In April 2013 I attended the first "e-cigarette workshop" held at the European Parliament in Brussels. The purpose of the workshop was to inform Parliamentarians about e-cigarettes, and to discuss their inclusion in the tobacco Products Directive.
What I saw there made me sick to my stomach. We (and especially, the parliamentarians) were subjected, for a number of hours, to the opinions of a group of people who had no knowledge or understanding of vaping products. These individuals sat confidently opining that e-cigs were a huge threat to public health and must be regulated like medicines or banned outright. The only saving grace was the presence of Jean-Francois Etter, a man who calmly and politely stated that everything he had heard from his fellow-contributors was unscientific and based on nothing but here-say.
At the conclusion of the event, Prof Etter and I conversed in astonished terms about what we'd just witnessed.
I said to Prof Etter: "what we need is a proper conference where all the issues can be hammered out publicly, without rancour, without bias, and with all sides of the debate represented." He agreed, and I set home determined to put the plan into action.
Thankfully, soon I was introduced to Amanda Strange, professional conference producer, and we embarked on 6 of the hardest months of our lives putting the event on - but that's another story for another day.
I will be posting the videos from this year's event shortly (they are currently being edited), and I invite you to spend some time watching them.
The first conference changed the landscape of the debate around e-cigarettes in the UK, and I'm immensely grateful to all the participants for their involvement.
One thing is clear to me, however: it was all too late. By the time the 2013 conference took place, the tobacco products directive was already close to being finalised, and it now comes into force in May 2016, and with it ends the golden age of vaping in the EU.
My American friends, you still have hope - please join CASAA, please make yourself heard, and please ensure that the FDA does not kill the greatest thing that's ever happened to smokers, and for which many of us have devoted our lives to creating the last 8 years.
Oliver
What I saw there made me sick to my stomach. We (and especially, the parliamentarians) were subjected, for a number of hours, to the opinions of a group of people who had no knowledge or understanding of vaping products. These individuals sat confidently opining that e-cigs were a huge threat to public health and must be regulated like medicines or banned outright. The only saving grace was the presence of Jean-Francois Etter, a man who calmly and politely stated that everything he had heard from his fellow-contributors was unscientific and based on nothing but here-say.
At the conclusion of the event, Prof Etter and I conversed in astonished terms about what we'd just witnessed.
I said to Prof Etter: "what we need is a proper conference where all the issues can be hammered out publicly, without rancour, without bias, and with all sides of the debate represented." He agreed, and I set home determined to put the plan into action.
Thankfully, soon I was introduced to Amanda Strange, professional conference producer, and we embarked on 6 of the hardest months of our lives putting the event on - but that's another story for another day.
I will be posting the videos from this year's event shortly (they are currently being edited), and I invite you to spend some time watching them.
The first conference changed the landscape of the debate around e-cigarettes in the UK, and I'm immensely grateful to all the participants for their involvement.
One thing is clear to me, however: it was all too late. By the time the 2013 conference took place, the tobacco products directive was already close to being finalised, and it now comes into force in May 2016, and with it ends the golden age of vaping in the EU.
My American friends, you still have hope - please join CASAA, please make yourself heard, and please ensure that the FDA does not kill the greatest thing that's ever happened to smokers, and for which many of us have devoted our lives to creating the last 8 years.
Oliver
