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Testimonials

Real People. Real Stories.

The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA) is collecting successful vape stories and testimonials from smokers who used smoke-free alternatives to quit or reduce their smoking. The testimonials are posted publicly on our website for everyone to see, and may be sent to lawmakers to fight anti-vaping legislation.

This public collection of successful vape stories is a powerful response to those who want to restrict access to e-cigarettes and other smoke-free products. Our goal is to present a large collection of compelling individual reports that will make it impossible for anyone to claim that substitution of low-risk alternatives (e-cigarettes, snus, and other smoke-free tobacco/nicotine products) is not a proven method for quitting smoking.

You are free to write your own story and include or exclude any details as you like. However, if you would like a few suggestions, below is a list of questions to consider:

  • How long did you smoke?
  • How long ago did you start using a smoke-free alternative?
  • Exactly what type of smoke-free products do you use (please do not include company/brand names), and has this changed over time?
  • Do you still smoke, and if so how much have you cut down?
  • Did you both smoke and use the smoke-free product for a time before quitting smoking entirely (if so, how long?), or did you switch immediately? Did you stop tobacco/nicotine entirely for a while and then start using a low-risk alternative?
  • What methods (NRT, Chantix, counseling, etc.) did you use to try to quit smoking before switching to a smoke-free alternative? How long were you able to go without smoking using these other methods before starting again?
  • What changes in the quality of your life (both positive and negative) have you noticed since adopting the smoke-free alternative?

You may prefer to write your story in a word processor and paste it here. You need to enter your entire story at once – you cannot start it and come back. There is no maximum length. Please remember that by submitting this, you are agreeing to have it posted online.

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Latest Testimonials

All Testimonials
# Name Testimonial Experience Date
13519
Tom
Like many boys growing up in the 50s and 60s, smoking was perceived as being cool and tough; so like an idiot I joined the behind the bike shed crew along with all the other wannabes! I smoked through university and on into my working life. My wife was a smoker (CRC) and our children were/are too. In April 2017 I was trying to save money for a trip to the USA, and was struggling to save as fast as I wanted. The previous year I had spent 6 months trying to get rid of a hacking cough and constant cold; after some 45 years I was also getting sick of yellow fingers, stink breath and clothes and a smelly flat. This gave me the motivation to do something about the whole situation. My workmates, who sat outside as pariahs, were split into smokers and vapers. I was fascinated by their gear and when they explained the cost benefits I was sold. And that was without even discussing health benefits. Halfway through a pack of Menthol 30, I decided enough was enough and that day after work called into Hello Banana, and for $30 got a pen and 15ml of menthol 12mg. Fortunately enough charge to use that evening. The half pack I gave away at work the next day. I soon learned 15ml of liquid was not the best way to buy juice!! So graduated to 100ml bottles, and now spend about $1.00 (not a typo) a week on juice. I got new tanks and batts from China at $1.50 each. (No exploding batteries in nearly 6 yrs either). I now use a more efficient open vape pod system. But liquid only costs me $4.00 per week. So moving to the health benefits from the obvious financial advantages!! No yellow fingers, no stink breath, fresh clothes, sweet smelling flat and vehicle. No colds or coughs of note, good BP results, eating better now I can taste food and have even lost weight and apart from my non related other ailments actually feel almost spritely!! Well very almost. My dog Scottie and I could now walk 3kms a day, his 12 and my 66 needed the exercise, and we enjoy this in the morning together. Failing health at 66 precludes me walking now. This has been the 2nd best thing I’ve ever done in my life (marrying my wife will always be the first!) and a call I would highly recommend to any current smoker who is considering finances or health. Go for it, call into your local vape shop (not a convenience like me!!) and get some really experienced advice.

