Let me tell you about me–

Let me tell you about me– FIRST: How I finally ended a life long battle with smoking. I am 71 and I smoked a 1½ – 2½ quantity or more a day for 55 years. I had tried to quit numerous times using various products. I tried the patches, the gum, SmokEnders and even, several times, cold turkey. All of these methods did not work and I was back to smoking shortly after. I can honestly say that using e-cigarettes has saved my life. I have now been eCig vaping for 16 months, and I can feel the difference everyday. By 1-2 weeks I could breathe. No more coughing! Everything smells better and food tastes better. By 3 months I felt like a whole new person. Which then prompted me to make other changes. I figured if making that one change could make me feel this good, making bigger changes would make me feel even better! I changed the way I eat, the things I drink, and I started exercising. In three months I have lost 17lbs! I couldn’t/would have made these changes as a smoker. Electronic cigarettes “are not the be all, end all” solution to nicotine addiction — but they are the best first step! They save lives! Please do not take away this opportunity for the members of your community to make their lives better! You will not regret making the right decision and removing electronic cigarettes from this Bans, “Sin Tax”, and future bans! SECOND:, I will do what ever to keep vaping. I’m not going to go back to killing myself because Big Tobacco and Big Pharmacy are losing money and that’s what this FDA move is about: it’s all about money. The proposed regulations in their current form would devastate the e-cigarette industry, with the paperwork burden driving more that 99% of producers out of business or into shadow markets. This will almost certainly leave only “Cig-a-Likes” produced by the largest companies available in the FDA-regulated market. It is also likely that nicotine-containing liquids for refillable devices will be unavailable except for on the black or shadow markets. While flavors are not explicitly banned by these proposed regulations, it is widely believed that the FDA will seek to eliminate flavors other than tobacco and menthol in the future. If the proposed regulations pass, I won’t buy the Cig-a-Likes -they didn’t work for me and I don’t want to go back to tobacco or anything that resembles a cigarette. I also won’t go back to buying cigarettes which is obviously what the FDA wants. I believe that if you put stringent regulations on the e-cigarette business it will only lead myself and others back to what you claim to be hazardous to our health. Cigarettes! By using different flavored products like e-juice it has kept me from wanting a cigarette. Also the multiple delivery devices, what we call mods and atty’s, cannot be replaced by something as simple as a “Cig-a-Likes”. This in no way can sooth the cravings that most people have. To limit this to just a couple of Big Tobacco Companies, the same people who for years told us that smoking was safe, is like handing the keys of a prison to the inmates and asking them to keep the door locked! I also believe that restricting from whom, where, and what Adults can buy their products from will only lead to a secondary market with No Regulations! Just how safe do you think that will be? THIRD: While e-cigarette flavors are not limited by the proposed regulations, FDA is specifically asking for information about the connection between flavors and e-cigarette use by children. The questions posed by the FDA in connection with flavors are leading and thinly-veiled. They suggest it is likely that if FDA gains regulatory control over e-cigarettes, FDA will later seek to ban all flavors other than tobacco and perhaps menthol. In fact, FDA has specifically stated that the current proposed regulations are only the first step in their attempts to regulate e-cigarettes. A ban on flavors (other than tobacco and menthol) would directly impact me (i.e., make me less happy). Yes flavors help me distance myself away from my former smoking habit this way: I feel like I don’t have that tobacco flavor in my mouth and I don’t even feel like I am smoking anymore because of the flavors: fruity, beverage and bakery flavors, which is better for me as it is completely unlike tobacco. The variety in flavors keeps me away because having options available like strawberry or other flavors like that keep me interested in vaping because the flavors are delicious. Yes I believe that it should not be sold to minors. Yes there should be some standards on the packaging labels such as nicotine levels, ingredients and the like. I also believe that childproof caps are necessary, but to completely gut an industry and give to those who lied to us for years is completely insane! To say that children are enticed by flavored nicotine juice is a complete falsehood. Where was, or is your concern for the children when it comes to flavored liquor or beers. The last time I looked you can find that anywhere! Supermarkets, Drug stores, even the local convenient stores has shelves with such products. Outrage? Right?