paise

Why can't the FDA just stay the hell out of the way? It's not that difficult. They allow such grossly produced pieces of crap to be made available on late-night infomercials with no regulation, no checking into the manufacturing practices, no care for materials the products are made of,... basically, they just leave them the hell alone so why can't they do that with E-cigarettes? They already have booze and now tobacco cigarettes in their pockets. Why can't that be enough for those greedy bas-TURDS. I am so freaking sick and tired of this government's FDA treating me as if I am a child who is unable to make adult decisions for myself as to what I believe is okay for me or not. I have not had to answer to my parents for permission in many, many years. Truth in fact, I didn't answer to either of them even when I did live at home because I was the one with the parental gene and commonsense. I raised my brother, who is only about 6-7 years younger than I am. I didn't just raise him in our parents' home. He came to live with me after I emancipated myself to get out of that dysfunctional household then gained legal guardianship of him in order to make sure he didn't turn out like our parents and to ensure he graduated from high school as well as had a career he could grow into in order to support himself and later a family - all of which he has done and I am so very proud of him. The government has no problem selling booze to men and women who get on the highway where they are rarely pulled over for a DUI unless someone gets killed. They rarely if never pull a child(ren) out of a home when said alkie is an abusive ******* who beats not only his wife but primarily his children yet this is okay as long as he's buying his booze from the government-run alcoholic beverages store. We survived with scars on the inside that can be hidden as well as those on the outside, which are not as easy to hide. As adults, we choose to use E-cigarettes rather than buy the cancer-causing tobacco sticks sold by the government yet it seems that the primary beef they have with us has NOTHING to do with our HEALTH and EVERYTHING to do with their dwindling tax money they were raking in until E-cigarettes came along and took their lollipops away. They don't want us to smoke but they keep cigarettes on the market and jack the prices up much higher than they do booze even though smoking a cigarette (tobacco cigarette) does NOT HINDER ONE'S ABILITY TO FUNCTION yet they don't give a rat's behind how much liquor one puts down because that is considered okay. If they put a limit on booze, the congressmen and high-flying CEOs might have to shell out more money to buy their favored brands not to mention jacking up their bills for their fund-raisers and parties where they almost always have a plethora of bourbon, high-end scotch, rum, etc... It'd cost them a fortune. It's why they don't give out cigars and cigarettes... It's too damned expensive and with booze, they can literally take it off their taxes as a business deduction because it relates to their business! (I'm a former accountant so I know this DOES happen and more frequently than you would think). I just want the FDA to treat us as adults who have enough brains to decide for ourselves if we want to buy from this company or that company and for the government in general to keep their damned hands off the pricing and taxation of something that does not in any way, shape, or form fall under their jurisdiction. A personal vaporizer is NOT A TOBACCO CIGARETTE! A personal vaporizer IS NOT A BOTTLE OF ALCOHOL! END OF DISCUSSION! I'm sick of the government trying to shove their personal products down my throat when I can find better, cheaper, and more effective items elsewhere besides the shelves of stores they choose to sell their wares. If I prefer to order my e-liquid from a small-time business owner because he does a great job in mixing the liquids to my satisfaction and gives a list of everything in the liquid without having been asked for or demanded of him, then that is my choice! It's not the government's choice! I am an adult and it's about g-damned time the government begins treating those of us over the age of 21 (I would go so far as to say over the age of 18 because if you can fight and die for your country you should be able to have a beer, smoke a cigarette, or use an E-cig device!!!!) then it's my business and my business alone! Didn't mean to get off on a rant here but I don't see this as a win. I see this decision as an opening and revolving door of what is to come for e-cigarettes just as it did for traditional cigarettes. The next thing you know, RJ Reynolds will be selling E-cigs smothering the little guy out, the little guy who started the safer e-cig in the first place, only to have the big tobacco take over then charge the hell out of us to the point where just as with tobacco cigarettes, we won't be able to afford the liquid nor will we be able to control the lack of carcinogens that are stuffed into their liquids without our knowledge. I like and truly enjoy the ability to breath again without wheezes or the constant outbreak of bronchitis, which I fought against constantly and constantly lost. It has been almost 2 years since I had a bout with bronchitis. I was able to breath well and my sense of taste and smell came back within 3 weeks after I gave up tobacco cigarettes for e-cigarettes. MOF, I don't even buy the tobacco flavored liquid. I buy the dessert (exotic flavored) liquids such as Marshmallow and Cotton Candy. I like cherry too but it's not easy to find a candy-flavored cherry flavoring without it turning or changing to a medicinal taste.. so I gave up and stick with my staples... Again, forgive the rant. I just don't see this as a good thing. I see this as a sign of trouble that we will have battle even harder and will likely lose it all in the future after big tobacco and the FDA get into bed with each other over E-cigs and the liquids we use.

