Big Tobacco Co - imo

[boatanchors66]

You know its pretty sad that the big tobacco company's are crying about loosing money when in fact Smoking is truly harmful to our Health, I've been a smoker for 30 + years but I've kicked the nasty tobacco habit and I am now a proud user of Electronic cigarette and e-liquid Products for over 2 year's now My wife an I both. The Tobacco company's worry about money more than they do about the Health and Wellness of People's Lives. If the Tobacco Co. had any heart what so ever they wouldn't be complaining to the FDA and the Government and all it's politician because they are loosing money because people are trying to improve there health and are quitting smoking there tobacco by switching to E-cigarettes. The Electronic cigarette Industry is all about helping people to improve there health and to get away from all the nasty chemicals that are in tobacco products. I sure don't see the Big Tobacco Company's listing all the Chemicals that go into there tobacco products on there cigarette Packs for the Consumer to see and honestly there isn't enough room on a cigarette pack let alone a carton of cigarette's to list all the chemicals that are in tobacco products. It's really very sad and rather frightening and disturbing that the all mighty Dollar is worth more to the Big Tobacco Company's than the lives of there fellow human beings. Instead of putting so much effort into trying to shut down the Electronic cigarette Industry why don't the Big Tobacco Company's put there Effort into making and selling E-Cigarette's and e-liquid's. Just my personal opinion and thoughts and I'm in no way trying to offend any one.

Sincerely
A Human Being
That Likes Living Longer

 

[LimJaheyyy]

Good thoughts there, pal. I started smoking when i was 17 and just quit after a year by switching to the vape. Glad to get my lungs back before BT took them forever. It is very sad BT is pushing this issue because a really good and manageable way to stop smoking has gotten popular. If vaping is pushed out of the market, i feel very bad for people who couldve quit smoking in the future. Just gonna take another clean, cancer free puff of mine and not worry about death.
Cheers

 

[boatanchors66]

Thanks LimJaheyy

 

[Big Me]

The reason they care more about money than the health of their customers is because they are a business. Simple as. They want to retain their customers for as long as possible but because 50% of their customers are liable to die of a smoking related disease they need to constantly bring in new customers.

Heck, they added substances to their products to produce a quicker "hit" and make them even more addictive.

And they will try to stop anything that threatens those profits. Hence them suing governments that try to bring in things such as plain packaging.

As for vaping - they missed the boat on that one so are now playing catch up. And one way for them to do that is making sure that any regulations that come in are in their favour and maximise their profits. Closed systems that can't be refilled that can only be used with their batteries are just one way they're going about it.

Another way is to encourage lots of regulation as they're one of the few that will be able to afford to comply with them.

 

[crxess]

All Good Businesses are in it for the Profit, nothing more.
Losing profit is losing business and vice-verse.

Government, backed by Big Tobacco is the evil. Government has the ability to remove Tobacco from market yet does nothing
Government has the ability to advance tobacco reduction but chooses to minimize reduction.

1965 42% of americans smoked - Population 194.3m Smokers = 81.60m
2006 20.8% Americans smoked - Population 298.4m smokers = 59.86m
2013 17.8% Americans smoked - Population 316.5m Smokers = 38.53m

2013 was a Boom year for Vaping across the nation.

While Government takes Credit, siting Percentages, Population growth shows actual numbers decreasing is much lower that one would expect.

Price increases to make up for sales loses and Tax increases to make up for lost Revenues have kept Government and Big tobacco in a Business as usual state.

Government would have a difficult to impossible time reigning in the e-cig industry and see it's potential share with so much Off Shore business.

Go with what you know is their order of business.

 

[LimJaheyyy]

Very interesting point there. Greedy.

 

[HawaiianVaporTrailz]

I've been tobacco free for close to a month now and am perplexed as to why the FDA is even considering an almost total ban on all e-cig related items. Or at the very least, to regulate and tax the living heck out of a multi-billion dollar (and multi-national) industry.

