I had been a smoker for about 20 years. About 2 years ago I started to use electronic cigarettes. While using electronic cigarettes I slowly cut down on the usage of traditional cigarettes until on January 1st of 2013, I quit using traditional cigarettes. I had previously tried the nicotine patch and nicotine gum, but I was unsuccessful in these attempts to quit. Within days I was back to smoking traditional cigarettes. I believe this is because the addiction to nicotine was a small part of the whole picture. I enjoyed the act of smoking. It took a long time to fully quit because the technology, when I first started to use electronic cigarettes, was not strong enough to give me the feeling I had when I was smoking. The technology evolved, and I was able to get the satisfaction I needed in order to quit. I believe that, had strong regulations been in place, the technology would not have evolved as quickly as it did. I have moved away from the tobacco flavored liquid and firmly believe that I have no desire to return to traditional cigarettes. As I write this, I am going on to my seventh month of not smoking cigarettes. I have noticed that I do not get winded going up a flight of stairs anymore. My food is tasting better than it has in years. I also do not have the lingering odor of cigarettes on myself or my clothing. My weight has gone up, but I attribute this to enjoying my food more now than I did before.