EU How can I get involved and show my support

[NymeriaSand]

Hi

I've been analog free for almost 4 weeks now, all thanks to vaping. So I'm all excited about my new hobby and now have just learned more about the proposed regulations in Europe, now I'm determined to put any sort of support I can give to stop this madness! I have read up on and watched the info on here - http://swofcampaign.blogspot.co.uk/p/welcome.html and signed the petition to the European parliament.

Just wondering if there is anything else I could do? Are there other organisations or campaigns? Was considering writing a letter to my MEP?

Any suggestions appreciated, thanks!

 

[rolygate]

Hi and thank you for asking.

Join the national consumer association, ECCA UK, and donate if possible:
Donate to ECCA UK - ECCA UK

Sign the EFVI document:
EFVI: the European Free Vaping Initiative

Find out if there any vapers groups or meets near you - ECCA might be able to help, or alternatively post in the UK forum and ask:
UK Forum

Write a letter to your MP and MEP telling them if ecigs have been beneficial to you and/or family and friends, and that their stance on ecigs will affect your vote at the next election. ECCA and especially CASAA (the US association) have useful info you can use:
CASAA - The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association

For voting tips see:
Vapers - How to Vote

Also:
- Act responsibly as a vaper and do not annoy or offend others especially indoors.
- Help a smoker to switch.

 

[NymeriaSand]

Hi and thank you for asking.

Join the national consumer association, ECCA UK, and donate if possible:
Donate to ECCA UK - ECCA UK

Sign the EFVI document:
EFVI: the European Free Vaping Initiative

Find out if there any vapers groups or meets near you - ECCA might be able to help, or alternatively post in the UK forum and ask:
UK Forum

Write a letter to your MP and MEP telling them if ecigs have been beneficial to you and/or family and friends, and that their stance on ecigs will affect your vote at the next election. ECCA and especially CASAA (the US association) have useful info you can use:
CASAA - The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association

For UK voting tips see:
Vapers - How To Vote

Also:
- Act responsibly as a vaper and do not annoy or offend others especially indoors.
- Help a smoker to switch.

Thanks so much, will def do all you have suggested! Keen to do my part for the cause!

 

[Anjaffm]

Hi,

Big congratulations on being analog free for almost 4 weeks! Well done! - And welcome!

1. Welcome to the wonderful world of vaping instead of smoking tobacco!
2. Welcome to our world - the world of those who have discovered this wonderful alternative to tobacco, only to be faced with lies, deceit, corruption and the attempts to ban / restrict / de-facto ban our healthier alternative by those who wish to feed their own greed at our expense

I appreciate that you wish to do your part to keep vaping available for all of us

Rolygate has already given you some great advice.

Clive Bates blog also makes good reading if you wish to write to politicians:

Briefing: the case for e-cigarettes - short version
Briefing on e-cigarettes for policy makers - long version

We the people are doing all we can to keep this healthier alternative available to all of us - and to current smokers - and we appreciate all the help we can get!

Thank you for joining in!

And always remember:

In 1976 Professor Michael Russell wrote: “People smoke for nicotine but they die from the tar.”
(source)

.. so all the trumped-up "concerns" about the possible, potential, maybe, if Good Friday falls on a Sunday.. blabla... oh-so-horrible dangers of vaping are just a bunch of bovine excrement. You can find a lot of that silly fearmongering nonsense debunked here: Arguing about e-cigarettes – a Q&A

 

[NymeriaSand]

Hi, thanks for the warm welcome! I already love vaping (probably a bit too much!) and think it's far superior to tobacco smoking! I'm so glad to have found it as I always enjoyed smoking, just not all the negatives that comes along with it but it was never enough for me quit because I enjoy my habit! So I'm glad I found a (better) way to smoke but without the negatives, I know there are 'unknowns' about it but I'll take them any day over the 'knowns' about tobacco!