Quickplaya: I didn't mean to repeat your response but there are so many posts on this thread that my screen reader simply cannot go through them all and sometimes, even when I do go through them all, the screen reader software misses some because not all sections of websites are "blind friend" so to speak. FYI: Screen reader is a software program used by the blind. It reads the print on websites, online documents like PDF files, and whatever documents or print is listed on the computer itself. It is not a perfect program; however, what program for the blind can be? I do the best I can with what I have available to me and the access to sight beyond the differences between light and dark is about the extent of my available, yet still deteriorating sight and even then there are days when it doesn't work well because in addition to the degenerative retinal eye disease, I have defects in my optic nerves (the optic nerves are extraordinarily small for an adult, which I am). And as if all that were not enough, what remains of my limited sight, extremely limited sight is compromised and further complicated by Lupus (SLE) and Sjogren's Disease. The latter two are autoimmune diseases; given enough time, they will and likely have began to destroy more than just my joints, connective muscle tissue, and nerve damage. It has likely started working on my already damaged retinas and even if it hasn't, the only drug (at least until recently if it has been released to the public yet) is Plaquenil, which is an anti-malaria drug but when taken at high doses, it can slow the progression of Lupus; however, it comes at a cost. The drug can damage the retinas or in my case, further damage the retinas causing total blindness, which really is a moot point since the retinal disease will cause the same problem in a matter of time. So, just to let you know, my screen reader may have missed it or I may have went over the page where you posted without knowing it. The screen reader software for the blind is not perfect but it's the only system we have available to us....

Most of their homepages have a contact page with form. In this case, I think it would be prudent to type up a somewhat canned letter, even using the one supplied, then go to their website and send it via their form mail that way they are ensured of it arriving at their desk or at least in the hands of their staff members. If you're local, I'm not, you can call them and actually voice your concerns. It doesn't take long. Just let the person you are talking with who answers the phone know you want to voice your opinion about that particular bill and glean info from the pre-written message or add your own words to let them know that you don't like the new bill and the problems it will bring about to the thousands who have left analog cigarettes to go to e-cigarettes, which are much safer; you can also mention the safety factor that was discovered via the study in New Zealand's Auckland University, where they tested many different e-liquids as compared to the FDA who only tested 1 then proclaimed them to be deadly when that was a flat out lie. You can also tell them about the high number of doctors, including pulmonologists who are very much on board with the e-cigarettes because of the healthier affects they have on long-term smokers who made the switch to e-cigarettes. Any personal information is a plus. They will take down your information and pass it along to the congressional member you are calling. Paise

I finally had to send each email address as a BCC for some reason as Thunderbird kept dumping the emails stating they were unread so I sent them individually. My first response after sending this way was from Rep. Dale Ford and is listed below. From Rep Dale Ford: *********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Thank you for contacting our office. Your input is important to us and we appreciate your comments. This is indeed an important issue. I will keep this in mind when deciding how to vote on this and please let me know in the future if you have a concern or if I can assist you in any way. ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** I hope this is good news and there is truth behind the words... Paise

