At the age of 13 I started smoking. We bought the cigarettes from a vending machine for .50 a pack. Marlboro I think… It was the cool thing to do back then. I continued down this path for many years. More and more of my friends were quitting as the years went by. I did not. As I got close to my 50th birthday I realized that I really had to quit. Over the years I had tried several different times to stop smoking, but I always failed and picked the habit back up. I have tried ƒ??the Patchƒ?, I tried pills, I even had a guy poke me with a needle (acupuncture), none of these options worked. I figured i was just always going to smoke. My mother was living in Springfield, MO at a senior housing facility. I went to visit one weekend and she had a new constant companion… She had a bottle of compressed oxygen that she had to carry with her at all times. She had been a smoker!! When I got home I started looking for options to help me quit smoking. I had a meeting on the 14th floor in downtown Chicago the next week. I knew there would be no good way to smoke so I figured this would be the big test. I bought a Blu electric Cigarette from the local drug store. I made it through the meeting and made it home. That was the end of cigarettes!! After that I started looking online to see what options were available in this world of Vaping… I was shocked. There were many options. I started with a great little e-cig and I had tobacco flavor. Then i found a better e-cig and i found that you could get cinnamon flavor. I have never looked back. I am down to 8mg of nicotine. I started at about 30!! I donƒ??t wheeze at night and my breathing is much easier. The hacking cough is gone. I donƒ??t stink, from Cigarettes any more… I have been clean for almost 9 months and i will never go back. I still carry my little e-cig in my pocket, but you would never know. I donƒ??t puff it where you can see me and I donƒ??t smell like smoke. We all have our little bad habits, but mine is NOT smoking any more. I am sure that there is someone who is going to say the e-cig is bad for me. I am sure they are correct. I am also sure that after 40+ years of having a pack of cigarettes in my pocket this is better. I know that there are also people that have a financial interest in me smoking. To them I say sorry, I have given you my last dime. Find another way to make a living. You are like crack dealers hanging out in front of the rehab center. Leave us alone!! Do not come at me with some nonsense laws and rules that say e-cigs are bad. We know this already. We also know they are not as bad as the product you are peddling.