CALLING ON THE VAPING COMMUNITY TO CONTACT PRESIDENT TRUMP

[Baditude]

The best strategy according Demetris and PBusardo is to hire a professional PR company to combat the false information that the news media and anti-vaping crowd has been churning out every day/nite on TV and social media. That will take a LOT of money (millions according to D & P). The US vaping industry doesn't have that type of money, but the big manufacturers in China do. China manufacturers will be affected by this if the US vaping industry fails, because it will fail if a flavor ban is successful.



Trump is the key person in all of this. He's the one who will make the final call by using his John Hancock, and he's been known to go against the grain of "The Swamp" in Washington. He is basically only interested in satisfying his voter base. All vapers need to personally contact Trump via the White House and tell him, as a voter, that if he is going to get your vote in 2020 he needs to NOT go forward with a flavor ban. Regardless of how you feel about Trump, or whether you'll actually vote for him when the time comes, this must be done and would take each of us only about 5 - 10 minutes of our time.

_________________________

Contact the White House | The White House

WHITE HOUSE: Comment line 202-456-1111 | Switch board 202-456-1414 (the switch board is the best approach as it will put you on hold and give you a chance to speak)
_________________________

Trump probably doesn't have a clue about vaping. He doesn't understand how important the use of flavored e-liquid is to the success to stop smoking. Having only "tobacco flavors" to choose from just won't cut it for the majority of vapers.

What he must understand is that a flavor ban will likely destroy the vaping industry in the US. Vape shops will not be able remain viable and will close - a loss of thousands of jobs and small businesses. This will affect his "sterling" numbers of the lowest unemployment in recent memory. There has to be at least 10,000 potential voters who have something to do with the vaping community (probably more), about the number of votes that gave him the presidency. He's not going to want to lose that many votes in the next election.

A flavor ban will result in creating its own Black Market. Many vapers will resort to making their own flavored e-liquid. How did that work out for the homemade black market THC vials that killed 6 people and put over 400 people in intensive care?

Smokers looking to quit smoking will no longer have vape shops or US based online vendors to purchase e-cigarettes. Many vapers will return to smoking, which will increase the 400,000 smokers who died last year.

Please tale a few minutes of your time to contact President Trump.

 

[ej1024]

GOODLUCK....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Horselady154]

I called my 2 senators, my representative and the White House switchboard. Now is not the time for people to be complacent or lazy. It only takes a few minutes. Just do it, please.

 

[bnrkwest]

Never been a fan of trump, but those that are Go for it!

 

[Baditude]

Never been a fan of trump, but those that are Go for it!

Regarless of your feelings about Trump, contact him about your feelings about the flavor ban. IMHO its the best strategy to fight this. You don't have to vote for him, but at least tell him that his decision will be a factor in your choice when you vote.

While you're at it, contact your congressmen, too. Future votes and campaign money is what catches their attention.

 

[Eskie]

I sat on hold for 30 minutes this morning. They are either awfully busy or woefully understaffed (press 1 for comments, same one of you want to tour the white house).

There are estimated 35,000 vape shops in the US. So maybe 5 employees each? ( covering open hours and all). So 150,000 unemployed? Not sure it will matter as our economy is "booming" and adding that at least many jobs every month, so all those laid off employees should be able to find other work in no time.

And 35,000 new business bankruptcies? Well, maybe Trump can offer free seminars in how to make money and not owe taxes for years thanks to it.

So where's the downside?

The only thing that will count? Votes. And while there aren't a ton of vapers there might just be enough in key districts to change an election outcome if they're willing to be single issue voters.

 

[Baditude]

I sat on hold for 30 minutes this morning. They are either awfully busy or woefully understaffed (press 1 for comments, same one of you want to tour the white house).

The only thing that will count? Votes. And while there aren't a ton of vapers there might just be enough in key districts to change an election outcome if they're willing to be single issue voters.

I suggest keep trying to call and get through to contact a real human being.

You could also contact him electronically with the link I provided above. If you're on Twitter, you can voice your opinion there, too. I'm not on Twitter; is it @therealDonaldTrump?

 

[oxygen thief]

Took me 4 minutes to get through. We need to be heard no matter how long it takes.

 

[bnrkwest]

Regarless of your feelings about Trump, contact him about your feelings about the flavor ban. IMHO its the best strategy to fight this. You don't have to vote for him, but at least tell him that his decision will be a factor in your choice when you vote.

