I am 54 years old. My mother smoked when she was pregnant with me, which wasnƒ??t considered a danger at the time. I suspect I was born with a predisposition to nicotine addiction. I started smoking cigarettes when I was 13 and was a daily user by the time I was 14. I am an only child and we moved frequently. I didn’t have many friends, so I can honestly say it wasn’t peer pressure that influenced me to try cigarettes, nor was it advertising. I’m not exactly sure what it was, but I imagine it was because my parents smoked and it was observable that they often smoked to relieve stress. I found benefits as soon as I started smoking cigarettes. I stopped biting my fingernails and when I felt frustrated or upset having a cigarette calmed me down. ƒ??Let me have a cigarette and think about this,ƒ? is so apt itƒ??s become a clich??. Only once did I make a genuine effort to quit smoking. This was in the very early 1980s and no NRTs were available that I knew of, so I tried cold turkey. It lasted about 2 months. I became irritable, anxious and had difficulty concentrating. I didn’t get much support from those around me either. They said my temper was short and I was snappish. Stress and criticism let me to start smoking again. A few years later I tried the gum, but I didn’t tell anyone. I wasn’t confident it would work and didn’t want to feel like a failure again. It was very expensive and upset my stomach. I also still craved tobacco. I didn’t try any other NRTs, since I had friends who tried to quit with lozenges, medications, patches and hypnosis, none of whom were successful. I also know of one person who tried the ƒ??Nicotrolƒ? inhaler, reporting that it tasted horrible. I have no intention of trying NRTs again, since the ones currently available are expensive (more so than cigarettes where I live) and some require a prescription. I am one of thousands without medical insurance and have no motivation to pay cash to get a prescription for therapies I have witnessed to be ineffective. In July of 2012, I became curious about electronic cigarettes. I think I may have read an article about them, I don’t remember. I thought it was a gimmick and had no expectations it would affect my smoking. I didn’t know anyone who had tried one, but thought if they didn’t taste too awful might hold me over in situations where I couldn’t smoke cigarettes. I did a little research online and found a company called Green Smoke. The initial basic kit was about $60.00 and a 4-box package of refills (20 cartridges) was also roughly $60.00. On August 10, 2012 I tried my first electronic. I had a tobacco cigarette lit at the time and puffed one and then the other to compare. I was actually shocked to discover the nicotine curbed my cravings and the act of inhaling and exhaling approximated smoking enough I could use an e-cig to replace a tobacco one. That was the last time I smoked a tobacco cigarette. After almost 40 years of smoking, at least 1.5 packs a days for the last 10+, I have been tobacco-free for 13 months due entirely to the use of electronic cigarettes. I never thought this would be possible. My breathing has improved, I donƒ??t have coughing spells, my senses of taste and smell have come back and I no longer have a feeling of hopelessness at not being able to quit smoking. I didn’t like Green Smoke very much. The battery life was very short and the expensive cartridges didn’t last as long as they claimed. I also didn’t like the flavors. I had to make a conscience effort to use them instead of smoking, but felt they were safer than cigarettes. I’m not concerned about the term effects e-cigs being unknown, since I do know the long-term effects of smoking tobacco cigarettes and would rather take the risk. Since I didn’t like the flavors Green Smoke offered, I began to wonder if there were other flavors somewhere. An Internet search led me to the term vaping. I would have saved a lot of money if I had known what it was called to begin with. After more searching and watching videos on youtube, I returned the Green Smoke kit and ordered a starter eGo kit. It was around $70.00, but had larger batteries and could be refilled with any flavor liquid I wanted. While waiting for the kit to arrive I bought another cig-a-like type device from a convenience store: 2 small batteries and a charger for $20.00, plus $12.00 for 5 cartridges. The prices of products available off-line are ridiculous. When the eGo kit arrived, my life changed forever. By having good battery life, the option to adjust my nicotine level when necessary and rotate flavors, my cravings disappeared completely. I found I liked vaping better than smoking. Fast forward to today. Although I started with Chinese equipment and still use some, most all of what I use now is made in the US. I use battery devices made by ProVape (ProVari), Reno Mods (Reo Mini) and Phidias. My tanks made by IBTanked and I buy my liquids (primarily mint, candy, fruit and dessert flavors) on-line from US retailers who mix their own recipes. I have also bought accessories, like leather protective covers handmade by an American leather craftsman. The quality of what is being produced in our country is excellent! I am proud to be able to buy US products and go out of my way to do so. I wish more were available. I donƒ??t understand why we are putting small start up businesses in the US at risk by blocking this market. As it stands, it is essential for me to be able to buy on-line. I do not have access to such products where I live. It appears entrepreneurs are hesitant to open a business in an industry thatƒ??s future is in limbo. I am very concerned that the products that have literally saved my life might become unattainable, whether it is by regulation or cost. I do not want to support Big Tobacco companies by having only their products available, since they got us into this mess to begin with. I don’t trust them not to add additional ingredients like they did with tobacco cigarettes. Pardon my candor, but what the hell is in Fire Safe Cigarettes? When those came out I remember my cigarettes tasting strange and having to inhale hard (so more deeply), but couldn’t find information on the additives themselves. Why wasn’t that halted until further studies were done? Vaping is not smoking, yet again and again I read that local governments are trying to enact bans since they claim if they don’t they will be perceived as condoning vaping, which they allege equates to condones smoking cigarettes. What??? And the notion that young people are being enticed to vape (thus smoke) I find a bit laughable. I support bans on selling nicotine to minors, but if kids want contraband, they will get it. I smoked cigarettes, drank alcohol and smoked marijuana in high school; kids are still doing those things today. I don’t want to see young people become addicted to nicotine, but looking at the bigger picture, I would rather they vape than smoke cigarettes. Yes, nicotine is poisonous, but so are the cleaning products in my home. An example is air fresher that has been found to contain carcinogenic ingredients, yet has no regulation of its use ƒ?? in fact, consumers are encouraged to spray it in their homes. I could also buy arsenic on-line if I wanted to. The current situation has me very frustrated. I have found something that has enabled me to stop smoking and Iƒ??m scared I will be forced into buying on the black market, which I will do, since I vow I will not smoke cigarettes again. I canƒ??t fathom what the governmentƒ??s motivation behind banning electronic cigarettes could possibly be, except as a distraction from addressing real problems facing our nation. Addiction to tobacco has long ago gone from a medical condition to moral one. Smokers have been marginalized and are one of the few minorities left where open distain is acceptable. More than once when I smoked I would be having a cigarette in an outside designated smoking area and have someone 20 feet away pretend to cough and stare at me as if I should immediately put out my cigarette in shame. My smoke was going nowhere near them and I can guarantee they didnƒ??t give a flying fruit bat about my health. Getting the public focused on more ƒ??badƒ? things those ƒ??badƒ? smoking people are doing is like shooting fish in a barrel. People like to feel superior to others. Please, please consider: After 40 years of smoking cigarettes, I am 13 months tobacco-free due entirely to the use of electronic cigarettes. The friends I have introduced to e-cigarettes have either quit smoking or significantly reduced the number of tobacco cigarettes they smoke per day. There are currently over 150,000 members of the online Electronic Cigarette Forum and if only half of them quit smoking it should be considered a success. We are also not children – the majority of members I have met on ECF have smoked for at least 10 years. We are capable of making our own decisions. The prohibition of alcohol didnƒ??t work in the 1920s and the prohibition of e-cigarettes will not work now. Trelaine Lewis Reno, NV