6-10 years

04/18/2023

13518
Vix
I smoked my first cigarette in 2010. I was fourteen years old, hanging out with older kids and it was peer pressure if I am being honest. I told myself that I was just “trying it out” and that I wasn’t going to be addicted, but by my fifteenth birthday in 2011, I was having my older friends buy cigarettes for me with my allowance. I was lying to my parents by seventeen, when they found a pack of Marlboro reds in my car, telling them that they were my friends and they just left them in my car. Eventually my grandfather told me he’d known all along but he had no room to judge because he’d been smoking since he was thirteen years old in 1953. In 2019, I was 22 years old and had a very bad weekend. First my mothers house burnt, and then the next day we found out my grandfather had lung cancer that had metastasized to his brain. He was given 1-3 weeks without treatment, but we got almost three months more with him. When he was in hospice, the last thing he told me was that he wanted me to quit smoking, so I promised him that I would. He died the next morning. I had just turned 23 two weeks before and had been smoking for eight years regularly at that point. Now, it took me nearly two months to get the courage to stop smoking. On July 31, 2019 I smoked my last cigarette in my pack at 1:30pm, then walked into my local vape store. The people at the vape store were extremely helpful, got me set up with a mod and 6mg graham cracker flavored juice. I was going camping that weekend and I chose not to buy another pack of cigarettes but stick with that mod and juice and I haven’t smoked a cigarette since then. It’ll be 4 years this year. Today, in 2023, I am using 3 mg vape juice and have learned that Salt Nic gives me headaches. It’s been a learning experience. I no longer get winded every time I climb stairs. I no longer have asthma flare ups. I haven’t touched my inhaler in four years (sans back in January of 2023 when I had the flu). My quality of life is better because I switched to vaping over combustible tobacco.

2-5 years

04/18/2023

13517
devon h.
I started smoking cigs in 1977ish, I have stopped cig smoking since 1/2016 by vaping now. I am grateful that there is a much safer alternative and that I was able to fully switch to vaping. Vaping for me is a huge money savings also, except for all the newer taxes on vape products.

04/14/2023

13516
Dan Nicholas
My mother smoked, trying to quit her whole life. She used gum, which gave her teeth issues. She tried patches, but they gave her skin issues. After years of trying to quit she died of lung disease. I picked up smoking from my family, and had a twenty year relationship with that devil. A friend gave me a cartridge based, menthol apple flavor and... it's a miracle. Do you hear me FDA? A MIRACLE. I can hike, taste food and live again. No more wheezing, my heart rate is down to a normal range and I have taken up ... wait for it... competitive swimming. If vaping were available to my Mom, she'd be alive today. Shame on anyone who spreads false science about this amazing smoking cessation device. Your children can't smoke by law - that's enough. Parental inability to control their children should have nothing to do with my freedom, nor should it be a reason to stop adults from having tasteful vapes. The FDA has effectively banned these products in an unfair and unjust manner. I'm living, breathing proof that vaping is far safer than smoking, and should be widely available in the US without delay or obstruction.

1-2 years

04/04/2023

13515
Antonio
56 yo. 37 years smoking, the last 20, 60 cigarettes a day, today 6 years and 1 month without any cigarette. I thought I would die smoking, my health at the end of my 40's was bad, overweight, tired, I lived with a cigarette in my hand, I had started smoking at the age of 13, at 15 I already smoked a pack of cigarettes, in those days it was smoking was allowed in high school, some teachers and even the principal smoked, you feel big, powerful, proud to put a cigarette in your mouth, already in architecture at the university, the cigarette accompanied my nights, day after day, year after year, There were occasions when I found myself with two or three cigarettes lit at the same time, at that time I met my current wife who did not smoke but began to do so with me, we smoked one after the other, it was at that time that I began to consume 2 packs a day , after our wedding we continued smoking until she got pregnant with our first daughter, and when she was born we decided to quit, it was the first attempt to do so, it only lasted 15 days, because in a meeting with friends I turned on the first one again and said only one at the meeting, a week later I was smoking as much as before, my wife the same, even though she didn't smoke much, she lived with her entire smoking family where EVERYONE SMOKED IN THEIR HOUSE... that's when the bans came up, price increases had already my second daughter was born, and my increase to 3 packs that I kept for 20 more years, people identified me by my hand outside my car with the cigarette in my hand... my health deteriorated when I contracted Diabetes thanks to my lack of exercise and morbid obesity that I came to have, climbing stairs, working was very difficult because walking up a floor led me to wait almost 10 minutes to be able to articulate a word, I kept panting... that was when, when I was almost 50, I went to the City from Mexico to the doctor because my health was very deteriorated, I had lost weight with a lot of effort and had lost more than 123 lbs of weight, I had pain in my body and I thought I had cancer, after a complete check-up they detected only fatty liver and uncontrolled blood pressure, etc. but something happened, severe lung damage did not appear... that was when I decided to quit smoking... my wife and I went to buy gadgets, I had smoked for 37 years, the last 20 years, 60 cigarettes a day, a total of 625,000 cigarettes and spent about 137,000 dlls in my life as a smoker without taking into account my wife who smoked 2 packs a day... we started with an **** *** **, an AIO that was comfortable for us, in 3 days I was without touch a cigarette and to date I have not smoked again, I am 6 years old and a month without touching a single one thanks to vaping, my health improved from black to white, now I am active, I walk, but stairs, I do not get tired and I do my work with pleasure clear that I have problems but they are due to other health problems such as type 2 diabetes that I try to control... I hope this testimony helps many guys not comment on our mistake, my wife having anxiety took a long time more than leaving it for now when our grandchildren were born they got it and it has been more than 1 year and a half without trying a cigarette...

