I started smoking when I was still just a child, probably about 14 years old. By sixteen I was smoking a pack a day, and that would continue for over fifteen years. There was never any doubt in my mind but that I would smoke until the day I died. Around the age of thirty I saw an e-cig for the first time and was quite curious. It was a simple cigarette style device with disposable cartridges. The people selling it at the mall allowed me to try it. It certainly didn’t taste like a real cigarette, but it was enjoyable enough that for the first time in my life I considered that maybe someday I could quit smoking, and that these e-cigarettes would be the only possible way. It was more than a year before I actually purchased one for myself. It was also a simple cigarette like model, and the most I hoped for was that I could use it to slightly reduce my smoking. That is exactly what happened, and I mostly continued with my usual smoking habits. It wasn’t powerful enough, the batteries didn’t last long enough, and the liquid had to be refilled to often. And the simple fact that I had to deal with all of these issues made the simple act of lighting up a cigarette so much easier and pleasant. I did wonder if there wasn’t a better product available, so on a whim I searched the internet and discovered a whole new world of e-cigarettes. There were things with buttons, with bigger batteries, with more power, with variable power, things that held massive quantities of liquid, and even things that could be rebuilt. I started trying new devices, and discussing them with a giant community of people who all had the same story, people addicted to cigarettes who new instantly that e-cigs were their only hope to quit smoking, just so long as they could find the right combination of flavor and device to satisfy them. I found in playing with these many and varied devices that it became a hobby, and that proved to be the final thing that caused me to finally quit smoking entirely. It changed the aggravating aspects like recharging my cigarette into part of a fun pastime. Now I have been 100% free of tobacco for over a year. And not just me either, I was able to convert other long term smokers. I would let them try various devices I had, and although their preferences varied, they quit smoking too, and they in turn help fellow smokers they know. I feel as if I am helping to save lives, and not in some abstract manner, these are real people I know, hopelessly addicted to tobacco, many of whom had tried many types of smoking cessation products with no success. There are some important aspects of e-cigarettes that politicians and officials know absolutely nothing about. The e-cigs that look like real cigarettes, the ones sold in retail stores, are near worthless. Almost no one quits smoking by using those. But those type of products are also the only ones that big tobacco companies are pushing as well. The real e-cigs look nothing like real cigarettes. People who use these types almost always quit smoking. And what most couldn’t guess is that the advancement of these types of products is driven by the community of users. E-cigs can get smokers to quit, but it is imperative that they have access to diversity. In particular for most is access to various flavors. Nothing can accurately emulate the flavor of burning tobacco smoke, so the only option is to replace it with something new. For some that is still tobacco flavors, for others it may be bubble gum. This isn’t to target children, this is to satisfy adults who are trying to give up on their most powerful addictions. Smokers may not have access to sweet flavors, but they also don’t have to refill and recharge to get their nicotine. Allowing e-cigs to have advantages over traditional cigarettes is crucial to helping people switch. Any regulations must be sure not to give an advantage to big tobacco companies by requiring any sort of authorized manufacturers. It is equally crucial that E-liquid be available to purchase separately from devices. There are truly thousands upon thousands of people’s lives resting on any decisions made by politicians and regulators. I sincerely hope they keep that fact in mind when making those decisions.