I??m writing you tell you I strongly oppose HB 2595 because it would impose a new, unwarranted tax on smoke-free electronic cigarettes. This concerns me deeply as I have an online store selling electronic cigarettes out of Beverly and even though I do not sell nicotine in my store, this bill will increase the cost of every product even related to electronic cigarettes including batteries, atomizers, cartomizers, clearomizers, chargers, and a zipper case would be taxed because it??s made for electronic cigarettes. It is a well-known fact that the purpose of increasing cigarette taxes has been to cover governmental healthcare expenditure caused by smoking and to discourage smoking. Electronic cigarettes, smokeless tobacco are 98%-99% less hazardous than tobacco cigarettes, there is no fiscal or public health justification for such a hefty tax. Electronic cigarettes are less expensive than tobacco, and it needs to continue to be this way as I??m sure any government official wants the healthiest alternative readily available and affordable for whom they govern. This is not something to take lightly, this would affect thousands of people who are simply making healthier decisions, please do not punish those who help themselves. Already this year, committees in the Maine, New Mexico, and Delaware legislature soundly rejected bills with similar broad redefinitions of ??tobacco products?. I have a true voice in this bill as my livelihood could be ripped out from under me. The online electronic cigarette venue is a lifeline to thousands of people who rely on electronic cigarette to continue to stay away from smoking tobacco cigarettes. Without online stores most people would be lost and some would probably go back to smoking cigarettes, if had to guess, a very high number of people. If electronic cigarettes are taxed like tobacco or we are forced to buy from overly taxed wholesalers, hundreds if not thousands of small online ecigarette businesses would go under. Including my store. https://vapelation.com There would be no doubt that I would have a huge disadvantage if this bill passes as all customers will simply buy from a store in another state that doesn??t have huge taxes on their products. It would inevitably be the end of the best thing I??ve ever accomplished in my entire life. I was laid off last January, and I have created a job for myself with the possibility to employ other in the future. I??m trying to add jobs to a state with an extremely high unemployment rate already. My livelihood would be stolen from me after all the hard work I??ve done to create my own means of supporting myself. I??m a 41 year old single woman who believes in the American dream and that if you work hard enough for something, you can succeed. Please don??t take that away from me or all the other electronic cigarette vendors in Massachusetts. I started this business because I believe in it, I??m passionate about electronic cigarettes and the positive effects it??s had on my life personally and the countless other success stories. I wanted to help other tobacco users to find a healthier life as I did for myself. It is all I have. Please take a moment to read my story: I started smoking when i was twelve years old, Friday nights at the roller rink with my friends, trying to look cool and grown up. It was one of the worst mistakes I have ever made and it changed my life rather instantaneously. I was an athletic kid, a gymnast, track runner, and over all very fit and strong. It wasn’t even six months after I started smoking before I could barely make it through a floor routine in gymnastics, or run like I used to…I was ashamed but highly addicted. I smoked for 27 years and I continued to suffer the consequences from that one choice. I had tried to quit smoking countless times using various methods available. I??ve tried the patch at least five times which did help a little, but inevitably I failed. The patch gives a dose of nicotine trans dermally, and I would have severe cravings even with the highest mg. patch. I experienced extreme irritation on the site of the patch, and awful nightmares. I noticed that part of the addiction to cigarettes is the act of smoking?? taking a drag, inhaling for the throat hit, feeling it in my lungs and then watching it on exhale. Psychologically there is an addiction to the ritual and the patch wasn??t working. I made it through a week on one of the many attempts but that was the longest. I??ve also tried nicotine gum which I had even less success with. The gum tastes horrible, it??s hard, and I??m simply not a gum chewer but I have invested and tried several times and failed. I??ve also gone ??cold turkey? and abstained the longest from cigarettes, three months! But, the cravings never go away, never, so every minute of my waking day I tried to resist. It??s difficult to write down the feeling of failure that comes with admitting that these things owned me, I simply could not let them go as the addiction was stronger than me. I was recently diagnosed with interstitial cystitis, which in laymen terms means I no longer have the lining of my bladder which creates the feeling of a urinary tract infection most of the time. I experience constant pressure and pain in my abdomen. My Urologist told me that a carcinogen in cigarettes is the number one cause of this disease. IC is an extremely uncomfortable disease with no etiology and no successful treatment therapy??s and no cure. Beyond my cigarette related asthma, difficulty with exercise, lack of energy, and smelling like an ashtray (etc.), this disease opened my eyes and I was determined to quit this time so went to Walgreens to buy the patch. again. But, instead I noticed these electronic cigarettes behind the counter, Blu was the brand and I bought a kit to try it out. I loved it! But this particular brand of ecigs only lasted for maybe an hour per battery charge and I was finding myself needing something more substantial to fit my addiction level to completely make the switch. The batteries or the cartomizers weren’t lasting long enough, so I found myself both smoking cigarettes and using the electronic cigarettes at the same time. This was not the result I was after, I wanted complete cessation from tobacco and I was determined to find a starter kit that would work for me. I Googled ??electronic cigarettes? and I could not believe that I had not heard of them sooner because there were thousands of others who had or looking to make the switch from cigarettes to electronic cigarettes. The website http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/ has almost 140,000 members with threads from around the entire globe. This first thing that caught my eye was ??no combustible carcinogens, no tar, no carbon monoxide, no second hand harm, no smell? I would no longer be putting all the chemicals into my body and in particular the chemical that is the number one cause of IC as well as bladder cancer. After hours of research I finally decided on a starter kit that was geared towards my personal addiction level, two 900mah ego passthrough batteries with XL Smokteck cartomizers and one mesh atomizer with SS cones(old school now), then I found a few ejuices I liked enough to grab my ecig instead of a cig…and with those two purchases, I quit smoking cigarettes! It’s important to find what works for you! After 27 years of cigarette smoking I have quit using a safer alternative to tobacco and I feel stronger, I??m not having cravings, I??m not spending thousands of hard earned money on tobacco, I??m not harming those around me, I don??t smell like an ashtray, and I am no longer allowing all those thousands of chemicals into my body. It??s been 18 months without a cigarette and I feel great. I have more energy, I exercise and run without wheezing, I no longer require an inhaler, my skin looks better, I don??t cough in the mornings, and the positive examples go on and on. I still suffer from IC and am in pain more than I??m not, and I can not help but wonder if I would have this disease if I had never picked up that cigarette when I was twelve at the roller rink. Sincerely, Holley Pittman A.K.A: holley2583