I need your help!!!

[nicowolf]

For a Police audience they need/want to know:

*What do these things look like? What are the different variations? (cigar, pipe, penstyle, modifications might be mentioned as well like modified battery packs since so many are working on these)
*How do I tell the difference between these and regular cigarettes?
*What is the deal with the syringe and the little plastic bottle of liquid? (those look like drug paraphernalia)
*What are the different parts of a PV and how do they function? (battery with switch and led light, atomizer heating element, cart to hold liquid and deliver it to atomizer)
*What might I find in someone's PV kit?
*What are the health risks I might encounter if I walked into a crowded place where everyone is using one?
*How do I know that the contents of that little bottle of liquid are indeed nicotine and not some other drug like morphine, ..., etc.?



For a city council audience they need/want to know:
*What is wrong with the status quo?
*What are the risks to the individual, the family, the community?
*What are the benefits to the above mentioned people?
*What will it cost to implement your proposal?
*Where do we recupe the cost (taxes)?
*What exactly would change?

[badkat]

Actually it's rather outrageous that we can't mention health because at the end of Smokey's petition I posted the following comment, and I stand by it:

"Since starting the e-cig I have quit tobacco consumption and feel much healthier and happier. Please don't ban a device that I know has saved my life. I agree that a regulated test of the device is in order but an outright ban is deadly to those of us who would go back to burning tobacco products."

What's the point if the truth isn't told??

[LuckyCharm]

"Since starting the e-cig I have quit tobacco consumption and feel much healthier and happier. Please don't ban a device that I know has saved my life. I agree that a regulated test of the device is in order but an outright ban is deadly to those of us who would go back to burning tobacco products."

Ditto. I said pretty much the same in a letter to both my senators and my representative. Haven't heard back from any of them yet, which is highly unusual. Maybe they're actually reading and thinking about it?

I can see why manufacturers and sellers cannot legally make any health claims, since testing isn't complete. But the First Amendment protects individual rights to describe our personal experience and opinions.

~~Cheryl

[K.P.]

When strangers (specifically ones who might ask or tell me not to use it where I am) ask me what mine is, I have started saying "What, this? Oh, it's really just a nicotine inhaler, but it also makes little puffs of steam so it's more effective than the old-fashioned ones." Which is true, and although I haven't made any specific claims about it being some sort of NRT or stop-smoking-aid they immediately see me as someone trying to give up smoking (and thus should be encouraged and supported) instead of an unrepentant smoker exploiting a loophole to get around a smoking-ban.

The very first words you use will quickly cement in their minds which way to view e-cigs and their users. I'd probably lead of with something like "You might have heard about these things, or seen them on TV. They're called electronic cigarettes, or [X] or [Y]. If you've never seen one in action, here it is. [puff puff] If you're like me when I first saw it, you're wondering what the hell is going on here? Well, I like to think of it as [what I said above]. I bought one [X months ago] and I haven't smoked any real cigarettes since then." Right there, you haven't made any specific legal or health claims. You've used simple, everyday, personable language to relate an anecdote so that their first-impression of e-cigs and their users is a favorable one. Everyone likes a successful kicking-addiction-story, so they're going to be favorably presdisposed to whatever you say next.

As for the drug-paraphenalia angle....
"The atomizer with its small wire heating element is basically a slightly more robust version of a common lightbulb--and burns out almost as easily. You can't simply throw some tobacco in it--it wouldn't work, and would probably cause the device to burn itself out. Similarly, a person simply can't put ........., ......., or any other street drug into it. They not only wouldn't get high, they'd ruin both their drugs and their e-cig."

[breakfastchef]

You should initially refer to the device as an electronic cigarette, but also introduce a term like 'personal vaporizer' and use that term throughout the remainder of your presentation. This product is known as an e-cig. We would all like to keep it under the radar by calling it something more palatable to the masses.

I do not think it is unwise to anecdotally mention that many people using these devices are giving up tobacco products. It is true so no reason not to share that with the council. If you have quit smoking analog cigarettes, use your own story to emphasize the point. As you said, you will not promote it as an approved smoking cessation device.

Do not make any claim you cannot back up. Mainly, we do not know the long term effects of vaping on ourselves, nor do we know if there is any problem with second-hand vapors. In fact, it is mostly the PG that provides the look of smoke, not water. PG is the same stuff used in fog machines, for example. I would avoid that subject.

Lastly, give the Council what it needs to know in short, succinct commentary. If they approached you to make the presentation, find out why and address those specific concerns. If you shose to be proactive, give it your best shot.

[LuckyCharm]

If you are going to talk about PG, you should explain that it is what is used in asthma inhalers to make the vapor.

Is that true? Where did you find that? That's my biggest concern (although not big enough to make me quit) with PV's.

~~Cheryl

[wv2win]

Is that true? Where did you find that? That's my biggest concern (although not big enough to make me quit) with PV's.

~~Cheryl

My local Walgreen's pharmicist told me that, also.

[brotha]

Why not change the whole E-Cig name and call it an E-Vap or E-Vapper.I think this might be a better route because It really is not a cigarette

[LuckyCharm]

Why not change the whole E-Cig name and call it an E-Vap or E-Vapper.I think this might be a better route because It really is not a cigarette

I've been calling it a "personal vaporizer." When pressed for further explanation, I use something I found here: "It's like a nicotine inhaler, but with a puff of steam added for greater effectiveness."

~~Cheryl

[nicowolf]

Why not change the whole E-Cig name and call it an E-Vap or E-Vapper.I think this might be a better route because It really is not a cigarette

Many on this forum are working on just that. They are calling it a personal vaporizer, or PV for short. We had a long thread and poll, etc. to come up with that, so please please pretty please don't make us go down that road again.