Go to this link: http://www.vapebans.com/TNSenandAsscommitteeshtml.html Then copy the email addresses either with a semi-colon or the next set that uses commas depending upon which one your email client accepts when adding multiple addresses. You can find out which it takes by going to the help section and checking the context area that tells how to add multiple addresses (add semi-colon or add comma between each email address) Email addresses separated by semi-colons (Copy and paste these in your TO: Section): sen.jack.johnson@capitol.tn.gov; sen.mike.faulk@capitol.tn.gov ; sen.charlotte.burks@capitol.tn.gov; sen.mae.beavers@capitol.tn.gov; sen.dolores.gresham@capitol.tn.gov; sen.steve.southerland@capitol.tn.gov; sen.eric.stewart@capitol.tn.gov; sen.reginald.tate@capitol.tn.gov; sen.jamie.woodson@capitol.tn.gov; rep.eddie.bass@capitol.tn.gov; rep.sheila.butt@capitol.tn.gov; rep.jeremy.faison@capitol.tn.gov; rep.john.forgety@capitol.tn.gov; rep.andy.holt@capitol.tn.gov; rep.kelly.keisling@capitol.tn.gov; rep.steve.mcdaniel@capitol.tn.gov; rep.bill.sanderson@capitol.tn.gov; rep.johnny.shaw@capitol.tn.gov; rep.terri.lynn.weaver@capitol.tn.gov; rep.john.windle@capitol.tn.gov; rep.frank.niceley@capitol.tn.gov; rep.dale.ford@capitol.tn.gov; rep.curtis.halford@capitol.tn.gov Email addresses separated by commas (Copy and paste these in your TO: section if requires comma btw multi-email addresses): sen.jack.johnson@capitol.tn.gov, sen.mike.faulk@capitol.tn.gov , sen.charlotte.burks@capitol.tn.gov, sen.mae.beavers@capitol.tn.gov, sen.dolores.gresham@capitol.tn.gov, sen.steve.southerland@capitol.tn.gov, sen.eric.stewart@capitol.tn.gov, sen.reginald.tate@capitol.tn.gov, sen.jamie.woodson@capitol.tn.gov, rep.eddie.bass@capitol.tn.gov, rep.sheila.butt@capitol.tn.gov, rep.jeremy.faison@capitol.tn.gov, rep.john.forgety@capitol.tn.gov, rep.andy.holt@capitol.tn.gov, rep.kelly.keisling@capitol.tn.gov, rep.steve.mcdaniel@capitol.tn.gov, rep.bill.sanderson@capitol.tn.gov, rep.johnny.shaw@capitol.tn.gov, rep.terri.lynn.weaver@capitol.tn.gov, rep.john.windle@capitol.tn.gov, rep.frank.niceley@capitol.tn.gov, rep.dale.ford@capitol.tn.gov, rep.curtis.halford@capitol.tn.gov Subject Line (copy & paste into Subject Line of Email): OPPOSE SB0910 /HB1729: Electronic Cigarettes/ Nicotine Vaporizers Body of Email (Insert the following by copying and pasting into the body section of your email -- "BE SURE TO ADD YOUR NAME AT THE BOTTOM OF THE EMAIL"--): Email body: The Email to COPY/Paste is between the dotted lines... The lines are only a guide to show what you need to copy and paste within the body (but don't copy the dotted lines) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tennessee Legislator, After many years of smoking, I now use an electronic cigarette/nicotine vaporizer instead of smoking. I have heard that SB0910 /HB1729 would ban the sale of electronic cigarettes/nicotine vaporizers to adults and I would no longer be able to purchase them in Tennessee. I am sure that you would not want your constituents to start smoking tobacco cigarettes again, but this will be the unintended consequence of the proposed bill. These devices are the one thing that finally helped me stop smoking after trying so many other ways. Tobacco cigarettes deliver many dangerous chemicals, but electronic cigarettes deliver nicotine without those dangerous chemicals. I can breathe better and I feel better. I don’t cough and I don’t smell awful anymore. I know that you have been told that e-cigarettes contain dangerous chemicals, but this is not true. The information you have been given has been proven incorrect many times and in the past 12 months additional research (for example http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/centers-institutes/population-development/files/article.jphp.pdf) has shown these products to be a safer alternative to smoking and effective for hundreds of thousands of people as a substitute for traditional tobacco cigarettes. Two federal courts have already told the FDA that the e-cigarette may not be regulated as a smoking cessation product/drug delivery device. (First Case - http://www.vapersclub.com/SEFDAcourtdecision.pdf and Appeal - http://www.vapersclub.com/appealsrulingfdacase.pdf) I would ask you to please get more current information on the product and to educate yourself before voting on this bill. I am a member of National Vapers Club and while we support bans on sales to minors we cannot support this bill without an amendment. There is a short 8 minute video and a webpage that we can send to our legislators so that they may educate themselves before they vote on such an important issue. Here is a link. http://www.vapetube.com/video/519/Legislator-Educational-Video-on-electronic-cigarettes This is the information packet with