I am one of the few out there that actually enjoys smoking to this day. Since I started smoking at the age of 14, I estimate I have smoked in excess of 328,500 cigarettes. I remember when a pack cost about 45 cents. Prior methods I used to quit were unsuccessful, I think, because I was trying to quit for the wrong reasons. Even though smoking has become taboo, I still enjoyed the habit. My entire thought process changed when I started the e-cig back in April 2013 and it has been a godsend! I am able to satisfy the two-fold habit: the physical addiction to nicotine AND the psychological addiction of hand-to-mouth. I learned this fact during the American Lung Association smoking cessation program years ago (1980’s) that the addiction is two-fold. I have also been hypnotized, tried ‘cold turkey’, gum, patches, behavor modification and other cessation programs, all to no avail. With all due respect, I believe lawmakers who are considering making the availability of these devices more and more difficult are, more often than not, nonsmokers themselves. I believe in no way can they identify with what we smokers go through to remove ourselves from tobacco use and how important this is to us. To group (legislate) e-cig users with tobacco users puts us in a position where we are very closely exposed to the very item we’re trying to BREAK FREE from. I have to credit the good influence of my loved one and Smokeless Smoking Company based in Bloomington, Minnesota for their products and assistance they provide. As a result, I am tobacco-free, I smell better, I can breathe easier, my skin and nails are no longer yellow and I no longer offend those around me. I did have cause to smoke a regular cigarette at one point recently and it actually burned my throat all the way down. It wasn’t pleasant, to say the least. I would like to also point out that an electronic cigarette is neither a tobacco product nor is it a cigarette. It is an INHALER that contains the active ingredient in tobacco, which is nicotine. An electronic cigarette is just a different nicotine delivery device that is in the same group (idea) as patches and gums. What it DOESN’T contain is the tar and the more than 400 cancer-causing additives that are found in regularly produced cigarettes. My personal experience with the flavoring is that it is attractive enough for me to continue to use this device without reverting back to tobacco. In fact, I now prefer vaping to smoking. I find it strange that after all these years with the ‘war on drugs’, there is such a push to legalize marijuana and at the same time there is a push to outlaw a device that is INSTRUMENTAL in assisting smokers to quit tobacco use. Just the idea of it doesn’t make sense to me. I am in the process of successfully rebuilding my lung power and reducing my cancer risk while I can still enjoy the act of smoking. I can’t thank my loved one enough for researching the product as a whole and introducing me to this new way of life with Smokeless Smoking. I respectfully urge every current tobacco user to consider the benefits this device provides us as a way to break away from the two-fold habit of smoking tobacco. I appreciate you taking the time to read my story.