From my late teens to my mid-twenties, I was a smoker. At first it was just recreational; however that changed quite quickly. I started buying them and smoking them regularly during the day. He then progressed to smoking a pack a day until it was too late. I was officially addicted. I knew it was a terrible habit and I was ashamed of it and hid it from friends and family hoping they wouldn't find out. Eventually, after coughing on and off and getting sick repeatedly several times a year, I came to the conclusion that I needed to stop. However, it wasn't as easy as I had anticipated. After having several relapses before finally managing to quit, I successfully stopped this terrible habit. It was an extremely difficult habit to break and I will never go back to it. I was a fortunate individual to have the mental strength and willpower to overcome this strong addiction, but Americans struggle to quit every year, and many never do. However, there is a new product on the market today called an e-cigarette that is believed to help people in their fight against addiction. It is a battery-powered device that heats a diluted solution of nicotine into a vapor that is then inhaled. It is believed to be a healthier and cheaper alternative to tobacco cigarettes. It is much safer because it does not contain as many harmful chemicals as tobacco cigarettes and is believed to be much more convenient for consumers. However, many critics believe that e-cigarettes are extremely addictive and equally harmful. Although e-cigarettes are believed to be harmful to people's health due to low product quality standards, harmful components in the filling solution, and reports suggesting that they are addictive and as harmful as toba... half of paper.... ...3 (2013): 556-561. Academic research completed. Network. November 17, 2011Kaplan, Karen. "Nicotine patches don't work in the real world, study finds." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, January 9, 2012. Web. November 14, 2013. http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/09/news/la-heb-nicotine-patch-doesnt-work-20120109Polosa, Riccardo, et al . "A new look at tobacco harm reduction: the case of the electronic cigarette". Harm Reduction Journal 10.1 (2013): 1-11. Academic research completed. Network. November 2, 2013.Clarke, Toni. “US Attorneys General Urges FDA to Regulate E-Cigarettes.” Reuters. NP, September 24, 2013. Web. November 14, 2013. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/24/us-health-ecigarettes-idUSBRE98N0ZK20130924Find a website by URL or keyword "8 Biggest Myths on the electronic cigarette". EARNINGS. Np, nd Web. November 15. 2013.