I started smoking in 1972 at the age of 18. I am now 60 and smoked for 42 years until January of 2015. In the 1980s I started rolling my own unfiltered cigarettes and was smoking about 50 cigarettes a day when I began vaping. I began vaping Vuse cigalikes in October of 2014 while driving cross country in a rental car because I could not smoke in the car. I still smoked too when out of the car. Through November and December I upgraded to more powerful hardware and my smoking rate began to fall. By the end of December, I moved to advanced personal vaporizers and tanks, and my smoking rate fell to zero. At first I searched for tobacco flavors, but now I prefer fruit and candy flavors and tobacco flavors taste bad. A rich variety of flavors was integral to being able to stay off cigarettes.Don’t believe the tobacco companies when they tell you smokers only want tobacco flavors. Or politicians when they tell you flavors are marketed to children. They are either ignorant or lying about that. I never had any intent to quit smoking and thought I would smoke until my dying day. I always considered quitting smoking impossible for me. I enjoyed it too much. I was not even trying to quit with vaping, it actually kind of happened by accident. It really was an unexpected miracle in my life. Five months later, I remain smoke-free. I don’t have any desire to smoke and prefer my vaping. I use 18 mg e liquid and had no desire to stop nicotine. But lately, I bought some zero nicotine liquid to mix with my 18mg to lower my nicotine. I don’t think vaping is as addictive as cigarettes. I feel what I am doing with vaping is what the FDA calls long term nicotine replacement therapy. And I can adjust my nicotine level down easily. So what’s the fuss? My health is improving, I breathe better, I don’t cough like I did before, I have better color, better energy level, I can smell again, and food tastes so much better, and the dentist says my teeth and gums are improving too (I had tooth and gum problems). I think the biggest smoking related health risk I feel now is that my access to these life saving devices will be blocked by an ignorant government addicted to tobacco money from The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement and hefty tobacco taxes. Then I will have to go to the black market and take my chances. I won’t go back to smoking just because it appears the government wants me to. My other big smoking related health risk is that The California Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) vicious propaganda campaign of lies really angered and radicalized me. Anger is stressful. I’m getting older and try to keep my stress level low. I’m normally a chill person, but my husband says I’m obsessed with this. Its true, I am, but I feel my life is at stake. And it’s unjust and harmful to smokers and vapers. I liked the ads I saw on notblowingsmoke.org. The air war the CDPH is waging against vaping should not remain unanswered on television. Anyway, I am writing frequent and reasonable letters to an expanding list of legislators and media. They need to leave vaping alone and let other smokers quit like I did. I can tell you the CDPH really hates it when you cc the media and tell them you did. That brings me joy. Ok, enough ranting, vape in peace fellow vapers.