I started smoking as an adolescent, probably ten or eleven years old. I smoked, non-stop, until my mid-fifties then decided it was time to quit. I used the patch and managed to stop smoking completely for a while. I experienced a high, sustained, level of stress when my mother become ill with cancer and, eventually died which lead me back to smoking cigarettes again. That means I smoked for well over forty years and, as an adult, was smoking a pack or two per day the entire time. I knew I had to stop smoking, again, and got a prescription for Nicotrol from my doctor. It did work well, but the hand/mouth fixation remained long after the prescription could no longer be re-filled under insurance. Nicotrol is a rather expensive replacement therapy at well over one hundred dollars per box. That, after a year or so, lead me back, yet again, to cigarettes albeit at a lower consumption level of about a half a pack per day. My wife suggested electronic cigarettes so I decided I had to do something to get off of tobacco and took her advice. I started with cig-a-likes, or stick batteries, and they made it very easy to not use cigarettes. The hand/mouth habit is filled as is the nicotine need. They are very convenient, relatively inexpensive and have made a significant improvement in my health. As time has gone on, I have reduced the level of nicotine in the liquids I use to 8mg and expect to lower it to 0mg over the next year or two. That ability to change nicotine levels slowly is an advantage that no other NRT can offer, at least that I am aware of. I’m just short of 65 and was wheezing with each breath and snoring very heavily. After just over three months, the wheeze disappeared and my snoring has followed suit. My wind has increased significantly an I can easily go for an hour on the elliptical trainer. Previously a half hour was a chore. My sinuses have also cleared and I can breath, freely, through both nostrils with no difficulty for the first time in years. Being a curious person, I investigated e-cigarettes a little to make sure that they aren’t particularly dangerous. While more research is certainly needed, the basic components of the liquids used, assuming quality liquids, are either generally regarded as safe by the FDA or are certified as food products by the FDA. Most are also labeled USP indicating high quality of the components. The vapor exhaled certainly contains far, far, less dangerous chemicals and although there are some known carcinogens they are in trace amounts. Compared to tobacco cigarettes they are almost literally clean and seem to pose no hazard, or extremely low hazard, to others from second hand vapor. If, at some future time, e-cigarettes or the liquids for them become regulated out of existence by the FDA I feel that I would probably end up back on tobacco cigarettes. That is a prospect that I certainly don’t look forward to or desire and I’m sure the same thing would happen to many others who have converted to e-cigarettes.