I am a 57 year old Grandmother with 5 children and 8 grandchildren. I began smoking at the age of 18. I became a Respiratory Therapist at a large hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1974 and was surprised to find that a large percentage of the people I worked with were smokers. I worked hard to care for patients suffering from lung ailments such as asthma, cystic fibrosis, COPD and lung cancer. As the area hospitals began taking a stand against smoking and limiting when and where we could smoke, the number of smokers slowly diminished. I continued to smoke. In 1996, my Mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. I still continued to smoke, just not around my Mother. In 2001, my Mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. Again, I continued to smoke. My Mother had never been a smoker but my father was. My Mother passed in September of 2002 and three weeks later, my Father was diagnosed with lung cancer. He passed in November of 2002. I still continued to smoke. In 2009, I tried Chantix and was able to quit smoking for nearly two years. During a stressful time in my life, I picked the old cigarettes back up and quickly returned to my one and a half pack a day habit. I continued to smoke until January of 2012 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. My electronic cigarette starter kit arrived on January 31, 2012 which happened to be the same day I underwent a bilateral mastectomy at the Grove Integris Hospital. I was allowed to use my electronic cigarette during my stay in the hospital after explaining to each new nurse caring for me that it was not a cigarette. When I had to have another outpatient procedure a few weeks later, my anesthesiologist pulled his electronic cigarette out of his pocket and joined me in my post-op vape. I have not consumed a single regular cigarette since 01/31/2012 and I honestly DO NOT miss them. Using the electronic cigarettes, I avoided the usual weight gain that comes with smoking cessation. I have varied the nicotine strength of the e-juice I use from 0 to 18 mg and have currently been using 12 mg. I no longer wake up with ƒ??smokerƒ??s coughƒ?. I no longer get short of breath walking up a flight of stairs. I am currently working on losing weight and am able to walk without getting short of breath. I havenƒ??t used my inhaler since I gave up traditional cigarettes. I feel so much better than I have for years and my children and grandchildren no longer tell me I smell like smoke. I used to experience three or four episodes of chronic bronchitis a year but have not had a single event since giving up traditional cigarettes. After being a pack and a half a day smoker for nearly 40 years and seeing daily the harm caused by traditional cigarettes, I am thrilled that smokers now have a better alternative. Continuing to consume nicotine may not be the ideal situation, but it is so much better than continually inhaling all the chemicals and known carcinogens found in traditional cigarettes. Consuming caffeine frequently through the ingestion of coffee isnƒ??t an ideal situation either, but millions of people do it without someone trying to tell them they canƒ??t. I donƒ??t understand why the lawmakers are determined to remove electronic cigarettes from those using them while, at the same time, complaining about the millions of dollars it costs tax payers annually on the healthcare and lost productivity of smokers. Smokers have found a better alternative to smoking traditional cigarettes and yet that is not good enough. I suspect that the real reason there is so much interest in regulating electronic cigarettes is that the big tobacco companies are spending a ton of money on lobbyists to get lawmakers to either regulate AND tax or even outlaw them in efforts to protect their profits. Combine that with the loss of tax revenue from the reduction of the number of traditional cigarettes being purchased and I guess they feel they need to do something. The fact that second hand smoke could cause harm to non-smokers, in addition to the harm it caused to the smoker, was used to push through regulations limiting where smokers could smoke. Raising tobacco taxes time and time again was used in attempts (so we were told) to discourage smoking. Now that those efforts are working, lawmakers and lobbyists still arenƒ??t happy. Caffeine is known to cause heart complications, yet we donƒ??t see the government telling us that we cannot consume coffee before the age of twenty one, we canƒ??t consume caffeine in public and they need to pass regulations on caffeine AND tax it. In Oklahoma, lawmakers attempted to pass a bill that would classify the electronic cigarette as a ƒ??MEDICAL DELIVERY DEVICEƒ? because it was used to deliver nicotine. Had that bill passed, it would have allowed the government to collect a tax on each electronic cigarette device and would have required a prescription from a physician to obtain one. I can only image the chaos that would occur if they attempted to classify the coffee cup as a ƒ??MEDICAL DELIVERY DEVICEƒ? because it was used to deliver caffeine. Personally, I say enough is enough! I smoked for nearly 40 years and was finally able to lay cigarettes down for good when I found the electronic cigarette. I know how much better I feel and I really donƒ??t want to have to pay twice as much for my electronic cigarette supplies just because lawmakers feel the need to get involved.