I would like to start off by saying, I don’t smoke. I do not use any tobacco products.

My wife has been a smoker since before we went out on our first date. I want to demonstrate what has happened since the electronic cigarette came in our lives.

I do not like cigarette smoke and admittedly, it does bother me. If I am asleep and someone smokes, it will wake me up out of a dead sleep. I cannot stand to be in an enclosed space with someone who smokes. A car would be perhaps one of the worst places, especially if it is raining or cold enough to where you would normally not want your window down.

In spite of all this, I am sympathetic toward anyone who has the tobacco monkey perched squarely on their shoulders. Nicotine is an addictive substance, but from studies I have done, there are many more addictive things in cigarettes than just nicotine. It is my belief that the tobacco companies have been intentionally adding other chemicals that are far more dangerous and addictive than just nicotine. That, coupled with the fact that breathing burning smoke directly into the lungs may give you emphysema.

In short, my wife is a good person with a bad addiction. She enjoys how smoking relaxes her and calms her down, if she is stressed. She does not, however, enjoy the side effects from it; cigarette smell, constantly coughing, and not being able to exert herself without becoming winded.

Knowing how bad it is for her health, as well as it being unfair to her spouse, she has tried to quit on many occasions. She has tried many different methods; gum, pharmaceuticals, hypnotism, cold turkey, you name it, and she has tried it. I remember one time, she actually stopped for a couple of months, (or so she said), but, in the end, she always went back to smoking.

The problem was even though she knew how bad it was for her, she liked smoking.

Recently, she discovered the electronic cigarette. Skeptical at first, she ordered it. When it arrived, I kind of just rolled my eyes thinking, "here we go again", and, "this will last a couple of days". Anticipating, she waited for the batteries to charge. At last she was ready to try it. She screwed it together and took a puff. I thought that it would smell bad, just like any cigarette. I was pleasantly surprised. So was she. She said that it tasted just like a real cigarette and gave her the same desired results, without all of the other side effects. The rest, so they say is history. She has not smoked a real cigarette in over a year.

Today, she continues to smoke the electronic cigarette and with all the different flavors that are available, and she absolutely loves it. I like it too, because I know these things are nowhere near as bad for her as smoking a regular cigarette, and she can use it in our home, and it doesn’t bother me in the least.