I was a smoker for 11 years. When I first started at nineteen years old, I was just a casual smoker. I worked in the restaurant industry and pretty much all of my friends were smokers so I started smoking so as not to be left out. Over the years I gradually smoked more and more. I have always had a bit more anxiety than the average person and used many different vices to deal with it. As I started to get rid of some of my other even more destructive vices, I would start to smoke even more. Fast forward to ten years of smoking and I was at almost two packs of cigarettes a day. I was a delivery driver and would smoke constantly. In January of 2010 I heard a commercial for an electronic cigarette on the radio. Unfortunately, the company was a scam that many people have been duped by so I spent some time trying to cancel the monthly cartridges. The company I ordered from did not offer any levels of nicotine and only had nicotine free. Even with all of this, when I received the small device, I took a puff and it was enough for me to realize that an e-cig could have potential. I did not use this device because it offered no throat hit so I continued to smoke until I did some more research and ended up buying what the vaping community refers to as a mod. It is a larger cigar size battery holder that offers a stronger hit and much better longevity. Once I received my mod, I began to us it with great success. I continued smoking cigarettes here and there for a couple months until one day I did not want them anymore. In my mind I must admit that I still craved cigarettes, but I had had enough. From that point on I have been standard cigarette free. It has now been 3.5 years smoke free, and I am proud to say that I do not crave cigarettes whatsoever, I am actually disgusted by them completely. Before I quit, I had a bad plegm smokers cough, I could not breath well, and when I would get sick, I would stay sick for what seemed like months. I now have clear lungs, I rarely get sick, and when I do, I get better quickly. It really is truly amazing. I recently had surgery and every time they have checked my lungs, they have been completely clear. I also have many nephews and nieces and no longer worry about stinking from smoke. I can also taste foods that had lost there pizzazz. I know that studies still need to be done on the long term affects of vaping but I think that common sense tells you that it must be significantly better for you than inhaling a bunch of carcinogens and burning materials. I look forward to the proof that some of the skeptics are asking for. Thanks, Josh