I was a smoker for 25 years (+/-). I started in my early teens and cigarettes were $1.25 a pack. I enjoyed smoking. I did not want to quit but only the ignorant thinks it wont catch up to them. I had made about 8 real attempts at quitting smoking plus countless half hearted attempts. I have tried the patch with welbutrin, cold turkey and chantix. Chantix seemed to work the best but it failed to make me quit or make me feel like I could go the distance. I did not want to quit smoking, I just new that I had too if I wanted to decrease the likelihood of dying on a respirator in a hospital the way my mother did. The first e-cig I had seen was about 3 years prior to me giving it a shot. An old friend of mine had been using one and I tried it out. I hesitated to take the plunge then because it seemed like it would be just as expensive as smoking, like chantix, and had the potential to not work, like chantix. I shelved the idea until a few months ago when a friend at work was given an e-cig kit by one of his family members. It got me thinking again so I decided it was time to give it a chance. I started out with the basic cigarette style kit and would smoke real cigs and e-cigs throughput the day, gradually cutting down on the real cigs. It was about 6 weeks from he time I started the e-cigs until I was off real cigs, and wanted to be off real cigs. The last cigarette I had was on April 21st 2013 and it made me feel sick. I have not looked back since and my urge to smoke a real cigarette is more or less gone. I wont say that I haven’t from time to time thought about taking a drag off a friendƒ??s cigarette, but the urge quickly goes away once the smell hits me. Tomorrow will be my 2-month anniversary and I can honestly say I’m extremely optimistic that I will not go back to smoking real cigarettes. Electronic cigarettes fill the void that going cold turkey cant fill. It scratches the itch without breaking the skin. When I wake up in the morning, it no longer hurts to take that first breath. There is no wheezing. I went to the doctor about 3 weeks ago for a check up and was told my lungs sound clear as a bell. I’m looking forward to see what the next year will bring. Normally I go to the doctor about 2-3 times a year for upper respiratory issues. Time will tell if that will be a thing of the past. I am also extremely optimistic that it will be. I know my story doesnƒ??t carry much weight since itƒ??s only been 2 months, but if you knew me, youƒ??d know I am NOT an optimistic person. Never have been and probably never will be, but on this, I am optimistic. I canƒ??t for the life of me figure out why tobacco and alcohol are legal but e-cigƒ??s have come under such heavy fire. If you ban the one, how can you not ban the two, which we know beyond a shadow of a doubt ruin lives? There are only two logical answers to that question: ignorance or greed.