I end up on a rant I'm afraid- like rolling back clean water and clean air regs to poison us but clamping down on flavors? Allowing mining & pollution and cutting down trees (our lungs) in national parks but banning flavors? Killing endangered species for fun but banning flavors? Ignoring dangers of poisoned water in Flint but banning flavors? I really hate the guy for so many reasons, I think my head would explode if I called the WH. I really can't stand him

 

[oxygen thief]

Been tweeting like crazy. Anyone that's spreading bs will hear from me.

 

[VapingWithVic]

That will take a LOT of money (millions according to D & P). The US vaping industry doesn't have that type of money

Liquid manufacturers buying yaughts, lambo's, ferrari's, mansions...

Hate to break it to you, but the vape industry for the United States is in the billions of dollars in turnover.

Here are the cold hard facts, brought to you from a reviewer in a country that did advocacy right.

The United States, for consecutive years, over and over again, pushed and called for the "community" to do the advocating, failure no.1.

The United States, for consecutive years, over and over again, pushed for reviewers to be the forefront of advocacy, failure no.2.

The United States, for consecutive years, turned a blind eye to e-liquid companies, wholesalers, vendors and some manufacturers raking in millions of USD per tax year...who not once...EVER...donated or supported advocacy, failure no.3.

The United States, for consecutive years, over and over again, beat the "community" over the head with the advocacy stick. Advocacy group after advocacy group, popping up over and over again, begging for money...and where did it all go? Failure no.4.

Now...myself and a few other in the UK have been warning about this for the past three years. We got laughed at, even after the successes of the New Nicotine Alliance, we still got laughed at.

Then the "think of the children" groups formed on Twitter. US vaping had no industry led trade group backing up the industry. Instead it was the consumers that had to advocate. The "community" that people speak of, on twitter, facebook, youtube, and forums, represent a small fraction of the 9 to 10 million US vapers.

From 2015, the emphasis in the US should have been building a trade group, or a single advocacy entity with the backing of those same US distros, wholesalers, businesses and manufacturers along with e-liquid companies who, together, constitute a multi-billion (not million) dollar industry. Instead, the opportunity was wasted. US advocacy was led down the wrong path, by clueless US community "leaders" who thought they knew better than everyone else, I warned about it, and many from the UK and the EU has warned about it.

We tried to warn these people about the wrong direction they took with advocacy...we got laughed at.

All I can say it, you are now reaping the harvest of 4 years of ill-informed, mismanaged, and badly thought out advocacy.

A PR firm won't do jack all. The United States needs the heavy hitters in the industry itself, the money makers, the big industry based named to group together into one single trade group entity and meet the lobbyists head on. The cold hard fact is this...without the industry itself backing up advocacy...NOTHING will work. What happened yesterday proved that, because if a trade group with billions in collective turn over had managed to lobby the Presidents advisors, Trumps speech last night, Melania's tweet the night before, and bloombergs $160,000,000 anti vaping fund would have been forgotten about, or not happened at all.

As long as the vaping industry itself in the US remains silent, it will be run rough-shod over by every single anti vaping twitter group, lobbyist, and media mogul...

 

[zoiDman]

The best strategy according Demetris and PBusardo is to hire a professional PR company to combat the false information that the news media and anti-vaping crowd has been churning out every day/nite on TV and social media. That will take a LOT of money (millions according to D & P). The US vaping industry doesn't have that type of money, but the big manufacturers in China do. China manufacturers will be affected by this if the US vaping industry fails, because it will fail if a flavor ban is successful.

...

Getting OEM's to pour a Bunch of Money into a PR Campaign at this point is Mis-Guided at best. Because all that will come out of it is the Headlines of OEM's spending Money to Promote their Products for Monetary Gain.

That, and some AD Agency will get a Big Fat Payday.

A Better Method would have been to attract Respected MD's/Medical Researchers and have them Express their Views that using Nicotine Base e-Cigarettes is Viable Harm Reduction over Smoking for Millions of Americans.

And to Counter the Mis-Leading PATH Study Figures on Teen Use that are being used as the Foundational Basis for the Current Hysteria that has been fanned by the Media.

But that Also is going to be Late in the coming. Contacting the White House and one's State and Federal Reps is to me about the Only Thing that is Viable.

Because the FDA's path regarding Flavors may be set. But the Battle has Not Ended on the State/Local Level. Or with the Push Back that is going to occur from Federal House/Senators in the coming PMTA Process.

 

[sailorman]

Good luck but I'm afraid it's futile at this point.
I haven't seen hysteria like this since Len Bias died.
Melania is also behind this ban. Isn't anyone thinking of the children!!!
The utter stupidity of this move would be impossible to explain in one page with 9 bullet points, so it's not like Trump has done any research on this. He's working off raw emotion, political considerations and hysteric moms. As with most things, the best strategy to influence trump is to be the last person to speak to him about it.

