare you. Thanks for reading. Bruce McNeely DO NOT LET THE GOVERNMENT CONTROL THIS BUSINESS!