In the area I live in, there are literally dozens of vape shops, pumping money into the local economy, and ultimately, into the national economy. These small shops also provide an untold amount of jobs to people from all walks of life, from all ethnic backgrounds and beliefs. These people are all united under a single banner: vaping is a right and a privilege to be enjoyed by all. Period.

We all started vaping for various reasons: some wanted to quit tobacco products; some wanted to find out what vaping is all about. No matter what the reason is, it sounds almost unconstitutional for the FDA, prompted by the big tobacco companies, to even think about the harm they can/will do to the greater good.

All these small shops, virtually overnight, will be put out of business. All of their employees will be jobless.

We are still in the midst of the biggest recession since The Great Depression of the 1920's and 1930's. And the FDA wants to kill, or at the very least cripple, an industry that is doing it's fair share of helping the US dig itself out of this gaping financial hole.

And what of the others? People on the cusp of quitting tobacco products altogether will be forced to return to this deadliest of habits.

The Health Insurance Industry will be heavily burdened with millions of cases of lung cancer, heart disease and emphysema. Millions, nay, billions of dollars will be wasted treating these diseases. And for what?! Because the tobacco companies, in the face of ever increasing negative public scrutiny, is trying to shift blame away from themselves and make false accusations against the vaping industry, so that they can continue creating revenues for themselves! Sheer short-sighted idiocy! The FDA (and the various local, state and Federal entities) are, plainly and simply, being used by the various tobacco companies to further their own agenda!

I became a vaper to quit smoking, and everything has been going great. I enjoy vaping! I don't want to return to smoking, but in light of all that's going down, I may have no other choice. Commiting slow suicide.

I apologize for the long rant. I needed to have my feelings known.

 

[Sm0keydaBear]

The reason they care more about money than the health of their customers is because they are a business. Simple as. They want to retain their customers for as long as possible but because 50% of their customers are liable to die of a smoking related disease they need to constantly bring in new customers.

Heck, they added substances to their products to produce a quicker "hit" and make them even more addictive.

And they will try to stop anything that threatens those profits. Hence them suing governments that try to bring in things such as plain packaging.

As for vaping - they missed the boat on that one so are now playing catch up. And one way for them to do that is making sure that any regulations that come in are in their favour and maximise their profits. Closed systems that can't be refilled that can only be used with their batteries are just one way they're going about it.

Another way is to encourage lots of regulation as they're one of the few that will be able to afford to comply with them.

Well, the fact now is, if they want to keep their customers, they'll hear them out and do as they say and find a better way of smoking just like the rest of us. We all know smoking damages lungs and what not, and big businesses like the aforementioned Tobacco company, even though their facilities are mainly made for processing tobacco and making cigarettes, will need to switch to stay a business, and not become a thing of the past.

 

[LimJaheyyy]

Well, the fact now is, if they want to keep their customers, they'll hear them out and do as they say and find a better way of smoking just like the rest of us. We all know smoking damages lungs and what not, and big businesses like the aforementioned Tobacco company, even though their facilities are mainly made for processing tobacco and making cigarettes, will need to switch to stay a business, and not become a thing of the past.

I hope thats what happens, instead of bullying a safe alternative out the way to keep stuffing their pockets.

 

[Sm0keydaBear]

I hope thats what happens, instead of bullying a safe alternative out the way to keep stuffing their pockets.

Either way anyone looks at it, they should've known that this would happen eventually as everyone and their family has been searching for safer alternatives for forever. Smoking cigarettes was something I enjoyed doing, but it seems vaporizing is something I enjoy even more, as I haven't had an urge to smoke a cigarette in a while. However when it comes to big businesses that make a living off the stuff, it's going to be a given that in the event something like this happened, some of those businesses would buckle at the knees, where some businesses always had a plan B in mind. This isn't to say all the tobacco companies are bad, but the fact that they're rolling in dough while cigarette prices keep going up, tells the consumer a lot about where our money that we use to buy their products goes.