The real culprits are the FDA and, now, the CDC. The FDA intended to impose this ban anyway. All Trump did was accelerate it. But regardless of what Trump thinks of the logic behind this ban, there are at least some people at those institutions that know blaming commercially produced ecigs, like Juul, for this outbreak makes zero sense in epidemiological terms. These medical cases are nothing more than a pretense for the FDA to put a stake in the heart of the vaping industry so it's totally unrealistic to expect Trump to champion vaping against the wishes of Pharma, Melania and a zillion suburban moms who are already a pretty weak demographic for Trump.

If anyone was truly interested in protecting children, they'd just ban flavored pre-filled pods or take any of a million other measures designed to prevent kids from getting stuff. It's not like we've never done this before.
No, I fear the swamp is swampier than ever.
Time to stock up on nicotine, vaping's real Achilles heel.

 

[Horselady154]

I like Dimitri. He's so right about a PR firm.

 

[Horselady154]

If people are on Twitter, you can get to Trump directly on there.

 

[Baditude]

Getting OEM's to pure a Bunch of Money into a PR Campaign at this point is Mis-Guided at best. Because all that will come out of it is the Headlines of OEM's spending Money to Promote their Products for Monetary Gain.

Isn't this exactly what Big Tobacco and Big Pharma does by hiring top notch lobbyists?

A Better Method would have been to attract Respected MD's/Medical Researchers and have them Express their Views that using Nicotine Base e-Cigarettes is Viable Harm Reduction over Smoking for Millions of Americans.

This is what the UK medical community did, and that seems to have been successful. Similar information could be included in the PR campaign that Pbusardo and Demitris were talking about.

The effect of e-cigarette aerosol emissions on respiratory health: a narrative review. - PubMed - NCBI

Contacting the White House and one's State and Federal Reps is to me about the Only Thing that is Viable.

That's why I created a thread urging ECF members to contact Trump.

 

[ScottP]

Calling the White House is pointless. His lackeys will filter everything and he will not get any messages. If you want Trump to hear you, you MUST use Twitter, follow him and create a clever attention grabbing hashtag. This is how you directly get his attention. While I hate how he uses twitter, his use does make him the most accessible President in history.

Some possible suggestions:
#TrumpKillsVapers
#TrumpFlavorBanKills
#VapingDeathsNOTFromVaping - this one used to discuss the real reason for the deaths.

 

[Horselady154]

Good luck but I'm afraid it's futile at this point.

Does that mean you don't have 5 minutes to at least call the White House switchboard?

 

[Horselady154]

Calling the White House is pointless. His lackeys will filter everything and he will not get any messages. If you want Trump to hear you, you MUST use Twitter, follow him and create a clever attention grabbing hashtag. This is how you directly get his attention. While I hate how he uses twitter, his use does make him the most accessible President in history.

Some possible suggestions:
#TrumpKillsVapers
#TrumpFlavorBanKills
#VapingDeathsNOTFromVaping - this one used to discuss the real reason for the deaths.

How about doing BOTH?

 

[Eskie]

Been tweeting like crazy. Anyone that's spreading bs will hear from me.

I've posted two tweets at Trump already, and I never ever tweet (those were my first two). #VapeBan is a top trending tag (it's called a tag, right? shows how much I use Twitter) today. Also #ivapeivote. A little noise that won't do much but why not.

@Baditude I finally got through, left my little message headed towards the circular file.

I sent the following to Sen. Durbin yesterday before this morning's emails to contact the White House. It was in response to his CNN opinion piece. Here's the whole thing, but as you all know, I tend to post and write too long as it is.


"Dear Senator Durbin,


I read your opinion piece on CNN.com concerning your position on vaping, flavorings, and the current rash of illnesses that are vape related. While I am not an IL resident, I felt there were a few personal observations I would like to express to you on this important health topic.


First, I was touched by your description at standing by the bedside of your father who died from lung cancer caused by a 2 pack a day history of smoking Camel cigarettes. The tobacco companies repeatedly lied and misrepresented their products to the American, and even world public regarding the hazards of smoking. I do not trust anything Big Tobacco (or BT) states to this day. I also agree that underage use of "e cigarettes", or ENDS (by FDA definitions) is a significant problem and must be addressed.