the studies referred to in the video. http://vapersclub.com/legislaturepacket.html We hope that you will take the time to educate yourself so that you can help protect the health of your constituents who use this product as a safer alternative to smoking tobacco cigarettes. Thank you for your time. (insert your name here without the parentheses) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ End of email... Don't include the dotted lines as they are nothing more than a marker of where the email body starts and stops; again, REMEMBER TO ADD YOUR NAME TO THE BODY OF THE EMAIL! IT IS IMPORTANT! FYI: Some email programs will allow you to request a read receipt and a priority setting. I set my Thunderbird (Mozilla Program; it's the email to Firefox's browser; both are free to use, just google Mozilla. Firefox is the browser sort of like MSIE but without the bugs; and Thunderbird is like Outlook Express but without the bugs & more options available as add-ons much like Firefox's add-ons) Email Client to automatically send "read receipt" and listed the priority as "High." I truly hope this helps you out. It was a bit tricky for me to figure out but only because I'm tired and my eyes hurt although they are basically useless as I use a screen reader software program that reads to me (It's a program for the blind that reads digital print on the net or on the computer as well as alternative text included in graphic images on websites) Paise

I sent an email to Kay Hagan ®, Of NC. She responds with a canned message as if I WAS AGREEING WITH HER VIEW on the topic in question! That royally pissed me off! It's difficult to realize just how ignorant these people are when you write to them to oppose their actions yet they respond in a manner as if you wrote them stating you agreed with their barbaric actions. And people wonder why we as parents are so dissatisfied with the school systems today? It's because children are not receiving the education they need to learn in order to make viable changes in their futures that will protect the country as a whole and that doesn't mean throwing money down the toilet on private militaries with their contractors who are making 10x what the soldier who should be doing that job makes yet that soldier's family back home are barely making ends meet and many are even becoming homeless to boot. there is something seriously wrong in this country and it didn't start until Bush decided to start a "Wag the Dog" war that continues to cost "US = as in WE THE PEOPLE" trillions of dollars while our sons, brothers, fathers, mothers, sisters, and daughters are dying along with innocent Iraqis and then the torture ordeal, which anyone with a brain knows is illegal in a war because of the little document know by all as the Geneva Convention. I wish someone would have water-boarded Bush and Cheney then continued with McCain and Palin! I hope I don't offend anyone here but if I do, I do but I don't want any person tortured in my name. I've studied enough psychology in college to know that when you're beating beaten and drowned then beaten and drowned again and again on top of all the other atrocities that happened at Gitmo as well as what we "don't know that happened at Gitmo," it makes me sick to my stomach and I know for a fact that if I were in that situation, I'd likely tell them any lie just to stop the torture, anyone would do the same and I dare others to say they wouldn't. My step-dad's a former Marine and if you could make it to where we live, I'd have him set up a water-boarding demo to find out just what you would say if you had to endure such abuse. It feels to me at least, that the government, current congress for the most part, has began to think of themselves as our parents and they believe they can run our lives. Well, that last time I checked, I was well over 21 years of age and it is legal for me to smoke, drink, and go out to nightclubs as well as do many other things that adults do. I don't need congressional members acting as if they are my parents. I have children of my own and with regards to my own parents, we have been estranged for a great long time because it didn't take me that long to figure out I was smarter than they were and ultimately less dysfunctional, which is why I got my brother out of that house before he reached the point of no return and I immediately got him into therapy. I'm proud of the fact that he is a loving husband and doting father and he works in a career he's been doing since the summers after