Although I had a few cigarettes when I was in my early teens, I did not become a heavy smoker until I was 18. For the next 15 years, I smoked up to a pack of cigarettes a day. By the time I was 19, I could begin to feel the negative effects of smoking, mostly through shortness of breath, chest pain when breathing, and a persistent cough. By the time I was 25, these effects had magnified tenfold. I was sick at least five times a year with respiratory infections, and had come to peace with the fact that I would smoke for the rest of my life. By the time I was 28, I had tried to quit smoking cold turkey many times (more times than I can recall). When I was 30, I tried nicotine gum and lozenges in several other unsuccesful attempts at quitting smoking. The majority of my family smokes cigarettes, and they have been a major contributor to the death of several of them. In 2009, my brother, four years younger than me (and also a heavy smoker since 16), was in an ICU for over three weeks with a respiratory condition. The doctors told us he had less than a thirty percent chance of survival. Thankfully, he did survive, and has recovered over the past four years. My brother’s illness was a real wake up call for me. I absolutely had to quit, but then I didn’t. He didn’t. We both just kept smoking cigarettes. I kept smoking cigarettes, and so did my younger brother, until 2012. At this point, we had both tried nicotine replacements, cold turkey, medication, and counseling in our attempts to quit. Absolutely none of these methods were effective for more than a couple of weeks. We both smoked cigarettes for close to 15 years. That’s half of his life, and close to half of mine. In mid-2012, I decided to try an e-cigarette. During the initial adjustment period, I still smoked the occasional cigarette for about three weeks, and I have not touched one in well over a year now. My brother also began to use an e-cigarette that I gave him, and was able to significantly reduce the amount of cigarettes he smoked in a day. Eventually, I decided to purchase more advanced nicotine vaporizing devices, and have slowly decreased from 24mg nicotine/ml of e-liquid down to 18, then 12. My brother still sticks with the 24mg, as he has had a more difficult time getting away from the other toxic and addictive chemicals contained in cigarettes. Thanks to the discovery of nicotine vaporizing devices, I can proudly say I have been without a pack of cigarettes in my pocket for well over a year. During this time, my brother also significantly cut down on his cigarette intake, but he did take a little longer to adjust to a life without tobacco. Neither one of us have had a cigarette in months, and this has been very beneficial to our health. I exercise more now, as does my brother. I have lost close to 80 pounds, and my brother has lost well over 100. We don’t stay sick half the time, and spend our money on doctor’s bills and antibiotic prescriptions. I truly feel that e-cigarettes and other more advanced forms of nicotine vaporizing devices have saved my life, and the life of someone who is very close to me. I would like to publicly challenge anybody who says there is no evidence that nicotine vaporizers help people quit smoking cigarettes to show me evidence that they do not. The evidence is right in front of you in the ever-growing number of people who have put down cigarettes for good with the help of nicotine vaporizers and other less harmful forms of tobacco. Can I prove to you that e-cigarettes and other forms of tobacco are harmless to those who use them? No, I can’t. Can I prove to you that they are less harmful than cigarettes? I believe the improvement in my physical health and the physical health of my brother, along with thousands of other testimonials like ours, say yes. I just ran over a mile for the first time in two decades last week, and didn’t even run out of breath. Show me the heavy cigarette smoker who can say the same. Thank you for taking the time to read my story.