I tried cigarettes at the age of 17 back in 1996. Soon after, by the time I was 18 – 19, I was up to a pack a day. After many years of attempting to quit smoking using a few methods (cold turkey, nicotine gum, and patches), I finally quit for good on March 8th 2011 using a starter e-cigarette. As of now I only use the e-cigarette and have been slowly reducing my nicotine level. Prior to electronic cigarettes, the longest I had ever quit was no more than a month. What made it worse, was that I have asthma. Even though cigarettes were greatly reducing my lung function and agitating my asthma, without e-cigarettes, I would still be smoking now. My life has improved since using the electronic cigarette. My asthma is manageable again (I was using my rescue inhalers way too much when I was a smoker), I no longer smell of cigarettes, My senses of smell and taste have returned to normal, and my teeth no longer look yellow and disgusting. I truly believe that electronic cigarettes work as a smoking cessation device as I am proof.