Are we going to win this war?

[MTFogger]

CASAA officially asks for 1 thing to be supported: bans on SALE (NOT POSSESSION!!!!) to kids under 18. This is to stop the ANTZ from starting bills to ban to kids then waiting till the last minute to tack a bunch of other icky stuff on the bills. When we support these bills, we are supporting something that, though incorrect, is SUPPOSEDLY already applied to patches, gum, etc and it gives us a counter-argument to "Marketed to children"

I am not claiming this is unarguable, only presenting what I read and hear on casaa.org

And I want to make it CLEAR that I as a parent/grandparent and as far as I know the actual casaa board members DO oppose overriding parental rights, so banning POSSESSION by youth is absolutely unacceptable.

Edit: since our vapor is a lot like food vapor I also approve of legally defining it as food vapor, which would ban it wherever food and drink are banned. So, let them go ahead and ban food and drink in restaurants, bars, on trains, airplanes, etc. Oh, and flavored alcoholic drinks. Talk about a COLDER day in hell!

Here is a question and I ask it not to begrudge CASAA. Does CASAA represent what the majority of Vapors want or do they represent what key figures want or neither? Reason I ask is because I see certain people vocalizing and acting on what they think is best based on their own perspective or agenda in some cases.

 

[WidowsSonAsWell]

I personally have had, maybe, one person not liking me vaping indoors because of UNDEFINED policies.. most people are cook with it

 

[Don Robertson]

I have a son, grown now, and he's very precious to me, but like I said, he needed to know what the choices are, in order to make good ones. I always tried to protect him from a child's ignorance...".
Andria

Andria you made great points. To lighten the tension I see building (not in YOU) - I'm using YOU 'cuz I know a bit about you.

You drivin' to the college tonight? Tomorrow maybe?

Senile But Good Intentioned Don

 

[ScottP]

I have not read all 17 pages, but I will say this. It is never going to be enough just fighting legislation as it tries to get passed. If we want to win this, we have to do what we can at the polls. This means that EVERY election we look for candidates that either support or at least do not oppose vaping and do everything we can to help get them elected and make sure they know that is partially why they got elected. This will in turn make it easier to combat negative legislation as it arises.

 

[2coils]

I have not read all 17 pages, but I will say this. It is never going to be enough just fighting legislation as it tries to get passed. If we want to win this, we have to do what we can at the polls. This means that EVERY election we look for candidates that either support or at least do not oppose vaping and do everything we can to help get them elected and make sure they know that is partially why they got elected. This will in turn make it easier to combat negative legislation as it arises.

In theory I agree. More importantly, for me moving forward, any voted for candidate will be looked at more closely period. The days of earning a vote simply because of a preferred letter next to their name is not enough, and should have never been enough. I am guilty of siding with my party preference without looking far enough into a candidate. This is partly why we are losing control over our government IMHO. Voting is more than that. Politics is more than that. I never really knew better until I started following the politics behind e-cigs. My eyes are wide open now.

 

[Berylanna]

Here is a question and I ask it not to begrudge CASAA. Does CASAA represent what the majority of Vapors want or do they represent what key figures want or neither? Reason I ask is because I see certain people vocalizing and acting on what they think is best based on their own perspective or agenda in some cases.

CASAA is a smoke-free advocate, not a vapers' advocate. The board decides their positions, but you have to realize that some positions that might seem odd at first glance were arrived at after YEARS (since 2009) of them going to state, federal, and some city hearings, talking to lobbyists for both friends and foes, investigating the ANTZ, etc etc.

These people were ECF members who founded CASAA back in 2009 when the FDA was seizing vaping gear and driving American vape businesses bankrupt. They have day jobs, and have worked their butts of to create CASAA, and get it recognized by the gov't and media. So, I see no reason why some OTHER group of folks who want to put themselves through the same torture could not make their own organization, but IMO time is short and I don't have the bandwidth to duplicate all the experience those 8 people gained over the last 5 years. Lots of flights, in-person speeches at FDA headquarters, lots of networking, reading etc etc.

So, for instance, I know vapers who want to oppose outdoor second-hand-smoke. CASAA does not allow anybody to say that CASAA is opposed to outdoor second-hand-smoke because some of the scientists in CASAA have serious questions about the validity of the science behind that and CASAA is making science the core of their program.

OTOH if a vaper (whether or not they are a member of CASAA) wants to say, as some did in one state (I forget), that they don't want to come home SMELLING like smoke because it gets their kids teased, that's a preference and not a junk science claim.

Bottom line: nobody but the Board of Directors of CASAA can make decisions about what CASAA's official position is on this stuff. Their suggested "talking points" for us on their Calls to Action are based upon what things appear to have brought us victories in the past, plus any new strategies they've seen the ANTZ come up with lately.

I don't always do what they say but I make sure I'm speaking as myself not CASAA when I speak, write, etc.

 

[DC2]

Here is a question and I ask it not to begrudge CASAA. Does CASAA represent what the majority of Vapors want or do they represent what key figures want or neither? Reason I ask is because I see certain people vocalizing and acting on what they think is best based on their own perspective or agenda in some cases.