6-10 years

04/04/2023

13514
Scott
I started smoking at 13. I smoked for almost 29 years. The last 2 years I was a dual user, smoking and vaping. I quit smoking completely and continued vaping in February '23. Honestly I just got tired of random coughing fits. I got tired of not being able to take a deep breath when I first wake up without coughing. I tried Chantix. The nausea and crazy dreams made me stop that prescription quickly. I tried cold turkey countless times. I would quit for a couple days and be right back smoking again. Since quitting smoking, and switching to vaping full time, I can breathe again. I don't cough for no reason. I can take a deep breath first thing in the morning. I can taste food again. I don't smell like an ash tray all day. I honestly feel like vaping saved my life. I use multiple types of vaping products including pods, regulated devices, mechanical mods. It's become a little bit of a hobby. Buying new mods to customize. I exclusively vape flavored juices. There's no way I would continue vaping if all I had to vape is a tobacco flavor. Why would I want to vape a product that tastes like the cigarettes I spent years trying to quit? Short answer, I wouldn't. I would still be smoking if flavors weren't an option. The more research I do, and the more I learn, the more I realize a nicotine addiction is the least of my worries. You're told your entire life that nicotine is terrible and causes cancer. When I found out through my research that's a blatant lie, the decision to switch to vaping was easy. I'm confident when I say, vaping saved my life.

1-2 years

03/24/2023

13513
CiA
WILLIAM QUIT SMOKING WITH ECIGS. William is 70 years-old, and lives in Florida. William quit smoking with ECigs. William began smoking at the young age of nine. By the time he was 13 years-old, he was a pack a day smoker. By the time he reached his 57th birthday and a 2 pack aday smoker, he had had a heart attack. During his youth, William spent some time in a juvenile detention facility. It was then that he realized how addictive smoking was. Deprived of his cigarettes while he was in detention, he experienced withdrawal symptoms so intense his wardens thought he was coming off an illegal substance. Growing up in Pinellas County, William had always been athletic. He set records in track during his high school years. He was a weightlifter. After his recent heart attack, William’s doctor told him to get off cigarettes. “He told me I would be dead in ten years if I didn’t stop smoking.” William tried the nicotine patch, but he found it to be too expensive. Then in 2012, William tried electronic cigarettes, and he hasn’t looked back since. William’s doctor found that William’s lung function has improved “100%”. William has better energy. His wife is an ex-smoker, so she is very happy with the fact that William is not a smoker anymore. Now that he is using e-cigs, William said that he will never, ever go back to regular cigarettes. As William pointed out, regular cigarette smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals. Many of these chemicals are toxic or carcinogenic. “I can smell it a mile away if someone has smoked a cigarette.” Many people who switch to e-cigs report the same sensitivity to the smell of cigarettes.