I mean I'm all for this conversation and can continue it for ages. The bottom line for me isn't the fact that big tobacco companies are rolling in dough, have all kinds of stuff and aren't doing research to improve their products to be healthier, or the fact that they can change prices on a whim without giving half a care about the consumer. The bottom line for me is cigarettes can be an addiction, and without anything restriction, it's a lot like alcohol where you feel the urge and you do it, but tobacco is more harmful because more people are affected by tobacco smoke than when one just drinks.

Vaporizing seems to have taken the effect of second hand smoke out of the equation and with great need. People like me who are going to keep smoking until they don't feel like smoking anymore, will continue to give off second-hand smoke if we keep smoking on analogs. Therefore since I don't like having to try to blow smoke away from people due to second-hand smoke potentially harming them, I switched to vaping and it has helped me quite a bit. On the other side of the equation, big tobacco isn't keeping their big bucks and sure, they've gotta be feeling the pinch here.

Should we find a resolution for big tobacco, or have they already bit off more than they can chew? I'm not knowledgeable in that aspect, but I'm quite sure that big tobacco is quite unhappy nowadays.

 

[Robino1]

We have many fronts we are currently fighting for a number of reasons. Bottom line for all of those reasons is the all powerful $$.

BT loses money as smokers quit smoking
BP loses money as those trying to quit smoking don't buy those products that have a very low success rate (patches, gum, pills)
BG loses money as people are no longer funding their over spending by not having to pay the sin tax on cigarettes.

BT = Big tobacco
BP = Big pharmacy
BG = Big government.

Yes many are losing money as smokers switch to vaping.

 

[papergoblin]

BT is crying because of money for sure. The people that aren't quitting by what ever means are dying. Can anyone think of any other business that has lost more customers to death than BT, the only one that comes to my mind were the Asbestos manufacturers. BT is a slaughter house that can't refill the stalls.

 

[Topwater Elvis]

This explains it well, it isn't just CA, 46 states are in the same position.


It isn't about your health or anything other than how to figure out a way to recover lost funds and continue to fund the tobacco MSA.
Since it is proving to be a difficult undertaking, eliminate competition (vaping) in hopes many return to smoking.

 

[Liskrig]

I recommend watching the Hollywood film "Thank You for Smoking"... I feel the script dialogue isn't too far off from what they actually talk about in board rooms by justifying deplorable actions/decisions by saying that it is all a choice.

I realize "Big Tobacco" as we know the names, are often part of an even bigger company, and that is the problem... They are a company. My Libertarian heart is conflicted because they are a business, and should be able to sell whatever they want, however they want, regardless of revenue or net worth, but I love people a lot more than free market and want everyone to live as long as possible. Not to mention the sickening amount of money they spend on lobbyists who make a career out of influencing politicians to vote in the companies favor, while the advocate for tobacco harm reduction gets pushed aside, and ignored because TAXES.

 

[papergoblin]

I recommend watching the Hollywood film "Thank You for Smoking"... I feel the script dialogue isn't too far off from what they actually talk about in board rooms by justifying deplorable actions/decisions by saying that it is all a choice.

I realize "Big Tobacco" as we know the names, are often part of an even bigger company, and that is the problem... They are a company. My Libertarian heart is conflicted because they are a business, and should be able to sell whatever they want, however they want, regardless of revenue or net worth, but I love people a lot more than free market and want everyone to live as long as possible. Not to mention the sickening amount of money they spend on lobbyists who make a career out of influencing politicians to vote in the companies favor, while the advocate for tobacco harm reduction gets pushed aside, and ignored because TAXES.

I loved that movie, it was hilarious and at least 90% true.

 

[bluecat]

All Good Businesses are in it for the Profit, nothing more.
Losing profit is losing business and vice-verse.

Government, backed by Big Tobacco is the evil. Government has the ability to remove Tobacco from market yet does nothing
Government has the ability to advance tobacco reduction but chooses to minimize reduction.

The tobacco bribes proved it.