Does CASAA represent what the majority of vapers want?
Hard to say, as there are really a lot of issues tied up in this one big "vaping" issue.

There is SFATA, and AEMSA, and many other organizations.
But CASAA was born on this forum, and tries to represent the consumer interest as best they can.

I'm quite certain that not every vaper everywhere will agree with all of their "official" positions on every issue.
And as a vaper, if you find something you disagree with, it is in your interest to bring that to their attention and up for debate.

So join CASAA here...
Become a CASAA Member

And once you join, you can start attending the member meetings and voice your concerns.
That is a good way to make forward progress.

 

[AndriaD]

Andria you made great points. To lighten the tension I see building (not in YOU) - I'm using YOU 'cuz I know a bit about you.

You drivin' to the college tonight? Tomorrow maybe?

Senile But Good Intentioned Don

Umm.. what college? I think I'm missing something here. I don't drive at night in any case, bad case of night-blindness, but for something I really want to attend, there's always my chauffeur... um, I mean my husband.


Andria

 

[Jman8]

I have not read all 17 pages, but I will say this. It is never going to be enough just fighting legislation as it tries to get passed. If we want to win this, we have to do what we can at the polls. This means that EVERY election we look for candidates that either support or at least do not oppose vaping and do everything we can to help get them elected and make sure they know that is partially why they got elected. This will in turn make it easier to combat negative legislation as it arises.

Love the idea, but feel it is unlikely to work for me.

If they are pro vaping, but anti something else I care about, I will not vote for them. Plain and simple.

 

[EddardinWinter]

Here is a question and I ask it not to begrudge CASAA. Does CASAA represent what the majority of Vapors want or do they represent what key figures want or neither? Reason I ask is because I see certain people vocalizing and acting on what they think is best based on their own perspective or agenda in some cases.

That's a fair question. CASAA is a consumer advocacy group. They have positions that defend the rights of all vapers. They were created for the reasons stated eloquently by Berylanna and others.

Do they represent the majority of vapers? Yeah, I think so, but they do not tailor every position to what the majority thinks. They are far more responsive to their members than the majority of vapers, since that is whom they get the most feedback from. The more active in service to CASAA and vocal a member is, the more influence they will naturally have. The organization has changed a great deal since I joined it just about 16 months ago.

I hope this answers your question.

 

[kevinj6121]

"The war is not about the genie ( e-cigs, PVs ), it's about the bottle and who gets to command the genie for fame and fortune..."

You got that right, lol. Its all about the money

 

[kevinj6121]

i can compare this situation to something George carlin said, why is prostitution illegal, F*#king is legal, selling is legal, why is selling F##%king illegal. Why should it be illegal to sell something that is perfectly legal to give away. Just saying.

 

[Jman8]

CASAA does not allow anybody to say that CASAA is opposed to outdoor second-hand-smoke because some of the scientists in CASAA have serious questions about the validity of the science behind that and CASAA is making science the core of their program.

I could reread this sentence another 10 times and I think it'll continue to fascinate me on several levels.

 

[ScottP]

Love the idea, but feel it is unlikely to work for me.

If they are pro vaping, but anti something else I care about, I will not vote for them. Plain and simple.

Yeah everyone has to decide what is more important to themselves. However I will try to preserve all freedoms over banning something I might be against.

 

[Berylanna]

"The war is not about the genie ( e-cigs, PVs ), it's about the bottle and who gets to command the genie for fame and fortune..."

You got that right, lol. Its all about the money

If you were a member of my local Monday-Night-Sci-Fi Pizza group, that double pun would cost you 50 cents. They've raised over $10,000 charging 25 cents per pun.

 

[Berylanna]

I could reread this sentence another 10 times and I think it'll continue to fascinate me on several levels.

If you are an English teacher, I apologize.

I will not write run-on sentences, because run-on sentences are bad; they encourage futher run-on-sentences, which would run things too far along, and that, in essence, is evil-enough to sentence someone to writing a 1000-word run-on sentence 10 times as punishment........

 

[Vermonster13]

There are only survivors in war and things are always different after.

 

[AndriaD]

So, for instance, I know vapers who want to oppose outdoor second-hand-smoke. CASAA does not allow anybody to say that CASAA is opposed to outdoor second-hand-smoke because some of the scientists in CASAA have serious questions about the validity of the science behind that and CASAA is making science the core of their program.

I'm actually glad to hear both of these points; I've long thought that although INDOOR 2nd hand smoke is definitely a health risk, those who complain about it *outdoors* are just whining infants who want EVERYTHING their way, without any regard for anyone's rights but their own. And I'm equally glad to hear that someone is actually paying some attention to science, which seems to be taking quite a beating these days. Kudos to CASAA on both!

Andria

 

[kathi17]

These control freaks are the ones that need to be outlawed, locked up, given psych evals to find out why they're so damn ....!


Andria

You should use that for your signature Andria, I love it!

 

[AndriaD]

You should use that for your signature Andria, I love it!

ROFL!!... except I have no idea how to make a signature! I know it seems like I'm a bag of wind with an opinion on everything, but I just got here!

And it's only what I've been saying in my own head since I was about 14, starting with my own parents! Who are without a doubt the reason I hate control freaks so much!

Thx!
Andria