11+ years

03/17/2023

13512
Apathy Miller
I started smoking daily @ 11 yrs old as I had a brother who was 7yrs older than me, so I got into everything very early in life. I tried quiting dozens of times. With hypnosis, acupuncture, Allen Carr's as well as several other quit smoking and self help books. I tried patches, gum, lozenges, nicotine inhalers, aromatherapy. I tried Varenicline, desmoxan, Wellbutrin, & Chantix medications as well as several herbal remedies. All without more than a few days success. So I smoked 30 cigarettes a day for the next 24yrs. I thought I would die a smoker. Both my parents smoked, all 4 grandparents smoked. All passed from smoking related illnesses. I resigned myself to dying a smoker. I had early stages of COPD. I would get bronchitis every year, sometimes twice a year. Upper respiratory infections, ear and sinus infections. So once Blu came out on the market, I had high hopes & bought it in 2011. It did keep me off cigarettes for a couple weeks. Longer than anything else, but unfortunately I did go back to smokes. I then forgot all about vaping and the cigalikes. Then 1 day in January 2014 I had a coworker who's new year resolution was to quit smoking. On a smoke break he had a vaping setup. This was not a cigalike though. Hey had a dual battery mod and a rda. He was vaping a cereal eliquid. He let me try it. That was all it took. I went home that night and researched any and everything i could find out about vaping. The next day i went to a local vape shop on lunch. I bought a setup and some 24mg liquids. A tobacco and an apple jacks cereal liquid. And that was that, I had my last cigarette driving over to the vape shop. I was done smoking. I tried every flavor of liquid I could get my hands on. For me that's a HUGE part of the appeal. I can get the nicotine I want and it tastes like fruity pebbles, a twinkie, or chocolate chip cookies. The last thing I want is something that tries to mimic the taste of tobacco. As eliquids have to have a tobacco flavoring added in order for it to taste like tobacco, and they're not very good. I'd much rather have a liquid that tastes pleasant. Having to vape a tobacco flavor as an exsmoker is like making an alcoholic drink water that tastes like beer or vodka. But just like that, I was done smoking. I just passed 9yrs as a vaper as of February 28th. I'll never forget my quit date, because it has saved my life. I no longer get bronchitis or any respiratory infections. My copd is now gone. As I go to the doctor on a monthly basis due to other health issues, my doctors say that I have the lungs of a never smoker. They can't even tell that I ever smoked. I feel so much better! I've lost 50lbs, my high blood pressure is gone. I can now walk a flight of stairs or take my dogs for a walk without being out of breath, without struggling to breathe. I feel so much better! I can taste and smell again. My house, my car, nor myself smells like an ashtray anymore. So thank you vaping, YOU SAVED MY LIFE! I will forever be grateful!

6-10 years

03/05/2023

13511
Dave
I tried cigarettes at an age of 12 tears old - which was easy, as my older brother was an established smoker at young age already. But until being drafted after highschool into the army, I just smoked very occasionally as a teen. Cigarettes were then easy to get & cheap. After army service, during college I increased my use to a package per day of filtered cigarettes. With the occasional fine cigars, cigarillos and pipes in the following years. At the end of my meanwhile almost 18 years long daily smoking career, I've switched (for financial & health reason) to half a bag of untreated RYO tobacco over the day and several heads of flavoured tobacco in my pipe. During these years, I've tried cold turkey (after surgery) and NRTs (gum), but nothing worked. My first contact with vaping was in 2012, when a colleague switched to dual-use, but the devices felt too clumsy for taste at this time. Though, in spring 2016 good friends of mine began to dual-use and switch (intermittently) completely (after childbirth). I was impressed, how the devices had developed, went online and watched various German and international YouTube-channels to get the basics. On the evening of April 9th 2016, I went and bought my first vaping Kit (a third generation mod with a pre-mare coil clearomizer/ rebuildable head) at a pop-up vaping store in a mall together with just 2*10ml of rather blunt "vanilla" & "menthol" liquids. I lit my last cigarette/ touched any combustible tobacco on the following morning of the 10th of April 2016, after almost 18 years of daily smoking. Since then, I didn't relapse once. I've never felt better in the following month. Beside the obvious smell of burnt plant matter stuck onto everything being gone, my smell & breath volume returned. I didn't even took on weight, other than smokers trying to quit with "established methods". Shortly after switching, I immediately began to research DIY-liquids, bought semi-professional equipment and stocked up on flavour. I also started to built my own coils. Suddenly, quitting smoking became a hobby. But it didn't take long, for legislation to draw dark clouds on my newly discovered paradise. The second version of the EU's tobacco products directive (2014/40/EU) was about to become national law in Germany, crashing down on the blooming market. That was also the begin of my time as an vaping advocate in social media (and amongst my still smoking family and friends). Although working close to high ranking national politicians at that time, I wouldn't even have imagined, how much corruption, lies and bullying is actually going on behind the curtains in legislation & regulation, when it comes to a deny smokers a safer alternative to combustible tobacco. In summary, I can just do my best, to make/ keep switching to vaping products possible (again) for all those people who still (begin to) smoke, Unfortunately, my government declared me (and thousand others) a criminal for creating my own DIY-liquids, because I don't pay them their horrendous new sin taxes for and don't return to smoking cigarettes (which would be essentially less expensive with taxes included). The fight isn't over.

6-10 years

03/03/2023

13510
Rob
I quit smoking and started vaping 33 days ago. I’m also diabetic and have high blood pressure. Since I stated vaping my A1C levels are at an all time low, I’m also taking much less insulin. My blood pressure is back to normal and I’m no longer on blood pressure meds. Vaping has saved my life.

Less than 1 year

03/02/2023

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