I smoked for 15 years. Not very long, but believe me – I was an addict. Every time I would try to quit I would suffer severe depression. As a member of the Ritalin generation, I’ve effectively been addicted to stimulants since age 8. I tried it all and never made it past a month: The patches wear off around 3pm every day, or a tolerance is built up.. The Lozenges are good, but just as addictive plus your mouth burns after a while…. Chantix was a joke, there was no replacement, just withdrawals – let’s see, pay another $100 to feel terrible? Snus is just a mild form of chewing tobacco and leads to full strength chew… All of these cessation options make it too easy to go back to smoking. Most of them continue the chemical barrage that makes it so hard to quit. The electronic cigarette, however, has had me smoke free for 4 months. It’s just nicotine, none of the extra chemicals (which I see now are as addictive or worse than nicotine), and takes away a lot of the unappealing factors of smoking. I don’t smell anymore. I don’t have to excuse myself to another place to use it. My lungs, mouth, and eyes don’t hurt anymore. I don’t drink as much coffee, for some reason. At this point, I am not constantly being barraged with nicotine – as most of the cessations methods previously mentioned do. My doctor is thrilled – backs me up and supports the idea that the electronic cigarette is safe. My dentist says that he can already tell that my gums are healing. I’ve been jogging. These things may all seem trivial to a non smoker, but to us, it’s huge achievements. All of this is due to the invention and continued market of the electronic cigarette. I am sure that the technology would not suffer from as much fear and criticism if it had been named something else, but as a product that I believe SHOULD be marketed to those who live as slaves to tobacco – It’s the best way to get them to try it. The tobacco industry need not fear: e-liquid still derives its nicotine from their product. They just need to get on board. I am personally breaking a vicious cycle that was started when I was in third grade.