A proposed letter to the editor you wont like

[Thulium]

Perhaps this man is frightened of the unknown and sent you this missive to protect a perceived danger to his family. If that is the case perhaps he wasn't going to submit the letter in the 1st place because you were the one he wanted to warn away. Perhaps this is the only way he could communicate his opinion.

I've always found in situations like this it is much easier to diffuse the anger by saying how much you care about his opinion and want to be respectful of home and family...what can I do to ease your worry? Once he feels like he's been heard, he's more likely to hear and respect your views. Lead...and they will follow your example.

Or....he could just be a mean old man!8-o

Okay, so my previous suggestion was a bit mean, but referring to people with an addiction as slobbering idiots in the same breath that you compare tobacco--a product that has been a critical component of our economy (for good or bad) for centuries--with tyrants and sociopaths...well, that does kind of beg for some ridicule.

If you want to compare with Hitler, you could make the analogy that being addicted to cigarettes is like being under Hitler's thumb... But if you know anything about e-cigarettes, the better analogy is that it's like getting married as a way of getting out from under the thumb of a despot: All the tyranny over your life, but a significantly lower mortality rate.

EDIT: Okay, I have the new e-cigarette marketing slogan:

vape Light: Tastes great. Less killing.*


*By "less" we mean "effectively none"

 

[Boom!]

His opinion is already made up and he'll never be convinced. He's admitted to me now that he is actually more than a little crazy when it comes to smoking and in his response he ticked me off even more when he wrote that he actually takes pleasure in seeing smokers treated as second class people because maybe it will encourage them to just quit! I’m not a member of the “Quit or Die!” ideology. I’m a member of the “Just Quit!” ideology. He apologized to me when he found out how angry I got about his email but I'm still shocked at his attitude. I suppose I shouldn't be. I know there are some serious anti-smokers out there, but I just didn't expect such hatred from him.

I'm a little sorry I started this thread because this guy obviously has some issues he needs to deal with and it just got everyone here all riled up. He wanted to provoke a debate with me and knew I'd bite. Only instead it served as a reminder how much hatred some people have and how fanatically opposed they are toward smokers and anything that looks like smoking No Matter What you say, facts you provide, research & studies that are done, etc.

why would I do my own research when I knew if I just poked YOU, you’d share more of yours?<grin> I knew you’d already done a thorough job of it and I didn’t need any research to make my points! None of which were contradicted by your links and studies, by the way. In fact, they mostly helped support them. Thanks, especially, for the extra ammunition about the idiots giving nicotine to children to treat ADD. I’ll find a way to work that in; that’s the latest in a long line of fiascos to come out of the medical/pharmaceutical community, right along with Ritalin, Prozac and Thalidomide. (Which is why I’m not trusting anyone’s word that the second-hand smoke is harmless at this early stage of the game!)

The reality is, the average Joe won’t care about the facts or the studies; people just want to be told what to think, and all-too-often the voice they hear is the one that shouts the loudest. Because of my marketing and psychology background, scare tactics and overstatement and hyperbole are the first-choice tools of my trade. I picked Stalin and Hitler and the Devil purposely because they are “reactionary” names and get people to focus and react, both positively and negatively. (Thanks for reacting!) It’s really just a pre-emptive strike to promote Godwin’s Law!<grin> And the more controversy, the greater the level of public awareness. And if I can stir up enough “public awareness” to get e-cigs restricted then folks will recognize they are NOT safe, they are not “approved” by anyone, and I win, and they will fade into background annoyances in my life exactly like smoking. And it IS exactly like smoking—apparently by design, to give the smoker the same “look and feel”. Apparently, now, just because you quit smoking tobacco it doesn’t mean you have to quit the nicotine inhalation habit. Gosh, what a win!

His entire stance is based on any addiction is dangerous but a nicotine addiction is so much more dangerous because not only is it deadly but it's also so difficult to break. His reply to me was basically just going on about how being addicted to nicotine period is still just as dangerous as smoking, doctors are idiots for suggesting this is a "better" alternative to smoking, you are only trading one bad habit for another, you delude yourself into thinking there is no point in quiting, your nicotine addiction will shorten your life, and he wants to do his part to “negativize” these things before the are adopted by the next generation. He will never believe these things are any safer than smoking no matter what research is shoved in front of him because he'll just cry "idiot doctor with an agenda".

 

[DC2]

Great reply Boom, well done.
I doubt it will help, but you never know.

 

[katink]

So the next Banzhaff if he gets even half a chance - I'm pretty darn sure it would be the end of my friendship with any of my friends if they acted like that...