To: Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and whomever else it may concern,
If this were an article submitted for publication, it would have the title: "Why what Connecticut does with electronic cigarettes means so much to me." I have been a Connecticut resident since 1953. I attended and received a degree from Wesleyan University (Middletown) in 1957. I did post-graduate work and received degrees from Yale (New Haven) 1957-1962. I raised my family in Milford where I have lived since 1960. I have contributed in many ways to the Connecticut communities as an educator and musician. I feel that the state of Connecticut is on the verge of making a serious mistake concerning my health and the health of hundreds of others like me.
I probably had my first cigarette sixty years ago. At that time, the worst thing anyone said about smoking was that it would stunt your growth. As a six-foot tall high school athlete, this was not much of a threat. Almost every professional ball player endorsed one brand or another. By 1952 I was addicted to nicotine. The dire warnings came along later when it was too late to quit. Goodness knows I tried. Every time I went more than two days without a cigarette, I became irritable and difficult to live with. My wife put up with my smoking because the alternative was unacceptable, but banned me to the den over the garage to keep the house and her clothes from smelling too bad. Recently I had begun to cough incessantly and my doctor said my lungs were "noisy." I was short of breath and he prescribed Spiriva as a daily inhalant.
This past April my wife stuck an article about electronic cigarettes under my nose. The claim was that it would not smell up the place and that it did not contain the tars and carcinogens which were the cause of my emphysema. I did not expect to quit smoking (I'd tried that too many times before) but thought I might be able to cut back with this device. The result was more than I could have hoped for. Within three days I quit coughing. Within a week I knew I was breathing better and quit using the Spiriva. I had my last cigarette in April and have not smoked another since.
Yes, I am still addicted to nicotine which the e-cig supplies. But I am not subjecting my lungs to the by-products of combustion of tobacco which were making me sick. On a recent check-up, my doctor was very pleased with the changes which have taken place.
About two weeks ago I placed an order online for some liquid to vaporize. The vendor sent the following message back: "I'm sorry, but because of Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's stance on ecigs (which includes threatening legal action against ecig vendors), we have decided to not ship to that state. I do appreciate the order and would like to process it, but your state's AG would apparently prefer you smoke FDA approved traditional cigarettes, which are known to be deadly."
To my knowledge, there is no law on the books at present prohibiting me from using a personal vaporizer. I don't know of any law which says these are illegal to sell or purchase. If my supply of materials is cut off by a fear campaign based on misinformation and conjecture that these things are not safe, I will go back to smoking cigarettes which I have proof were killing me. I want to live a few more healthy years enjoying my six grandchildren. Please do not ban the electronic cigarettes without proof that they are more dangerous than cigarettes. Because I am convinced that the use of these devices has saved my life.
(Signed with name and address)