The use of Juul pods, e cigarettes, or ENDS is illegal under the age of 18 or 21 by state law across the nation. A bill in Congress to change federal laws to a standard 21, the same as drinking alcohol. I support this. The enforcement of these laws is important, both for tobacco cigarettes, e cigarettes and alcohol. According to statistics from the National Institute of Health, there were related underage deaths, there were at last report over 4,000 underage deaths attributable to alcohol. Roughly 1,500 were from automobile accidents, 1,300 from homicides, and 250 from alcohol poisoning and approximately 450 by suicide in which alcohol was a factor. More underage American continue to use alcohol at higher rates than smoking or marijuana. We have penalties for sales to minors, yet they still gain access.


We have had a terrible outbreak of lung failure in now some odd 400 people, with a third requiring intensive care treatment for respiratory failure. There have been 7 deaths to date. Three of those were in adults aged 40-60, the remainder in underage minors. These have all occurred in the last several months, and represents a pattern never before seen in the 10-15 year period e cigarettes have been available in one form or another.


These cases appear to be related to the introduction of a Vitamin E acetate "thickener" for use in cartridges containing THC, the primary active ingredient of marijuana. This product is illegal under Federal law and remains so for recreational use in most states. This agent is never used in the preparation of nicotine based e liquids, where "thickeners" are inappropriate. This is a law enforcement problem for both local and federal authorities, with the recent raid by the DEA on one such cartridge producer and the arrest of several individuals involved in the production of $15,000 a day of "black market" cartridges. This THC cartridge related lung disorder (generally diagnosed as lipoid pneumonia) has nothing to do with e cigarette use or flavorings.


Flavorings have been shown time and again to appeal to adult cigarette smokers who wish to transition off of cigarettes to a product of known reduced harm. In July of this year, an article in the New England Journal of Medicine demonstrated smoking cessation rates were twice that achieved by traditional NRT (nicotine patches or gums) or pharmaceutical medicines such as Chantix, one of only 2 such approved drugs by the FDA. I know that to be true from personal experience after a 35 pack year history of smoking Marlboro cigarettes. I tried the traditional methods to stop such as NRT, medications, even acupuncture and hypnosis, all without success. When I tried an ENDS product about 4 1/2 years ago I found myself able to sotp smoking entirely in 3 days. I have not had a cigarette since.


Should my only option have been tobacco flavoring, I doubt I would have been successful s it would have simply reinforced my desire for tobacco (which happens to taste better in a cigarette than any e liquid for vaping). Yet we sit here now demanding the ban of flavors to reduce teen appeal. I remind you that flavorings have nothing to do with the current illnesses caused by adulterated, illegal, THC marijuana derived cartridges. To state "vaping" is at fault is as logical as making strawberry daiquiris with E. Coli contaminated strawberries and blaming the blender as the cause of the outbreak.


I would strongly encourage you to reconsider this ill advised plan which will not reduce underage vaping as secondary black markets are bound to develop. Enforcement of current laws, with involvement of local law enforcement of underage vaping laws is required. Underage smoking regularly occurs, and I have never once seen a teen issued for smoking an illegal cigarette receive a summons which their parents would be responsible for. Or a teen vaping for that matter. Retail outlets that sell to minors should be heavily fined and even have their licenses to operate revoked if there are multiple instances. These are most frequently gas stations and convenience stores, many of which sell beer and fortified liquors, and are the most common place alcohol diversion to underage users occur. The FDA conducted "sting operations" with underage minors sent in to complete purchases. Dedicated vape shops almost universally rejected those individuals on entering the establishment. The same was not found with the 7 Eleven's of this country. Using current and expanding enforcement of existing law is needed to reduce underage access and use, not a simple reflexive flavorings ban without truly understanding the problem.


I would ask you to consider the ramifications of your political actions. Banning flavorings in nicotine e juice will lead to many like myself likely returning to cigarette use. I have great admiration for those able to stop "cold turkey" or use other methods successfully. The hundreds of thousands of other vapers who stopped smoking are facing the same grim prospects. Should this come to pass, it may well be my daughter standing at my bedside watching as I die from a smoking related illness as you did with your father.

Surely solutions based on sound science need to be found and implemented. The UK's PHE and NHS both recognize the risk reduction that occurs transitioning smokers to vaping. The NHS has even recently opened vape shops in the lobbies of two hospitals to attempt to increase quit rates among their smoking patients. Perhaps it's time to take a step back and gather scientific facts before making such life altering decisions. Our Federal government is already the most science "unfriendly" it has ever been, with denial of obvious evidence from the true existence of climate change, down to even redrawing hurricane maps and threatening the scientific meteorologists with firings and gags on public statements all because of dogmatic belief rather than reliance of fact.


Thank you for your attention,"

Doubt I'll get a response.