I know it’s a lot but you asked for it. I’m pretty sure I covered everything. I was a 2+ pack a day smoker after 40 years of smoking. I have tried to quit several times. First with just trying to cut back, then with gum and I even tried hypnosis. They all failed miserably. Someone gave me a small cigalike (cig sized battery with disposable cartridge filters) that I only used to supplement my smoking as they were never fully satisfying. 3 different brands and they were all the same. However, they did work well enough to give me a little hope for ecigs as a whole. I just needed a more powerful product. After hanging out on the ecig subforums of Reddit and finding out what products were available I KNEW it would work. A couple of very nice users from the forum picked up on my plight and gave me some of their old hardware. The day my eGo style batteries arrived in the mail is the day I stopped smoking. With the proper battery and carto / tank setup it was a seamless transition and I wish EVERY smoker in the world could experience what I did. I have since upgraded to a more robust system (battery mod with replaceable / rechargeable batteries and a rebuildable atomizer). It’s more expensive up front but has a lower weekly upkeep cost. It is now much cheaper than smoking. I started vaping full time on Feb 4th 2013. I smoked one cig in the next 5 months. About 1 month ago I let myself run out of juice on a Sunday night, nowhere to get more so I bought a pouch of tobacco. It was a little rough at first but I was quickly right back in my old smoking habit. I didn’t worry about it though. I knew how easy it was to switch so I just smoked up my tobacco to get rid of it. And here’s the kicker, I felt like absolute crap for 4 days. I was more than happy to get some more juice. So happy in fact that when I ran out again a few weeks later, I just went without. Nicotine free for two days and it wasn’t that bad. Nothing like the times I had tried to quit smoking before, even with gum. I was a little grumpy and a bit anxious but none of that gut wrenching anxiety. It used to be I’d go searching for any butts to roll a cig but honestly, I don’t think I even thought about it. When I’m near someone who’s smoking, I do have the urge to bum a smoke off them. However, I don’t feel compelled to, so I don’t. I know that I can but I choose not to, and that feels GREAT. There was a time that I wouldn’t hesitate to. I use an 18mg to 24mg ejuice. That’s the majority of what’s available over the counter around here right now. I’d rather have a stronger mix in a flavor I like than a weaker mix, though I’d love to start weaning myself off the nic. Though I feel so much better already, I’m in no hurry. Other than generally feeling a lot better, I almost never cough any more, my senses of smell and taste returned after about 23 days and I no longer stink like an ashtray. And here is a REAL biggie that I keep forgetting to mention. I had been experiencing chest pain for several years. At first occasionally but slowly growing in frequency till it was almost hourly before I started vaping. A few times it was so severe I’m sure it qualified as a heart attack. After my 3rd day of vaping full time that is GONE. I keep forgetting that but I’m pretty sure that’s REALLY important. Now for the down side: Dehydration. Though not necessarily bad. I am constantly drinking water as my mouth is always dry. My fluid intake has multiplied and I’m drinking a lot more than just soda pop. I seem to be breaking out in rashes periodically. They don’t itch too much and go away pretty quickly. Mostly near my elbows and lower legs. My elbows may just be a sensitive to the smoke residue that’s still embedded in my desk chair arms. My body odor has changed. It’s stronger and starts sooner, actually comes on very quick, though that could be partly me having a better sense of smell now. Though mostly it’s just different. I don’t smell like myself any more. Flatulence. More of it though it doesn’t seem to smell as bad as you’d expect. On Government involvement: I would like to see the products I use regulated to the point of knowing my juices don’t have lead in them, but beyond that keep your hands off. It seems like every action is to either keep it away from us because we don’t know EVERYTHING about it, which is rather stupid considering how far we’ve already come with it, or they see a cash cow and want to tax the hell out of it as a tobacco product. And don’t even get me started on the flavor BS. Unless you are ready to say that EVERY coffee shop in the western world is marketing to children with all the flavors they have available, STFU. In my opinion, Vaping is the GREATEST thing to happen to smokers since the filter. Seriously, the Government should be spending at least SOME of the billions they hit the tobacco industry for and subsidize vaping for smokers.