I'll do as much as I can to campaign/raise awareness about it, I think one of the best things I can do everyday is vape (respectfully) in public and talk to any curious smokers. I chose to only vape in places I would smoke and go outside otherwise, and always see smokers looking at what I'm doing some have asked about it and I usually tell them as much as I can then recommend the forum! I already got my mum vaping, very happy about that as she smoked 40 a day for 30 odd years, she started the week after me and is still analog free. I'm still working on taking my sister into it, I think it's helping that she feels a bit left out when me and my mum talk about our gear ect.

I'm determined to do what I can to stop the madness, I can't allow regulations to pass that lead to a country where you can go into most shops and buy as many cigs as you can afford, but have to go to GP to get a pre-filled low nic flavorless clearomiser (or whatever the regs lead to). It's unbelievably dumb! I do think there should be basic regulations on the quality/ingredients in the liquid, child-proof caps on bottles and an age restriction, nothing else! The argument I laugh at most is the age old "won't someone think of the children!" haha.

Loving that quote btw, will need to start spouting that to my sister!

 

[Anjaffm]

Hi, thanks for the warm welcome! I already love vaping (probably a bit too much!) and think it's far superior to tobacco smoking! I'm so glad to have found it as I always enjoyed smoking, just not all the negatives that comes along with it but it was never enough for me quit because I enjoy my habit! So I'm glad I found a (better) way to smoke but without the negatives, I know there are 'unknowns' about it but I'll take them any day over the 'knowns' about tobacco!

Oooohhh..... that is a statement after my own heart!
Same here. I used to enjoy smoking - and I enjoy vaping even more. It gives me all the benefits that smoking gave me but without any of the drawbacks.
We have found a better alternative
The Vaping Giraffe from Norway puts this very well indeed, here (except that I would speak of "dependence" )

I'll do as much as I can to campaign/raise awareness about it, I think one of the best things I can do everyday is vape (respectfully) in public and talk to any curious smokers. I chose to only vape in places I would smoke and go outside otherwise, and always see smokers looking at what I'm doing some have asked about it and I usually tell them as much as I can then recommend the forum! I already got my mum vaping, very happy about that as she smoked 40 a day for 30 odd years, she started the week after me and is still analog free. I'm still working on taking my sister into it, I think it's helping that she feels a bit left out when me and my mum talk about our gear ect.

Wow, excellent, dear
Yes, being happy with vaping goes a long way towards making smokers curious And I am always willing to talk about my lovely hobby when asked.

Congrats on getting your mum vaping
Now, I have no idea how old your mum is (I am 54 and smoked for 35 years) - but Vapingpoint Liz rocks and has a Youtube channel "vaping for the over sixties". I love it. You get this lovely elderly lady (really a lady) talking about vaping.

I'm determined to do what I can to stop the madness, I can't allow regulations to pass that lead to a country where you can go into most shops and buy as many cigs as you can afford, but have to go to GP to get a pre-filled low nic flavorless clearomiser (or whatever the regs lead to). It's unbelievably dumb! I do think there should be basic regulations on the quality/ingredients in the liquid, child-proof caps on bottles and an age restriction, nothing else! The argument I laugh at most is the age old "won't someone think of the children!" haha.
Loving that quote btw, will need to start spouting that to my sister!

You can say that again!
Big congratulations for catching on so "early in the game".

Hehe.. and give your sister a break, please She will come around... when the time is right.

Pssst.. this is what I thought to myself the other day:

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
Mahatma Gandhi

Two smoking colleagues who used to poo poo the idea of vaping and said "Bah, I'd rather quit for good!" did not "quit for good" of course. Not my problem. I can offer. But nobody needs to take me up on the offer. No skin off my back.
Well, the other day we met socially at a nice outside event. I happily vaped away and they got curious. I fixed a nice PV with a nice tobacco liquid for one of them to use for the evening. He loved it. The lady tried it too, and loved it. Well, they both ordered a vaping kit. She has switched completely and he is using cigarettes in the day time but happily vaping in the evenings. He he

People do come around when the time is right for them.

 

[NymeriaSand]

Oooohhh..... that is a statement after my own heart!
Same here. I used to enjoy smoking - and I enjoy vaping even more. It gives me all the benefits that smoking gave me but without any of the drawbacks.
We have found a better alternative
The Vaping Giraffe from Norway puts this very well indeed, here (except that I would speak of "dependence" )





Wow, excellent, dear
Yes, being happy with vaping goes a long way towards making smokers curious And I am always willing to talk about my lovely hobby when asked.