he turned 16 years old and then worked with my DH and finally after DH sold his company, we got him in with another contract company although he is an employee, not a contractor and has been with the company for some 15+yrs; within 2 years, he made supervisor. That's more than we can say about our parents. I had parents and they were two people that should never have procreated or allowed to procreate; I sure as #$^#$%^#^ don't need another set of parents and I most certainly don't need those parents to be the congress of this country! They need to take care of business that is a priority, which is bringing our troops home, getting them the medical help they need so their children don't suffer the same abuse I did thanks to Vietnam.... and then put a stop to the bailing out of companies whose CEOs are still taking billion dollar bonuses while tanking their companies and expecting the public to pay for their stupidity; our schools need to have their budgets switched with the military budget for a while. It's long overdue for the children of this country to begin to climb up the ladder of education when compared to other countries not continue to fall and fail. Both of my children are/were (oldest should graduate from 3rd degree this spring and she's married and in her own home w/plans to return to college in the fall for another degree) but she along with her younger sister are split-taught. The school teaches what they do and then we have teaching sessions at home where I teach the kids what they need and what the school system seems to have forgotten. Children go to school to learn how to learn first and foremost and then they are taught or should be taught, about history, science, biology (and more than simply abstinence-only - Didn't do Palin much good did it? I can't believe they chose a woman whose teenage daughter was knocked up. Palin should have been home raising those children rather than off gallavanting around the country getting federal money she claimed they did not need yet she took anyhow not to mention the fact she can't name newspapers she reads on a daily basis - talk about an easy question & she flopped on it! Then there's the fact that this woman, who could have very well been president if there had not been such a windfall victory for Obama, thought Africa was a country instead of a continent! I mean is this really a woman who needs to be in politics making decisions for our children and their education? I think not!... So, I made/make sure the girls get the best education I can give them, which must be working b/c our youngest is 2 grade levels ahead of her class-mates and her older sister, who had a learning disability and had to work for every grade she earned, had employers chasing her before she even graduated high school because she was not only a member of HOSA (Health Occupational Student Association), she was an officer, and she had the chance and took it so she could get her state licenses as a certified nursing assistant. She received her grade and certification two weeks before the graduation ceremony for her high school diploma. I could not have been more proud of her than I was already. Out of about 10 companies, she chose one and worked for them for years until she had to change colleges and then gas become so high, even with her Mazda 3, 2006 model fresh off the showroom floor as a graduation present, which she traded in about a year ago for a 2010 model, another Mazda, and has immaculate credit says a lot about her sense of responsibility. She's worked in the public since she 15 years old, paid her own car insurance, bought and paid for her own cell phone, she even bought her 1st car with her money although her dad helped her pick it out to make sure she wasn't taken advantage of because she was so young. Of the 25 students who could have taken the state board exam the instructor who was also an RN and worked as a teacher at the local college and arranged it so her students could take the test for their state boards, only 3-4 actually took the test and out of those, only 2 passed with flying colors - my daughter with the highest of the grades despite having ADD and a heart condition though she isn't medicated for the ADD; we found a psychologist who uses behavioral modifications. He starts with medication but once the behavior mods are in place and working, they wean off the meds and never go back on them. She's never needed to back on the meds or have a refresher on the tools she must use to keep her ADD in check.

