My name is Cory, and I’m addicted to nicotine. I first started smoking cigarettes at the age of 15. My parents smoked. My siblings smoked. My aunts and uncles smoked as well as all my cousins. Most of my friends smoked. So, it was only a matter of time until I started. It might have been the dumbest decision I’ve ever made. I smoked a little at first but eventually it increased to the two pack a day habit I had up until the day I quit. I enjoyed smoking for a long time but it turned out to be an addiction that I wanted to quit but felt powerless to do so. I watched as my family and friends and coworkers struggled to get a grip on their addiction and break the hold it had on them. Some used patches, some used gums and lozenges. Some used Chantix. Hypnosis, acupuncture, cold turkey, the list goes on and on. All failed miserably and continued to smoke. I had a health scare over Christmas holiday this past year. Nothing major but enough to prompt me to resume regular doctor visits and reevaluate my lifestyle and the choices I’ve been making. Diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer. These are all things that run in my family and I’ve watched several of my loved ones die slow agonizing deaths because of them. I decided I didn’t want any part of that. I have tried unsuccessfully in the past on a couple different occasions to stop smoking and failed. The first attempt was admittedly half hearted and ended in failure. The second time I realized finally that I was truly addicted and I wasn’t going to be successful without some help of some kind. After watching my friends and family try the myriad of options to try and quit, and after seeing the side effects and the resulting success rate of each, I came to the conclusion that most of these were not going to work for me. Then one day a coworker shows up at the shop and declares that he’s discovered a miracle. He show’s me his ego battery with a T2 clearo attached. He explained how to use it, where he got it, how much it cost and how long he’d been using it. It’s important to note that he and his wife had previously used Chantix to try and quit. Twice. After several months of horrible night terrors, suicidal thoughts, and not to mention the very high financial cost. Ironically, his insurance wouldn’t cover that completely. He let me have a puff off of it, and while I wasn’t blown away immediately it did introduce me to vaping and set me off on the path I’m currently on. I must apologize for my ramblings, I am, afterall, a meat cutter, not an author. Cut to present day, After weeks of research and learning the glossary of terms necessary to decipher the language of vapers and vendors alike I visited a local B and M and purchased an ego starter kit. I’ve since learned that it was very overpriced, but not knowing any better and desperate for a change, I bought it and used it quite successfully to quit smoking, after 25 years of smoking cigarettes. Not only did it deliver the nicotine my body craved, but it also satisfied the psychological addictions as well. The oral fixation, the ritual, etc. It only took a week and cigarettes became quite disgusting. I haven’t smoked a cigarette since that last one. I’ve taken a drag off of one out of curiosity but the fact remains, they are disgusting. I still have my first little ego but have since upgraded to much better equipment. It turns out that the starter kit was a good first step but that it was very inadequate in terms of performance. I have since noticed an improvement in many areas of my life. Financially, it is cheaper than the ridiculous prices of cigarettes. Health wise, I no longer cough up a lung every morning and I can exert myself without being winded or exhausted in a matter of minutes. Blood pressure is good. Not to mention my relation ship with my wife has even improved. She hated my smoking. And to top it all off I no longer reek like a dirty ashtray. WIN WIN WIN. In the 2 months since my epiphany I’ve learned that the Feds are looking to regulate and/or ban ecigs. Figures, don’t it. Anytime people find pleasure or comfort in something they say it’s bad and want to control it and you in the process. Control, regulation. Free country my ass!! LEAVE US ALONE!! There are way more important things to be concerned with. It’s true we don’t know what the long term effects are. But we due know what the long term effects of smoking are in my case, as well as countless others vaping is waaay better for us than the tobacco we used to combust. I’ve quit smoking. I don’t plan on starting again. I do plan on gently weaning myself off of nicotine and perhaps one day I wont’ vape anymore. But for now, I feel like it has saved my life. I don’t like to break laws, and I really don’t like the thought’s of new laws interfering with my right to choose as an american citizen. It’s my life. If I choose to vape that’s my right. How about we worry about things that should be worried about rather than what intelligent, resourceful, so-called free people decide to do with there own bodies and free time. Get to work solving actual problems and leave us the hell alone. Thank you. Cory Lancaster Rowdycat1 on ECF