Recently wrote this article for the treatment facility I work at and wanted to share.
Why the ecig debate should matter to you.
Rick Baumgartle B.S. CADCII
As a drug and alcohol counselor for over 5 years I can personally tell you the cost that addiction takes on not only on individuals, but families as well. I have watched people die and am watching people dying. And one particular product kills more Americans than any other, and it’s completely legal. That product is tobacco. Not Nicotine, tobacco. Nicotine as a drug is definitely one that can cause and does cause dependence, but it’s not what kills people. All the carcinogens, toxins and other chemicals pumped into cigarettes is what kills people.
So regulating a product that produces nicotine and vapor is laughable. However, that’s exactly what the FDA is looking at doing. With one fell swoop they can put e cigarettes under the same stringent regulations as regular tobacco cigarettes.
You know what their big argument is. I can tell you it’s not scientific research as the available research studies are limited, but seem to point to ecigs being a much safer alternative to tobacco smoking . An article in Medical News Today states, “Even though e-cigarettes are known to be much less harmful for health than tobacco smoking products, nobody knows what their long-term health and addiction consequences might be,” and further goes on to state, “Even so, most people agree that if e-cigarettes are much less harmful than traditional cigarettes, it seems illogical to ban e-cigarettes (especially as tobacco products are legal).(1) In fact, studies have also shown a proportionate rate of people are completely nicotine free from using an ecig as compared to the patch or gum (2). And let’s not forget the multi million dollar law suit against the makers of Chantix and its wonderful side effects. FDA pushed that wonder drug through didn’t they? No, their big argument is that ecig’s are a gateway. A gateway!
As a licensed drug and alcohol counselor I can tell you that in the face of overwhelming evidence, that the argument of anything being a gateway drug or tool is a joke. For years the failed Just Say No campaign of the 80’s espoused that ........., tobacco, and alcohol were gateway drugs, certain to lead the people who used them to “harder” drugs. What I will tell you is that without exception most of my patients (as well as myself) started with ......... or alcohol, and they (we) did indeed switch to harder drugs. But, they are addicts and that was going happen eventually as soon as they started. Addiction is a brain disease and a plethora of scientific evidence shows a genetic component. If the argument about “gateway drugs,” or “tools” was true, we would have a nation of IV ...... using, ....... snorting, .... smoking zombies. The country as a whole would grind to a halt as every American who ever experimented with drugs or alcohol swirled in the depths of their addiction. The country isn’t like that though, is it? Of course it’s not. The worst drug offense for the majority of Americans is Starbucks. Can you hear the outcry if we regulated caffeine. It would be absurd would it not? Yes, it would. Caffeine has harmful side effects, just like nicotine, and like caffeine, nicotine users are just as dependent. And some of those dependent people aren’t going to be able to quit nicotine no matter the consequences, because their addicts, and speaking as one, our brains aren’t wired like that.
I am not going go into a huge diatribe about why peoples belief about it being about willpower is ignorant, it just is. Go to any support meeting for recovering addicts and alcoholics and listen to the stories of their horrific bottoms and the consequences they suffered while continuing to use, and then come back and tell me they lacked willpower. Suffice it to say that people who are dependent on nicotine are highly unlikely to quit anytime soon for the most part. We have seen the diseased lungs, watched our friends die of lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease, and strokes, all the while knowing damn well that the smoking caused it and still lit up. The smokers that are left are the die hards, the real addicts. We’re the real deal baby! And we we’re going to kill ourselves off in droves in the next few decades and saddle you nonsmokers with the bill as we go on disability for the above diseases.
However, in recent years a new product has emerged as the ultimate harm reduction tool…ECIGS. Ecigs use a product called eliquid that is made from Nicotine and glycerin, which when heated by an atomizer in the ecig, produces a vapor that the person inhales. It has no significant levels of toxins, produces no harmful second hand smoke, and does not cause any of the diseases caused by cigarette smoke.
Now knowing that ecig’s do not cause the diseases that cigarettes do, that the gateway drug idea is one from a long lost fight from the less enlightened Just Say No era, that the amount of money saved by the American taxpayer not having to foot the bill for all the people who switch over, and aren’t eating your tax dollars on disability is going to be significant, and knowing that the eliquid itself contains at best “trace” amounts of toxins, aside from the Nicotine itself (which I hope we can agree is the much lesser of two evils), why then are they still trying to regulate and possibly ban them? An actual scientific study used to study the toxins concluded “We found that the e-cigarette vapours contained some toxic substances. The levels of the toxicants were 9–450 times lower than in cigarette smoke and were, in many cases, comparable with trace amounts found in the reference product (The reference product being a nicotine inhaler)(3). A recent article written in The Daily Beast, by a fine journalist, Nick Gilespie talks about the issue. You can link it here http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...he-anti-smoking-lobby-s-clueless-crusade.html . My favorite quote is the one about puritanism being defined as “the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” That must be it; that and the completely logical argument (insert sarcastic tone here) that if it looks like smoking, then it must be.
