I was a smoker for 28 years. I started when I was 18, and smoked a little over a pack a day. I tried to quit countless times. Cold turkey more times than I can remember, nicotine gum a couple times, patches a couple times, Zyban, and Chantix (twice). My successes ranged from 3 days to about 6 months. Then 2 1/2 years ago a friend of mine showed me an ecig. It was one of the little ones with a pre-filled cartridge. I tried it and was instantly intrigued. It felt like smoking, but I could do it anywhere, it didn’t smell, and I knew it was not as bad for me as smoking cigarettes. I researched and found a quality starter kit for about $65. My wife was skeptical, as we had flushed lots of money down the drain over the years on other stop-smoking aids. But for some reason I felt this would be different. She reluctantly found the money in our budget, and I got my first ecig kit. I am happy to say that I have not smoked a single cigarette since that day! I have no desire to smoke, and I know that for the first time in my adult life I will never smoke again. As far as health goes, I feel entirely like I’ve quit smoking – no wheezing, no coughing up brown phlegm, increased energy and stamina, etc. When I was smoking I would tend to get several colds each year. In 2 1/2 years using ecigs, I have had 2 colds. My life has greatly improved since I started vaping. Ecigs changed my life so profoundly that I started my own retail business selling them. I was a teacher for 25 years, and ran my business for 2 years while still teaching, but now I’ve moved into the business full-time. I have several hundred regular customers that have quit smoking and switched to the vaping lifestyle. There is NO question in my mind that ecigs are an effective method to stop smoking. I literally see dozens of people every day of the week who attest to that fact. I don’t even have to do a sales pitch anymore. When someone comes in my store and says they want to quit smoking and ask if these things really work, there is usually another customer there that will chime in and say Yes they do! and go on at length about how great they are, and how they helped them quit after years of smoking. In my opinion, ecigs are one of the greatest inventions of our time. They allow millions of people who are addicted to cigarettes and can’t quit other ways to be free from the bondage of smoking for the first time in their lives. Of course, more research into the safety and effectiveness is fine, but knee-jerk reactions of lawmakers who want to stand in the way of this wonderful technology threatens to keep these people smoking cigarettes, which we KNOW kills.