I'd been smoking about a pack a day for 15 years when I started seeing electronic cigarettes. They were a bit expensive at first, but once the prices started to come down I couldn't resist trying one. I like electronic gadgets and the idea of trying these (and being able to smoke in even more places) was appealing. I had no intention of quitting when I bought my first one, it hadn't even occurred to me.

Gradually the convenience of the electronic cigarettes shifted my habit away from regular cigarettes, and I found myself rarely lighting up a normal one. I also would take fewer puffs, I might do one or two drags and put it down absentmindedly, not thinking about smoking for a while after. It was 100% on-demand, no urgency to finish something lit.

I tell people I 'accidentally quit' now, since I just gradually weaned myself off tobacco and nicotine. I haven't smoked or used electronic cigarettes in about eight years, and the cravings are gone. I liked smoking and I might consider going back to it if the health risks disappeared due to advances in medicine.

I wonder why the medical community hasn't done more to embrace electronic cigarettes as a 'safer' alternative or method of quitting. Addicts of other drugs are treated using the same model. I don't expect them to embrace it as a safe alternative, but I think they could help others quit or reduce their traditional cigarette smoking habits.