Lastly, the argument about the flavors. Yes, we have flavors. Bubblegum and everything. I have a multitude of flavors including chocolate bannana. Is that appealing to kids? Maybe. I have to wonder how many of the same people that are debating this important issue are doing so over a Pumpkin Pie vodka martini. Gimme a break! If you aren’t going to ban every flavored alcohol out there, then get your hands off my ecigs. And since when do I need the government doing my job as a parent. No, minors should not be allowed to purchase these. I applaud my own states decision (Oregon) to not allow them to be sold in malls, that was ludicrous. However, I should add that not too long ago I was a teenager, and I don’t recall silly things like “laws” stopping me from much of anything. ......... is illegal in all but 2 states. Ask the law enforcement there how that is working out for them.
This is an important topic, and on a very serious note, the decision of the FDA is going to affect an ever growing segment of the population that has put down tobacco and picked up ecigs. Their decision could kill us, and I don’t want to die. I don’t want to watch others die, when it could have been prevented by a harm reduction tool like the ecig. Please write your representative and sign a petition. Here is a link to the petition https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/pe...igarettes-accessories-and-associated/RQLBYRsd .
Do the right thing. Tell someone. Educate a loved one who is still smoking cigarettes about ecigs and get them to try them. I have been tobacco free for 30+ days, my lungs feel better, my sense of smell is better, I don’t stink, food taste great, and most importantly I am going to live. And I want to live, I don’t want to die of cancer, and now I may not have to. Of course if the FDA continues on its ridiculous crusade…who knows. Thanks for reading. My names Rick, and I’m an ex smoker.
1. E-Cigarettes May Help Reduce Tobacco Smoking http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/255837.php
2. Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation: a randomised controlled trial http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)61842-5/abstract
3. 10 chemicals identified so far in e-cig vapor that are on the California Prop 65 list of carcinogens and reproductive toxins http://www.tobacco.ucsf.edu/10-chem...nia-prop-65-list-carcinogens-and-reproductive
Why the ecig debate should matter to you.
Rick Baumgartle B.S. CADCII
As a drug and alcohol counselor for over 5 years I can personally tell you the cost that addiction takes on not only on individuals, but families as well. I have watched people die and am watching people dying. And one particular product kills more Americans than any other, and it’s completely legal. That product is tobacco. Not Nicotine, tobacco. Nicotine as a drug is definitely one that can cause and does cause dependence, but it’s not what kills people. All the carcinogens, toxins and other chemicals pumped into cigarettes is what kills people.
So regulating a product that produces nicotine and vapor is laughable. However, that’s exactly what the FDA is looking at doing. With one fell swoop they can put e cigarettes under the same stringent regulations as regular tobacco cigarettes.
You know what their big argument is. I can tell you it’s not scientific research as the available research studies are limited, but seem to point to ecigs being a much safer alternative to tobacco smoking . An article in Medical News Today states, “Even though e-cigarettes are known to be much less harmful for health than tobacco smoking products, nobody knows what their long-term health and addiction consequences might be,” and further goes on to state, “Even so, most people agree that if e-cigarettes are much less harmful than traditional cigarettes, it seems illogical to ban e-cigarettes (especially as tobacco products are legal).(1) In fact, studies have also shown a proportionate rate of people are completely nicotine free from using an ecig as compared to the patch or gum (2). And let’s not forget the multi million dollar law suit against the makers of Chantix and its wonderful side effects. FDA pushed that wonder drug through didn’t they? No, their big argument is that ecig’s are a gateway. A gateway!
As a licensed drug and alcohol counselor I can tell you that in the face of overwhelming evidence, that the argument of anything being a gateway drug or tool is a joke. For years the failed Just Say No campaign of the 80’s espoused that ........., tobacco, and alcohol were gateway drugs, certain to lead the people who used them to “harder” drugs. What I will tell you is that without exception most of my patients (as well as myself) started with ......... or alcohol, and they (we) did indeed switch to harder drugs. But, they are addicts and that was going happen eventually as soon as they started. Addiction is a brain disease and a plethora of scientific evidence shows a genetic component. If the argument about “gateway drugs,” or “tools” was true, we would have a nation of IV ...... using, ....... snorting, .... smoking zombies. The country as a whole would grind to a halt as every American who ever experimented with drugs or alcohol swirled in the depths of their addiction. The country isn’t like that though, is it? Of course it’s not. The worst drug offense for the majority of Americans is Starbucks. Can you hear the outcry if we regulated caffeine. It would be absurd would it not? Yes, it would. Caffeine has harmful side effects, just like nicotine, and like caffeine, nicotine users are just as dependent. And some of those dependent people aren’t going to be able to quit nicotine no matter the consequences, because their addicts, and speaking as one, our brains aren’t wired like that.
