I got hooked on cigarettes in 1976, just before I turned 12 years old. I quit sucking my thumb when I was 10. I spent a summer with some older cousins and that was all it took. Back then, smoking was cool. If it had been even 5 years later, I never would have started as I was always conscientious about safety and health issues. For example, I wore seat belts long before it was the law. I used sunscreen when tanning was in style. At age 16 when I met my future husband, I tried quitting. I threw my cigarettes out the car window. I bought another pack 2 hours later. Over the years I tried gum that made smoking taste awful. I tried gadgets that punched extra holes into the filter. I tried putting filters onto the end of my cigarettes. I tried herbal smoking withdrawal drops. I tried nicorette lozenges. I have tried 2 types of e-cigarettes. The first I ordered from China when they first came out. I tried again about 4 years ago. It was worse than smoking air as I was craving real cigarettes and it was costing me money. I actually got a prescription for Chantix from my doctor. I kept the prescription until it almost expired a year later, and then filled it (insurance didn’t cover the expense and it is expensive…). That was a year ago, and it is still in the cupboard. I’m too afraid to take it. What if I’m one of the people that become homicidal or suicidal? When it came to smoking, the best I could do was keep my smoking down to a pack a day and to smoke lighter and lighter cigarettes. I have smoked Carlton 100 for years and paid for the privilege as they cost more than other brands. Now of course, we know that tobacco companies just kept upping the nicotine levels in all their cigarettes. I still kept smoking them and just prayed that they weren’t as bad for you as other types. I knew in my heart that I would never be able to quit and that my future with lung cancer, emphysema, and copd was just around the corner. The longest that I had ever gone without a cigarette was 12 hours. This only occurred because I was trapped on a plane that was sitting on the tarmac at the gate with mechanical difficulties. They wouldn’t let anybody off. Believe me, I thought about faking a medical complaint just to get off the plane! Last week, my husband convinced me to try an electronic cigarette that many of his co-workers were using (Kangertech T3S). He said that many had quit smoking real cigarettes completely. I truly didn’t expect it to work. I plopped down $135 for two batteries, a charger, 4 liquid chambers and 5 fifteen cc vials of nicotine juice. It has been a week and I haven’t had a real cigarette. I was immediately able to let go of real cigarettes. I actually get weepy thinking about it. It wasn’t that it was easy, just that it was manageable. I vape 2-4 cc’s a day of 12 mg of nicotine. I have every intention of cutting that down in another week or two. I will never allow myself to smoke a real cigarette again. I’m still addicted to nicotine, but now maybe I won’t get cancer or copd or emphysema. I smoked real cigarettes for 37 years. I would like to see some studies on using the e-cigarettes. Unfortunately, I guess that people like me would be the study subjects and the effects of long term use won’t be known until long after it would make any difference to me. I take comfort in the fact that at least I’m inhaling fewer carcinogens.