My whole life my parents have always told me to never, ever smoke cigarettes. Most of my family has died from smoking related cancer, be it second hand or direct inhale, so their concern was definitely justified. When I was 14 I began to roll with the wrong crowd of kids as a way of me trying to identify myself, such as every kid must at that point, and one day a buddy offered me a cigarette. I declined, just as I was raised to do, and I went on happily about my business. Then when I was hanging out with them again, they offered again. Again, I declined, and everyone was happy. Along came the third time I was offered a cigarette, and I decided to just try it for no reason apparent. After I finished, I had another. And then another after that. The next day the same thing happened. Later in the week, I had a few more. About a month after that, I started buying or even stealing my own packs. I became a pack a week smoker at the age of 14. For 3 years I went about that same business and never thought anything of it until I decided that whatever this stuff was, it had its hooks in me, and I hated feeling dependent on it, so I quit cold turkey. My hands would shake, I would feel anxious, and I wanted more constantly. Then along came the emergence of electronic cigarettes, that were claimed as ‘risk free’ and so forth. So, on my 18th birthday, I went out and bough an electronic cigarette. I felt great, without the shortness of breathe, and have stuck to ‘vaping’ ever since. Electronic cigarettes saved my life down the line. I think, in earnest, that a ban on e-cigs would not only throw me back into cigarette culture, but maybe even be fatal for me down the line.