I am not going go into a huge diatribe about why peoples belief about it being about willpower is ignorant, it just is. Go to any support meeting for recovering addicts and alcoholics and listen to the stories of their horrific bottoms and the consequences they suffered while continuing to use, and then come back and tell me they lacked willpower. Suffice it to say that people who are dependent on nicotine are highly unlikely to quit anytime soon for the most part. We have seen the diseased lungs, watched our friends die of lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease, and strokes, all the while knowing damn well that the smoking caused it and still lit up. The smokers that are left are the die hards, the real addicts. We’re the real deal baby! And we we’re going to kill ourselves off in droves in the next few decades and saddle you nonsmokers with the bill as we go on disability for the above diseases.
However, in recent years a new product has emerged as the ultimate harm reduction tool…ECIGS. Ecigs use a product called eliquid that is made from Nicotine and glycerin, which when heated by an atomizer in the ecig, produces a vapor that the person inhales. It has no significant levels of toxins, produces no harmful second hand smoke, and does not cause any of the diseases caused by cigarette smoke.
Now knowing that ecig’s do not cause the diseases that cigarettes do, that the gateway drug idea is one from a long lost fight from the less enlightened Just Say No era, that the amount of money saved by the American taxpayer not having to foot the bill for all the people who switch over, and aren’t eating your tax dollars on disability is going to be significant, and knowing that the eliquid itself contains at best “trace” amounts of toxins, aside from the Nicotine itself (which I hope we can agree is the much lesser of two evils), why then are they still trying to regulate and possibly ban them? An actual scientific study used to study the toxins concluded “We found that the e-cigarette vapours contained some toxic substances. The levels of the toxicants were 9–450 times lower than in cigarette smoke and were, in many cases, comparable with trace amounts found in the reference product (The reference product being a nicotine inhaler)(3). A recent article written in The Daily Beast, by a fine journalist, Nick Gilespie talks about the issue. You can link it here http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...he-anti-smoking-lobby-s-clueless-crusade.html . My favorite quote is the one about puritanism being defined as “the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” That must be it; that and the completely logical argument (insert sarcastic tone here) that if it looks like smoking, then it must be.
Lastly, the argument about the flavors. Yes, we have flavors. Bubblegum and everything. I have a multitude of flavors including chocolate bannana. Is that appealing to kids? Maybe. I have to wonder how many of the same people that are debating this important issue are doing so over a Pumpkin Pie vodka martini. Gimme a break! If you aren’t going to ban every flavored alcohol out there, then get your hands off my ecigs. And since when do I need the government doing my job as a parent. No, minors should not be allowed to purchase these. I applaud my own states decision (Oregon) to not allow them to be sold in malls, that was ludicrous. However, I should add that not too long ago I was a teenager, and I don’t recall silly things like “laws” stopping me from much of anything. ......... is illegal in all but 2 states. Ask the law enforcement there how that is working out for them.
This is an important topic, and on a very serious note, the decision of the FDA is going to affect an ever growing segment of the population that has put down tobacco and picked up ecigs. Their decision could kill us, and I don’t want to die. I don’t want to watch others die, when it could have been prevented by a harm reduction tool like the ecig. Please write your representative and sign a petition. Here is a link to the petition https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/pe...igarettes-accessories-and-associated/RQLBYRsd .
Do the right thing. Tell someone. Educate a loved one who is still smoking cigarettes about ecigs and get them to try them. I have been tobacco free for 30+ days, my lungs feel better, my sense of smell is better, I don’t stink, food taste great, and most importantly I am going to live. And I want to live, I don’t want to die of cancer, and now I may not have to. Of course if the FDA continues on its ridiculous crusade…who knows. Thanks for reading. My names Rick, and I’m an ex smoker.
1. E-Cigarettes May Help Reduce Tobacco Smoking http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/255837.php
2. Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation: a randomised controlled trial http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)61842-5/abstract
3. 10 chemicals identified so far in e-cig vapor that are on the California Prop 65 list of carcinogens and reproductive toxins http://www.tobacco.ucsf.edu/10-chem...nia-prop-65-list-carcinogens-and-reproductive
