Vaping has given me a new life after 20 years of cigarette smoking

I started vaping on January 19, 2013 after smoking cigarettes for 20 years. I smoked 15-20 cigarettes per day during those 20 years. Vaping has changed my life, and it has allowed me to quit smoking completely and immediately – once I started vaping I never picked up another cigarette after January 19, 2013. Vaping has been an effective method of cigarette smoking cessation for me, even when almost all other available methods – nicotine gum, nicotine lozenges, nicotine patch, Zyban (Bupropion) – did not help me quit smoking cigarettes. My family is no longer subjected to second hand cigarette smoke, and when I vape I don’t do it inside or around my family or friends, so they’re not subjected to the vapor, either. My clothes and car no longer smell like cigarette smoke. I can smell and taste things I was unable to when I smoked cigarettes, and my breathing is so much better – I no longer get winded as easily as I used to when I smoked cigarettes. My wife and infant daughter are able to enjoy the benefits of my not smoking, and I ultimately look forward to a longer, healthier life with them since I quit smoking cigarettes. Additionally, I was spending about $5-6 per day on cigarettes, which came out to about $35-40 per week. I only spend about $10-12 per week vaping. The savings has also improved my family’s life. If vaping becomes regulated, I understand that many eliquids and personal vaporizing devices may become unavailable, or much harder to obtain. My vaping journey took me from starting out with an eGO style battery and cartomizer to a variable voltage/wattage APV with tank and cartomizer, through to a mechanical mod and rebuildable dripping atomizer, which I currently use. I get the best vaping satisfaction and results from my current mechanical mod and rebuildable dripping atomizer, though the next step I take may be to a higher capacity variable voltage/wattage APV with a rebuildable dripping or tank atomizer, which many view as the “ultimate” in vaping devices. Regardless, the regulation by the FDA of vaping devices and consumables like eLiquid may not make this effective method for quitting smoking that I currently practice available to me, or the method with which I choose to vape may become unavailable, which has been the only method of smoking cessation that has worked for me. Please don’t allow the FDA to take away the only method of smoking cessation that has worked for me – vaping – and force me to return to smoking cigarettes again. FDA regulation of vaping, e-cigarettes and eLiquids would only benefit Big Tobacco, which I’ve worked so hard to get away from, and which could have killed me and affected my family and my community adversely. Taxing e-cigarettes and eLiquids is unacceptable, as well, and will only drive up the costs of vaping, cause small brick-and-mortar and web-based vape shops to close, stifle innovation i n the vaping community and deter so many people from turning to vaping as a viable, safe and effective method of cigarette smoking cessation. The impact on the vaping community as a whole, of which I am a part, my family, friends, community, and ultimately my health, longevity and financial well-being may be seriously damaged by FDA regulation of personal vaporizing devices and consumables. The FDA has already said that e-cigarettes are safer than smoking cigarettes. Please don’t let the FDA regulate my, and so many other’s, safe and effective method of cigarette smoking cessation out of existence. Thank you for hearing my story and for opposing FDA regulation of personal vaporizing devices and consumables.