My Testimony

I subsidized Big Tobacco for 36 years. Like so many smokers (and I find this ironic in the present) I started as a child, with Marlboro 100s for the first 13 years, then rolling Top Tobacco (single mom here) for the last 23. I had no other health issues at my full check up in 2012 except for the first signs of COPD on my lungs. Neither of my adult children smoke, nor did they ever get their hands on my lighters or cigs when I smoked. My daughter got me a cigalike, which helped but only kept me dual using (also common). Then my son got me an Ego, and that worked for good. I have been smoke free for 3 and a half months, started with vanilla flavor, then found my perfect all day vape in pina colada flavor, but I also like raspberry, blueberry, melon and fruit blends (not citrus) in general. Did not like cotton candy, but I dont like that in real life either. 40 pg 60 vg juices from my local vape shop; child proof caps and labeling and all. I think what works about the flavors is they disassociate our fix of nicotine from ashtray and/or menthol flavors. This product is marketed to smokers who could not quit any other way, or did not want to quit but found it easy for a change. I was already an active, walking kind of person, but my sense of smell and taste are even better. I had been just beginning to lose my breath coming up hills, and that went away almost immediately. My daughter used to flinch away from me when I sat down beside her; once I started vaping, she quit doing that. My granddaughters like that I smell like vanilla and fruit, and my family is proud of me – my parents didnt smoke, but all 6 of us kids took it up, and only one of us managed to quit without help. I have been telling every smoker I know about this, NOT in a preachy way, but most smokers by the age of 50 notice what smoking is doing to them, have tried NRTs and relapsed, and are thus more receptive when a former smoker tells them vaping is not just another false hope. I think we should save all the smokers we can while the FDA waffles…word of mouth is what works, keep the Big Boys losing money and keep local small businesses (vape shops) open. Keep the money in our own states and communities, because we are consumers, voters, and adults, and we should all keep doing what they do until vaping drives killer cigs into finally being snuffed out for good The government wont do this for us, but We The People CAN. Vape on!