I don't think we're as civilised as you think. Here in the UK the state therefore taxes pay big Pharma for the meds the free National Health Service provides. Maybe they wanna save it. Our politicians have come out and said they are pretty much going to pay TPD lip service until we exit the European Union.The controlling influence on the controversy everywhere, including the UK is the tax money and the people who benefit from that money. The tobacco companies can invest their capital in other things. The beneficiiaries of tax handouts have no funding alternatiives. May be the British are a little more civilized than the rest of us. My theory about the Brits is you have a moral authority presiding over public discourse. If you say really stupid stuff you're insulting the Queen. There is nothing like that in the US. I believe what will defeat the anti vaping folks is when their interference creates more troouble than it's worth. No matter what Trump or State governments do or don't do I'm going to be self sufficient for at least 10 years, may be 20 if things work better than planned. The cost of doing that is what I used too spend for a couple of months of smoking.
In the US nearly all the whiners about ecigs are tax supported, mostly NGO's. It is not a coincidence. It is a conflict of interest.
We as a nation have a history of uprisings against the establishment when we get ...... off that goes back to before many modern nations were formed. A word we came up with today was belligerent.