I started smoking just like many others did. I was 16, hanging out with friends and doing what many of them already were doing. It didn’t take long for me to get to the point of wanting a cigarette, to actually needing one. Within a very short period of time, I was hooked. I’ve never been one to go at things half cocked, I go full bore. As a result of my drive to go full out, I was smoking all the time, 2+ packs a day of Marlboro Red. I did this for 32 years. It’s strange how as a smoker, I believed that everything was normal. What people around me noticed, aside from the smell, is that I had a constant rattle in my chest and coughed frequently. Everything I did centered around my ability to smoke. From vacations, to nights out, to amusement parks or friendly gatherings. I was always on the look out for that place to light up. I had little energy. I couldn’t climb a single flight of stairs without losing my breath. Any kind of a short jog or run playing with my kids was almost physical torture. Both my doctor and my dentist were on my case about stopping every time I went to see them. I wasn’t having any real medical issues with it, yet as they would say. When I was around 47 years old, I began to earnestly think about this addiction, and was beginning to really dislike what it was doing to me. The smell, the physical decline, the cost. With all of that, I STILL ENJOYED SMOKING. I had no desire to try any patches or gums or shots. I liked the act of smoking too much. I started to take notice of ecigs from the Blue commercials. When reading up on them I thought, one day I’m going to try these things. I also found that Blue used ejuice made by a company called Johnson’s Creek. So I went to their website and WHAM, they had their own brand of ecigs and were getting rave reviews. I bought a starter kit and couldn’t wait for it to arrive. This was December 2012. Once I received it and figured it out, I was off and running and never looked back. I did still smoke the real thing from time to time, like once a week, one cigarette, for about 4 more months, but as of April 2013, I haven’t smoked since. I am a committed vaper. I have graduated from Johnson’s Creek VEA, to using adjustable wattage mods and Nautilus type tanks, but will be forever grateful to Johnson’s Creek for being there at just the right time for me. Today I have the energy I was lacking. I can climb 5 flights of stairs at any time and not be all that short of breath. I can play with my kids without tiring within a couple of minutes, I don’t smell like an ashtray anymore, I’m saving TONS of money and most importantly, both my doctor and dentist are absolutely thrilled. They both know I vape, and neither really has an opinion on the matter, good or bad. They’re just glad I’m off the tobacco. I started like many, with really high nicotine levels, around 24 mg’s. Today I’m down to 8 and 12 mg’s, it just depends on what I buy at any given time. The reality? I truly do enjoy vaping. It’s cleaner, it’s much tastier, and very enjoyable for me. I didn’t start vaping with stopping smoking in mind. I did not use vaping devices as a cessation means, it was a switch for me. It’s literally become a hobby. Unless they come out with studies that vaping can make you start glowing in the dark, or ends up being highly toxic (very unlikely) I will probably vape from now until I’m 6 feet under. I do believe in reasonable regulation, like age restrictions, safety guidelines and such. But bans and burdensome taxation needs to be avoided at all cost. I feel that vaping has literally given me a new life, and prolonged it. Why in the world anyone would want to add high taxes and bans to something like this, possibly causing others that smoke, no reason to switch is beyond me. It’s total ignorance or downright hard heads that are to blame.