I Quit!

I mentioned in an earlier post here that I have been smoking for a long time- 37 years, in fact- and that, no matter how much I wanted to or how hard I tried, I was never able to quit. I tried a few of the expensive and ineffective aids they came out with, but none of them helped me deal with the intense withdrawal I always suffered; eventually I gave up hope and resigned myself to the sad fact that I would probably be a smoker for the rest of my life- or at least until they made cigarettes illegal. After that, I'd have to either grow my own, or be locked up.
My son married a smoker, and got her to try to quit by promising to buy a certain vehicle she'd had her eye on ever since they'd rented one on a visit here- if she managed to stay off cigarettes for a year. She tried so hard. She used the patch, too, but it didn't help.
Then she tried electronic cigarettes. She chose Volcano because they appeared to be the best available, according to people who use these things, and because they are based in Hawaii, where she lives at present.
They worked for her. She called so often to tell me how wonderful they were and that I should try them- and that they would buy a starter kit for me if I wanted to- that I started to believe. I could hardly wait for mine to arrive, after researching e-cigs in general, and Volcano e-cigs in particular.
When they finally came in the mail 2 days ago, I got one going as fast as I could. And I haven't smoked a single cigarette since then.
That is quite an accomplishment, considering that I was up to about 2 and a half packs a day (more when stressed out).
My daughter-in-law was so impressed with this product that she started working for the company. I also hope to help sell them someday, but for now I'll just try to get the word out to other smokers who want to quit and can't.
E-cigs work for us because they give us the nicotine we've become addicted to by smoking, and provide a reasonable facsimile of the act of smoking, for those who have the habit. If you don't know that it's an e-cig, it's easy to be fooled: Volcanoes look very much like a regular cigarette (although they also come in black and red), and they can produce a vapor that looks just like smoke. They don't stink, although the vapor does have a faint, pleasant odor. They come in a variety of flavors, which I appreciate as a former smoker: since it's not tobacco, there's no reason it has to taste like it. But various flavors of tobacco are also available- that is all I've used so far, and it's not half-bad, especially compared to the lousy cigarettes I was forced to start smoking when they drastically increased tobacco product prices a while ago. They also come with various strengths of nicotine, including none at all. I am, of course, currently using the strongest cartridges Volcano offers, and it is sufficient to keep my mind off cigarettes- a miracle, to me- while the act of vaping, as it is called, keeps me busy and helps break the habit of lighting up. (Now, what to do with all those ashtrays the neighbor gave me, which he got from a restaurant when our state outlawed smoking in so many places.)
Of course, since we live in an imperfect world and some people are just control freaks who like to make others suffer, there have been efforts to stop the sale and use of e-cigs. Oregon outlawed 2 companies from selling them; some companies have had their shipments seized by customs (they are all manufactured in China- I think- presently); and the FDA recently lost its attempt to put itself in a position to make e-cigs much more expensive, while doing nothing that it actually should concerning this product, much as it has done with cigarettes all these years.
Groups like this one have formed to educate consumers and protect us from the FDA. There's some good reading on that site.
Here is an interesting viewpoint from the American Council on Science and Health.
So if you smoke, and have given up on quitting or are just having a hard time trying to, please do yourself a huge favor and try e-cigs. I can almost promise you that you'll be glad you did.