I started smoking when I was 13 years old. Cigarettes were readily available back then (28 years ago), and I remember that I could just walk into a store and buy them with no problem. Plus, both of my parents smoked, so I stole cigarettes from them all the time. I tried so many ways to quit, when I became wise to what cigarettes were doing to me. I tried all of these: Chantix. I actually bought this stuff with my own money since my insurance wouldn’t pay for it. Then I found out that because I am a truck driver, and I have a CDL, I cant take it without it voiding my DOT physical. Plus the reports of bad side effects of this stuff are legion. Wellbutrin: Tried it, again with my own money. Didn’t work. Patches: I couldn’t get them to light! No, seriously, they have a disadvantage in that you cant have the hit of nicotine when you want it. It’s pretty much just there all the time. So when the triggers hit you, you are helpless. I believe that anyone who can quit with patches, can quit cold turkey, since that is pretty much what you are doing anyway. Gum/Counseling: The company I work for (they really are great) paid last year for me to get free nicotine gum, and a counseling 1 on 1 with a live counselor. The poor lady that I was matched with didn’t know what to do with me. I honestly did try. But the gum tastes horrible to me. The gum has one HUGE advantage over the patches though. You can have the gum when the urges hit you. I told the counselor that I quit, and you know what? I didn’t lie, which brings me to what did work. E-Cigs: So I was working at a Nascar team’s shop (what I do) when I saw a guy that drives a hauler for them puffing on a huge contraption. I found out later that it was just a mod with a big battery. So I went over and talked to him about it. He told me that he was told by the team in no uncertain terms he HAD to quit smoking. So he went to a place in Concord N.C. called Mad Vapes. He told me about the flavors, how the thing worked, how easy it was to carry, and use it. He told me about how he could breathe now, didn’t stink like cigarette smoke, and most importantly, how he hadn’t had a cigarette in 7 MONTHS! Wait what? I took my happy self straight to Mad Vapes. For a paltry investment of about 100 bucks, I walked out the door with a kit that works. The guys there didn’t just hook me up with that everybody else wants, the hooked me up with what they use. At first I wasn’t sure about the e-cig. My initial idea was that I would use it to cut down on the amount of cigarettes I was smoking. The flavor that saved my life was Strawberry Daiquiri. It tastes so good that I USED it, and after all that is the key right? The first day I noticed that I had cut down on the cigarettes. Wow. The second day I only had like 3 all day, down from 40! The third day I ran out of cigarettes, scary. I didn’t buy anymore, and haven’t, and never will. The thing is, and this is key, I don’t miss them at all. When I walk by someone who is smoking it doesn’t smell good anymore, and I realize how bad I used to stink. My pickup truck reeks of smoke, and I will probably never get it out, since my sense of smell is so keen now. I can even smell it on my tool box! How the heck do you fumigate a friggin tool box? I do thank God that I have a great wife who wouldn’t let me smoke in the house! I know folks who use the e-cig to quit tobacco, then gradually cut down on the milligrams of nicotine in the juice they use to quit that too. It works. Since you can get the same flavors in any nicotine strength, down to zero, and they pretty much tastes the same. I share my story with anyone who smokes, and anyone else who asks. And, I wasn’t a bit shy about making a special trip to Mad Vapes to thank the guys there.