I advocate a lot for various programs such as ending domestic violence, stricter rules regarding the removal of children and the jailing of parents, grandparents, legal guardians, & even foster care takers with regards to child abuse as I was a child of abuse who couldn't get out of the situation b/c back then there was a group known as the "Good Ole' Boys' Club" and never would they stomp on any toes of those who voted for them (part of why my birth father got away w/practically beating my brother and I (mostly me as I stepped in even if it meant picking a fight to keep him off my brother) close to death, stricter laws to protect service dogs (I have a guide dog although he's partially retired but we still work together some; hwr, he's slowed down a lot due to his age; he's most certainly an old man now), doing what I can to stop puppy/kitten mills, spay/neutering programs (low cost programs to make easier for people to spay/neuter their pets), raise awareness of the no-kill shelters, etc... Personally, I think the reason there is so many wanting to do away with the ability to buy PVs and Liquids is because it is cutting into the tobacco money big time and they are probably screaming like banshees because of it. I'm sure they have something on the drawing board, which isn't worth a hill of beans because of the low-cost of using PVs and buying e-liquids the way we do now. I'd bet dollars to doughnuts they want to put out their own line but can't because of the individual smaller companies' ability to undercut the prices they want to sell their own product at but can't because they wouldn't be making those billions of dollars a year they were making prior to the e-cigs coming into the market and stealing their revenue and being safer than their own products, which are killing people. The last carton of cigarettes I bought a week prior to getting my first e-cig was $55. I smoked anywhere from 1-2 packs a day or more accurately, within a 24-hr period as I don't sleep due to chronic insomnia. When I look at what I have been saving over nearly 2 years, I can't believe it! Imagine $55 plus tax x 4 (5 on a 5-week month but we'll just go with 4 for this purpose), that comes to $236.50 each month or averaged out to 12 months then divided by 52 weeks it comes to $256+per month because the last year I smoked, there was a jacked up tax put on cigarettes here in NC, in the state that grows and exports more tobacco than any other state in the United States. Hell, tobacco money built Duke University as well as Duke University Medical Center, the clinics for various health problems including the pediatric offices, pediatric specialties, the eye center, and it built the hospital a town or two over from where I live yet despite the fact that tobacco money build these hospitals and colleges, and if there had been no tobacco money they wouldn't exist, the hospitals have the audacity to now forbid anyone from smoking ON THE PREMISES! That's total BS considering where the money came from that put them in business to start with and that pisses me off. It makes me wish the tobacco companies founders would take their money back and then see just how far those hospitals and their fancy clinics would go then... I know it sounds cruel but I can't stand hypocrites and that is all the executives and stockholders are, they are a bunch of bald-faced lying hypocrites who make sure they get their billion dollar bonuses each year yet they overcharge every patient that walks through the door! They won't get them anymore healthcare than to stabilize the people then kick them out the door. There's videos on Youtube where hospital staff members are seen pushing patients out of the hospital, some in their hospital gowns and some of those in hospital gowns in freezing weather with snow on the ground while they call a taxi to come get them but won't pay the bill. That is downright immoral but it's done more often than the public realizes and yet nobody has taken these jerk-offs and chomped them off at the knees by hitting them in the wallet. I truly hope that the National Health Care program goes into effect. At least then EVERYONE who is a US citizen can get assistance and health care regardless and without draining the family savings and IRA retirement funds or even worse, causing them to file for bankruptcy. It's a proven fact that most cases that go before the bankruptcy board are the result of medical bills of a loved one who is dying or has already died. DH runs his mouth and about how the US has the most advanced health care system in the world; I tell him that while that may be true, what good is it when the 98% of us at the bottom can't gain access to it since our last names are Kennedy, Rockefeller, Bush, Rice, etc... And since when did it become okay to put a price tag on someone's life? We are guaranteed the RIGHT to LIFE, LIBERTY, and the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS; however, we aren't given the RIGHT TO LIFE b/c the hospitals would rather we die as would the health insurance companies because then they don't have to waste time and resources fighting to prevent giving care so someone who is fortunate enough to get health insurance yet the health insurance companies do whatever they can to NOT pay what they PROMISED while people are dying or are sent home to die despite the fact there is treatment for so many conditions but insurance companies don't want to pay out the money b/c that cuts into their billion dollar in bonus money each year. It's disgusting and I'm ashamed of people like that. I wish the tables could turn and they had to have the same insurance and fight against paying their policy amounts just as they fight to prevent paying benefits that clearly should be covered yet they fight it.

