E-Cigs in the Chicago Tribune

[RatInDaHat]

funny how the "new hope" is just as bureaucratic as the next guy. Just my opinion

[RatInDaHat]

On the topic at hand though, i hate the titles that seem to imply that we are all using e-cigs to get around smoking bans. regardless of the feeling of the story, so many people see the title and take that as the story.

[SupplierX]

The article was originally in the Minneapolis Star Tribune and is here if you want to see their reader comments:

No smoke from 'e-cigs,' but there's plenty of ire

I read the comments. There are some ignorant people out there, does not look good for us.

[TropicalBob]

Ignorant and vehement. We tend to be happy bunnies here, seeing the wonders of our devices as being so obvious that any fool could see them. Wrong. The fools want us to quit or die. Not run around smoking bans, spewing vapor. To put your finger on the public pulse, always read the comments following press reports. They ain't on our side ... we've got a massive education and public relations task ahead of us if this is ever to be accepted.

[Elle]

the comments... were scary.

[sherid]

This from VA. It was a long article about the VA smoking ban debate, but this part deals with e cigs.
If you like irony with your punditry, consider that the feds rate nicotine one of the most heavily used addictive drugs — as addictive as ...... — and tobacco the leading cause of preventable death in this country, yet refuse to declare war on it.

As a direct result of such cowardice, one of the newest, most nefarious developments is a nicotine delivery system called the electronic cigarette. The e-cigarette is a battery-powered atomizer that looks like the real thing, complete with a red light on the tip to simulate burning tobacco.

It comes with cartridges of liquid nicotine, which gets misted into your mouth so you can inhale it, like smoke, into your lungs.

From there, it does what nicotine from any old tobacco cigarette does: Addicts you.

Manufacturers have the gall to call this a smoking cessation device — talk about cojones! — but in reality it eliminates the middle man — sorry, Philip Morris USA! — and goes straight for a sweet fix just this side of shooting up.

Best of all, e-tokers should theoretically be able to argue their way around pesky smoking bans.

And good news, kids: The hits come in candy flavors, too. Apple! Orange! Vanilla! Chocolate! Cherry! Strawberry!

It doesn't take cojones to shut down drug pushers like these — just a working brain and the will to do it.
Smoke ban takes cojones - and compromise -- dailypress.com

[TropicalBob]

Unfortunately, that's a very well-written, succinct and to-the-point opinion piece that will no doubt sway many who don't know about e-cigs, and really don't care to know any more. E-cig makers are drug pushers; we are addicts. What else needs to be said?

[Rorschach]

What makes me nervous is the whole, get around the smoking ban thing.

I don't esmoke in a bar, I just step outside like everyone else who smokes, I'd just rather not have the hassle to explain to people. Nor do I smoke at other people's houses because it's such a bother.

I think the main message we want to send is that we prefer this over analog cigs, not that we want to "bend the law." A lot of pieces I've seen written on Ecigs tend to emphasize bending the law. It tastes better than analog cigs, there aren't any carcinogens that we know of. We feel better, we don't stink.

[TropicalBob]

I totally agree with you. But you've seen the ads, right, about "smoking anywhere" and open proclamations that e-cigs allow smokers to get around smoking bans. Oh, you bet that type of challenge will draw the attention and ire of those who pushed through the smoking bans. And those ridiculous and unfounded claims come from those who sell these!

We've also had the fist-raising, screaming posters here on ECF proclaiming they'll jolly well whip their e-cig anywhere they jolly well please and to hell with the consequences. They shout that they have a "right to vape." Nonsense. There is no such right. There are only granted privileges at others' discretion.

We would be better served if we were invisible. The more visible we are, the quicker the inevitable government attention.

[Cage]

What else needs to be said?

If I may:

Soon, anti-smoking forces from here will join others from around the world, and they will be launching the largest no-smoking campaign in the history of mankind.

Mankind... that word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our petty differences any more. We must be united in our common interest.

Perhaps it's fate that we were all brought together in this great forum, to once again be fighting for our freedom. Not only from tyranny, oppression, and persecution, but from annihilation.

We're fighting for our right to live, to exist, and should we win the day, this forum will no longer be known as a place for e-smokers, but as a place where we declared in one voice, 'We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on... we're going to survive.' Today we celebrate... our independence day!"

Who's with me?