This is what I posted to the FDA on the subject of Docket No. FDA-2012-N-1148 submitted Jan 13 2012 11:56PM MST 1. Describe your history as a smoker: When did you start? How long did you smoke? How much did you smoke? My Name is Mary Patton I grew up in South west Nebraska and now live in Wyoming. My mother smoked as long as I can remember. I was at the age 17 and wanted to smoke so I did. I used to smoke 1 to 2 packs a day. I was starting to feel very short of breath, constantly having sinus infections and drainage into the throat and chest. My mother went through a major surgery of her legs in May 2012 and watching her go through that was very tough so I decided to take action for my own health. My mother got off cigarettes by use of Nicotine patch as that was her choice of NRT. I am so proud of my mom for quitting smoking. 2. Describe your quitting attempts: How many times did you try to quit? What different products and methods did you try? What did you like and dislike about the products or methods you tried? I am 35 now and have quit smoking analog cigarettes since Sept 18th 2012 by means of what is called Nicotine Replacement Therapy using E-cigs. I enjoy it very much and have never felt better in my life. I tried quitting smoking too many times than i can count. I have tried the nicotine patch, I refused to try to quit smoking by means of chantix as I did not like the side effects it has caused allot of friends I know who tried the drug chantix. I did not want to use the nicotine gum as it leaves a horrible after taste in the mouth. I did not want to use the snus as I just don’t like the smell and taste of it. 3. If you stopped smoking completely some time in the past and experienced problems such as feeling depressed and/or anxious, getting along with others, concentrating, remembering, etc. describe those experiences. I never fully quit smoking completely from 2009 to 2010 when I was done using the Nicotine patch. I still felt anxious and had a hard time sleeping, as well as I still had the cravings to smoke especially in social situations. There are good benefits to using the patch and other nicotine replacement therapy for those who do not want to use an electronic device is they don’t have to continue with the habit providing they have the support of friends and family. Since Sept 18 2012 I am completely off of regular cigarettes and plan on reducing the amount of nicotine to zero in my own time. 4. Describe the effects switching to e-cigarettes has had on how much you smoke now. I feel I am not smoking anymore I am vaporizing. The nicotine that is absorbed into the body can also be found in certain foods. I can go a couple hours without even thinking about my device and the nicotine. I don’t feel the need to get up in the middle of the night to smoke. 5. Describe the health effects you have experienced as a result of switching to e-cigarettes (and/or snus). The effects of the E-cigarette for me and my boyfriend are feeling better, knowing we don’t smell of tar and other chemicals, sense of taste and smell are back to that of not smoking, circulation in the whole body is better, even my boyfriends blood pressure has gone down immensely. I used to wake in the middle of the night to have a cigarette and I don’t feel that need anymore thanks to my use of e-cigs. In addition my boyfriend would literally pass out from coughing too much and since the first week of vaping he has been able to breath and not cough to the point of passing out. 6. Tell the FDA that there should not be any time limit on using NRTs, but that it would be better to raise the amount of nicotine each piece provides than to have people use multiple types of products. I agree 100% with this statement I want to be able to use my e-cig when and how ever long I want. I am so happy to have found e-cigs and do not want them taken away as well as Do not want them regulated to a point that I will not enjoy it anymore. I will not be told what to do when it comes to my personal choice of using E-cigs. I agree that if people choose to use a nicotine gum or patch that should be their right to choose as well as it should always be my right to choose e-cigs. 7. Tell the FDA that innovative products such as e-cigarettes should not be made less effective by setting nicotine doses too low. I feel everyone has their own level of nicotine and reducing it will cause people to look for unsafe means of getting what they need. As well as being able to make my own e-liquid at what level I want that works for me. I do not want vendors to be limited to what they can sell as they are doing a great thing in providing a product that is safer than the other 4000 chemicals in an analog cigarette. 8. If you use e-liquid (or snus) that has a pleasant flavor added (such as fruit, candy, beverage), tell the FDA that this has helped you and describe how. I enjoy all flavors of e-liquid. From Cotton candy to peanut butter to rum flavors and many more. This has helped me by finding what I like and how it makes me feel. I feel happy and not anxious I also enjoy making my own and the freedom to explore more flavors out there and helping others to get off analogs to realize the health benefits from quitting smoking. My boyfriend and I have helped at-least 6 or 7 people switch from cigarettes to e-cigs. 9. Urge the FDA to not propose the deeming regulation because it would ban e-cigarettes, and would sharply increase the price and reduce accessibility of the products even if FDA exempted e-cigarettes from the most onerous provisions in Chapter IX. The statement above says it. There are many small companies out there today that are thriving because they offer a product that millions of people have been needing to lead a healthier lifestyle. If you take that away from those who provide a product or make the regulation of the e-cigs and liquids they sell so that only rich people can afford it then it leads people to return to smoking. I know allot of people through exploring e-cig fan pages and watching live video chats on the subject that would never want to go back to smoking. If the regulation is passed it will surely cause this. Maybe someone from the FDA should sit and watch a few shows about e-cigarette usage and how it effects the community in people coming together as a whole sharing stories about smoking, what has happened to their family and how the use of e-cigs has made their life better in so many ways. 10. Ask the FDA to remove text from its web site that is inaccurate and/or misleading. ?ú For example, many people believe that e-cigarettes are very likely to cause cancer or poison the user because the FDA ??forgot? to mention that the amount of carcinogens detected in liquid are no higher than in pharmaceutical nicotine products such as the patch and gum, and that the only toxin detected was in an amount that has never been shown to endanger health. ?ú Many people that might have switched to snus, which is much less hazardous to health than smoking, but they were convinced to continue smoking instead by the misleading statement ??This product is not a safe alternative to smoking.