Congrats on getting your mum vaping
Now, I have no idea how old your mum is (I am 54 and smoked for 35 years) - but Vapingpoint Liz rocks and has a Youtube channel "vaping for the over sixties". I love it. You get this lovely elderly lady (really a lady) talking about vaping.



You can say that again!
Big congratulations for catching on so "early in the game".

Hehe.. and give your sister a break, please She will come around... when the time is right.

Pssst.. this is what I thought to myself the other day:

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
Mahatma Gandhi

Two smoking colleagues who used to poo poo the idea of vaping and said "Bah, I'd rather quit for good!" did not "quit for good" of course. Not my problem. I can offer. But nobody needs to take me up on the offer. No skin off my back.
Well, the other day we met socially at a nice outside event. I happily vaped away and they got curious. I fixed a nice PV with a nice tobacco liquid for one of them to use for the evening. He loved it. The lady tried it too, and loved it. Well, they both ordered a vaping kit. She has switched completely and he is using cigarettes in the day time but happily vaping in the evenings. He he

People do come around when the time is right for them.

Haha! I already think the community is awesome, everyone so friendly and helpful to us newbs!

Will suggest the channel to my mum, will need to omit the 'vaping for over 60's' part though as she is 54 and might be offended [emoji1]! I subscribed to her channel though, like I have to any other channels I've found. Think its important in a community like this to support each other however we can.

I'm trying to not directly tell my sister to stop, just talking about my vaping around her to try to get her interested. I think she will like it if she tried it, she gave up briefly a few years ago using they cig-a-like ecigs and she hated them eventually. So I think she feels like she tried it and it didn't work for her, so I'm trying to show her how different it is now.

Like you are saying though, more and more people are joining the revolution and I think - the more there are of us, the more that will join! [emoji3]

 

[Anjaffm]

Haha! I already think the community is awesome, everyone so friendly and helpful to us newbs!

Thank you!
That is what a community is for. We all received help and advice when we started out - and we like to pass on this help and advice to new vapers

Will suggest the channel to my mum, will need to omit the 'vaping for over 60's' part though as she is 54 and might be offended [emoji1]! I subscribed to her channel though, like I have to any other channels I've found. Think its important in a community like this to support each other however we can.

ROFL! Well, I am 54, and I just LOVE Vapingpoint Liz! She rocks!

I'm trying to not directly tell my sister to stop, just talking about my vaping around her to try to get her interested. I think she will like it if she tried it, she gave up briefly a few years ago using they cig-a-like ecigs and she hated them eventually. So I think she feels like she tried it and it didn't work for her, so I'm trying to show her how different it is now.

Yeah, cigalikes....
There are many people in this forum who started with cigalikes. However, those must be different from the ones sold in Europe. I have not met one (!) vaper in Germany who was satisfied with cigalikes. Colleague of mine is a case in point: smoker, bought a cigalike, used it religiously, was not satisfied - refused when I offered him a drag from my 2nd generation model, refused when I offered to lend him one of mine - and went back to cigarettes.

I always use an analogy with cars:

Cigalike is like a Fiat Panda Yeah, it gets you from A to B.
Now, buy a Fiat Panda, drive it 3000 km to Italy, get out of the car and say "my .... hurts! Cars suck!"

Nope, cars do not suck. You just used the wrong model for your purpose Here, I got a Volkswagen Golf - try that
(2nd generation model, like VV battery with an EVOD type atomizer)

Now, of course, there is also BMW and Mercedes S Class

But if you want to see if you really like driving, don't get a Fiat Panda, get a Golf

...
Oh, and another colleague:
I got him started with an EVOD starter set. He loved it, upgraded, loved it more, stopped smoking completely - and now he is completely off nicotine, but loves vaping for the habit and the taste, and just bought a Provari and some atomizer that costs 25 Euro
......

Like you are saying though, more and more people are joining the revolution and I think - the more there are of us, the more that will join!

Oh, most definitely