Smoking has been in my family for years. It’s almost treated like a sport; my mother smoked on and off for years throughout her youth, my great grandmother smoked to keep her weight down when she was pregnant, and every night until he died my grandfather and grandma smoked a whole pack between them while watching the evening news. Almost 50% of my family members have died from smoking related causes, so naturally I took up smoking a soon as possible, around 16 years old. After all smoking is the great american pastime, the most acceptable form of suicide. Its been a year since I quit analog cigarettes and made the switch to vaping. I am now turning 23 in a few months and this is the healthiest I’ve ever felt. My house with its stained yellow walls no longer smells like smoke all the time, my lungs are clear, my sense of taste can back in full force, and I even got my grandmother to try e cigs as well! And best of all, my personal state of mind has never been better. I’m pretty sure its not just me, killing yourself slowly one cancer stick at a time makes you feel really lousy overall. How harmful can it be to allow a new alternative to hit the market? We have many years of research villainizing smoking, it leads to COPD, cancer, lung disease, heart problems, weight loss, anxiety, and they are extremely addictive. Even if electronic cigarettes are new and frightening to mass media, why would we lobby to shut it down before we even have any long term studies? More and more people are giving vaping a chance and finding that it works for them. Let the E-cigarette community finally have the validation it deserves.