I think the supplier said it best "the ban was a result of political pressure and the Government's inability to collect the tobacco tax from their sale." They acknowledged that people were using them to quit (Tobacco guy says "hey wtf here's some cash tell em stop"), then had a doctor quoting terrible effects of nicotine, then finished by saying that the "real" stop-smoking devices (which are just other nicotine delivery systems, yet the dangers of nicotine were quoted as the reason for the ban?) would not be affected (Pharmaceutical guy says "hey wtf make them stop so we can make something that does the same thing but can be patented [sales revenue/tax], prescribed [if you are the only one allowed to supply something you can set your own price, worth the start-up costs of a few bribes], and regulated [drug enforcement official says "hey people feeling good without harming anyone else? Bet I could make some cash off this by asking for additional funding to fight this new drug 'epidemic'"] I don't feel like closing my parenthesis..
Point is this is probably just step one of their attempt to cash in on this, and sadly will probably be mimicked by governments worldwide once it is recognized as a new market potential (valuable in both the political and corporate worlds). By making it look like a terrible health risk, they can then "save the day" by stopping it (helps to raise public trust in the government) and sling some cash opportunities to 3 of their deep pocketed campaign funders/"gift" givers, the pharms (who will make the "safe" version), tobacco (Who happens to have plenty of nicotine for sale when they make the meds), and the DEA (after all, who is going to make sure the new drug law is enforced?) It's a win-win for them, they make money, their financial supporters ("lobbyist groups") are happy because they make more money (and guess who's re-election campaign will get a nice check next election season), and they have "saved us from ourselves" yet again (this still gets big kudos from a large part of the population), and only ...... off a handful of people who have already been publicly mocked, insulted, and discredited with a handful of news reports showing a guy in a labcoat saying they are helpless addicts who are endangering the "normal" people. Oh and of course when the "real" ones come out the cost of all that bribery, extra staff needed to organize and distribute the new product, and increased DEA size/activity, will be passed down to the consumer (both directly and by taxing the hell out of it like they do with cigs). Steve and his fellow small business owners are out of business and the stock prices of the big corps go up, the cheers of the shareholders down out the sound of Steve crying himself to sleep in a gutter with a cig in his mouth because he lost his home and cant afford legal e-cigs. oh my god i am rambling like a stoned douche >.>
You can sit a person down, show them the device, tell them how it works, what it does, and how it doesn't contain the carcinogens or tar of tobacco and 99% of them will say "wow that's a great idea to help people live better," but make it a political issue and throw in a couple of biased news reports or speeches and no amount of logic or reason will ever completely undo the damage caused by a few word-of-mouth rumors from ill informed friends or political allies (you know, the guy who caught the last 20 seconds of the interview where labcoat man said "..nicotine OD including heart attack and death" and then goes to work and starts every convo with his new icebreaker line "did you hear about those new things from China people have been dying from? I think they called it an e-cig" and from there the misinformation spreads like wildfire, getting people worried and upset over this new threat to their communities without even a full explanation of what it is or does.
This turned out (like all my posts on this time-dissolving forum) a lot longer than originally planned, but that's my 2 cents. I am suddenly reminded of K from Men In Black when he said "A PERSON is smart. PEOPLE are dumb, stupid, panicky animals and you know it."
My heart goes out to you newfound criminals, may your eventual arrests and court battles go well, and remember, you have a much better chance if you get a lawyer and press charges on whatever organization you want to milk for making you resume tobacco smoking and forcing your child (borrow a cute baby from someone) to be exposed to it since they would have to disprove the negative effects of tobacco they have been complaining about, or admit that their decisions cause you to resume this terrible habit and injure your cute, innocent baby and then pay far out the .... Either this or wait till they come for you after seeing the ingredients for home made juice on your credit card bill, and then you have to defend your drug addiction and explain the safety benefits of the small unmarked vials of liquid that "everyone knows" are dangerous while dressed in a ratty, bright-orange jail outfit and a DEA agent and a bunch of men in suits scowling at you. But maybe ya'll can find a good arrangement and we can follow it. Good luck