Thank you so much for the addresses and the letter, which I edited a bit to make it more personal. I sent my email off just a moment ago. While I don't live in Tennessee, I do have a very close friend who is like a sister to me that I'm trying to get to switch over to the E-cigs because she is sounding worse and worse as time passes from her smoking analogs. I do hope she will eventually make the switch. If anyone has any ideas, I would appreciate it: My friend, my best friend and practically my sister, has tried my e-cigarette when she came in for a visit. I have the Ego E-Cig now. I began with a Janty Dura-C, then moved to the Janty Stick, and now the Ego. This past week, I finally had the money to get one of the cone atomizers with the T-tank cartridges, which I find sooooooo convenient. It's great not to have to constantly drip every few minutes or so. I have had my friend/surrogate sister give my Ego a try; however, it seems as if it has too much of a throat hit to it. My daughter seems to have the same problem but you have to take into account my daughter has only been smoking for the last several months now and she only smokes about 3 cigarettes a day and those are ultra-lights - or rather they were. She and her new husband have both ordered the Ego E-Cigarette. I sent them with samples of e-liquid I've received and tried in order to keep them in some liquid as they are still catching up on everything as well as trying to finish furnishing the home they have together now. She was at college and her new husband was at home with his mother so they have rather bare walls but they do have plenty of furniture thanks to donations from our family (her father's family and me; I'm estranged from my parents to the point where our youngest child believes my birth father to be dead when in truth, he is an abusive alcoholic who refuses to stop drinking. I've heard his days are numbered as the alcohol has now caused cirrhosis of the liver on top of heart problems - also brought on by his excessive drinking. Normally, I do not believe in lying to my children; however, I believe it's kinder for our youngest to believe/presume my father is dead than to realize he's alive yet won't get sober and stay that way in order to be a part of the lives of his grandchildren; I raised my younger brother for most of his life & brought him home with me after a legal guardianship agreement went into place when he was a few years from being a teenager; I got him out as soon as I was able as our birth parents were physically violent toward each other and our birth father was physically violent toward us too though I did pick fights to redirect his attention to me so he would leave my brother alone as hew as not strong enough to have managed to survive those years of bruises, cuts from cords used to beat on me, and it goes without saying he would never have handled the pain from spiral fractures and outright broken bones when the booze was so thick in that b*stard's head he didn't care if he broke bones or not. I fear if I had not stepped in all those years, my little brother might have contemplated suicide, which I would never have been able to deal with emotionally... so for the greater good, I keep the little white lie going. It is only a matter of time before that man will be dead and buried. He's making it too easy to get there. I do believe the day he's dead, I will feel completely and totally safe for the first time in my life and I'm sure my brother will feel the same.) But I digress... Is there a way for my daughter and my surrogate sister/best friend to use the e-cigs without getting so much of a throat hit? My e-liquid generally stays around 24mg w/extra flavoring in the exotic flavors from My Freedom Smokes though I do have a separate bottle of liquid I use with a heavier nic dose in it to handle the heavy craving times such as upon waking (well if I slept it would be upon waking but I have chronic insomnia and have for as many years as I can remember), after meals, before bed (or resting as I don't sleep), and when out with friends when we go out to have drinks together as well as at family functions over the holidays. It was odd this past year that I wasn't smoking a tobacco cigarette at our family get-together for Thanksgiving! I had my e-cigarette but still, it felt funny because I have a BIL, DH's uncle, and a nephew who all smoke so it felt strange not having to go outside as the BIL's house where we had Thanksgiving does not smoke nor do they allow smoking in the house so we were always banished to the porch or the fire pit fireplace out back to get our smoke on, so to speak but with the e-cigarette, I was welcome to vape indoors. My SILs, both of them, could not believe the pleasant smell from the vapor as I use marshmallow flavor as my staple but I do have other flavors like sweet apple, cream, vanilla, black cherry, regular cherry, etc... Even my DH who used to piss me off, esp after he gave up dipping Skoal after he had an abscess he SWORE was cancer and I assured him it wasn't (I was right, it was just a canker-type sore on his tongue toward the back where he'd bit the area in his sleep making it look so bad) but you couldn't tell him anything. He stopped dipping then jumped down my throat for smoking and the fact I wouldn't go outside to smoke. I was adamant about the fact that I PAID THE MORTGAGE and I WASN'T ABOUT TO GET PNEUMONIA FROM STANDING OUTSIDE IN THE FREEZING WEATHER, INCLUDING RAIN, ICE, OR SNOW FOR ANYBODY - NOT EVEN HIM! He's come through our front door for several yrs with the same BS statement of, "Is something burning or on fire in here? It smells like something's burning?" I'd be so pissed by then that I'd tell him that yes there was something burning and it was my cigarettes and if he didn't like it he could turn right around and go back to his Mommy's house to live if that's how he felt! I'm sure she'd take care of him; she has for the last 40+ years so she might as well do so until she's dead and then he'd have to grow up or die with her. I know it sounds ugly but when you hear that day after day after day and you can't leave home b/c you can't see well enough to walk let alone to drive and you have no license because of an eye disease, there's no way to blow off all that steam other than getting into an argument until one of us left the house, which was generally him. I'd been me if I had been able to drive. I'd gladly have switched houses with his mother so she could move here and I'd move into her house with our daughter. Our house is much larger than her house but the payments are a bit lower so they could have lived in our house happily ever after for all I cared. He sniped about the e-cigarette until he couldn't smell it. Then (we share the same doctor, btw) our doctor jumped down his throat with both feet after having been treating me for months after I began using the e-cig (I have monthly Lupus (SLE) and Sjogren's check ups) and told him to shut up and stop bitching because the smoker's cough was gone and I had no rattling or wheezes in my chest. In fact, he said and continues to say that my lungs sound like someone who has never smoked in their life now. I will celebrate my 2nd anniversary of sorts off the analog cigarettes July 7th, 2011. I think that's pretty good and without the bad side effects, I don't have to stop vaping. I gave up so much when I got sick and I lost three separate careers I thoroughly enjoyed because of my health conditions; I can't go out to a bar without a ride with friends and nowadays, our friends are married with children like we have and there's little to no time and even little to no money to go out for drinks over the weekend when we can afford a sitter so I'm stuck behind 4 walls every day with no company except the dog and cat until our 14yo comes homes and while I love her with all my heart, there is only so much of a conversation someone can have with a 14yo.... My surrogate sister/best friend lives in Tennessee, which is why I put my email to use because if I can get her to make the switch, perhaps she can get her husband to make the switch too, which will do wonders for them because even though they don't smoke in the house, there is smoke smell on their clothes and they have a younger son, their 2nd and last child, who was born severely premature, born with heart problems, and has undergone about 5 or 6 surgeries to correct his heart though there is only so much modern medicine can do... He will live with a heart condition for the rest of his life and the smell of smoke does bother him even though they don't smoke inside. If I can get them to switch, it will be great for his parents, of that I have no doubt but even more so, it will be even greater for the son with the heart condition. I just need to figure out how to lower the throat hit to get my friend ON the e-cigarette and keep my daughter and SIL using the e-cigarettes. I've already explained that they didn't need to inhale the vapor because they will still get the nicotine as if they inhaled as one does with an analog cigarette. I don't know what else to add to help. It just came naturally to me. I'm glad to have helped and hope it helps and it works for those in Tennessee and any ideas on how to help my friend (who lives in TN btw, as well as my daughter) is greatly appreciated. Paise