CASAA Editorial on Kentucky.com: "Non-profit fights to reduce harm rather than to prohibit tobacco"

[Placebo Effect]

Non-profit fights to reduce harm rather than to prohibit tobacco | Op-Ed | Kentucky.com

This was written by CASAA's secretary, Kristin Noll-Marsh, in response to a factually deficient editorial published last week on Kentucky.com.

Shortly after that article came out on Monday, a board member spoke to one of the authors, Dr. Ellen Hahn, and told her about the errors. He also inquired about her sources for the article, but was unable to get an answer. I e-mailed both authors and asked them for a simple e-mail recognizing that two claims made in their article were incorrect. I spoke to the second author, Carol Riker, who seemed to want to defer to Dr. Hahn. Dr. Hahn was unreachable during the second half of the week, and did not respond to my e-mail.

Atissue | May 9 column by Ellen Hahn and Carol A. Riker, "E-cigs must be tested, regulated for safety"



Contrary to the claims of Ellen Hahn and Carol Riker, the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association is not "closely affiliated" with any e-cigarette, tobacco or pharmaceutical industry associations. The Electronic Cigarette Association, which they mentioned, is a defunct group that has not even been active in quite some time.



CASAA is a non-profit, all-volunteer association of former smokers and smokeless alternative consumers. Its mission is solely to educate the public, media and legislative bodies about the benefits of tobacco-harm reduction for smokers who cannot or will not quit nicotine or tobacco use.


...

 

[JustJulie]

Woots! Nice job, Kristin and CASAA, in getting some good information on e-cigarettes in the popular press. Tweeted and Facebooked it.

I left my response:

Bravo, CASAA!

After smoking 2+ packs a day for 30+ years and trying every single government-approved smoking cessation product out there, I finally gave up on quitting. The constant quit/relapse/quit/relapse cycle left me feeling demoralized, depressed, and defeated. I picked up an e-cigarette in January 2009 in a desperate attempt to at least try to reduce what had then become an almost 3-pack-a-day habit. I wasn't trying to "quit"--I knew after years of trying, that wasn't going to happen. I was shocked that within days, I had completely replaced smoking with the use of e-cigarettes.

More than two years later, I remain smoke-free and have absolutely no desire to smoke. My lung capacity has improved, my nagging cough and breathlessness are but a distant memory, my sense of taste and smell have returned, and I feel better than I have in years.

The problem with so many of the "public health professionals" is they equate "quitting smoking" with "quitting nicotine." The truth, however, is that nicotine use in and of itself isn't much more risky than caffeine use. The problem isn't the nicotine . . . it's the inhalation of smoke that causes so many of the health problems associated with smoking. E-cigarettes, which produce no smoke, are inherently less dangerous than traditional cigarettes.

I am grateful to CASAA for sharing accurate and truthful information about e-cigarettes and other smokeless alternatives so that smokers can make informed decisions. I wish "public health professionals" like Hahn and Riker would understand the basic concept that in order to quit smoking, one does not necessarily have to quit using nicotine.

In the interests of full disclosure, I derive absolutely no income from e-cigarettes, tobacco, or pharmaceutical industries, either directly or indirectly. I am simply a woman who successfully replaced her 30+ year smoking habit with e-cigarettes nearly 2 1/2 years ago when nothing else worked.

 

[Vocalek]

If a smoke-free alternative has improved your health, and if you believe that you would still be smoking were it not for switching to this alternative, take a moment and briefly share your personal story as a comment to this article.

 

[Nicko]

I looked at the article and for some reason was unable to leave a comment. But thank you Kristin, that was beautifully written, as always. You stated the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth in a most eloquent way. My hope is that articles such as the one you were responding to, will soon be a thing of the past. I'm hoping that in the future, people who have told such despicable lies about e-cigs, will hang their heads in shame. People like that (who actually do know better but would never publicly admit it) are (in my opinion) guilty of intentional murder. They are basically telling smokers (even the ones who are desperate to quit) that it's safer to keep lighting up and inhaling smoke. Shame on them.

I would like them to experience the agony of lung cancer, just for a day, so they could really know the harm they are inflicting on people.

I would also wish they could experience a day, maybe a week, of severe nicotine withdrawal. You know, that desperate, hopeless feeling, that fear of never being able to function normally again, a constant craving for something we just know will make us feel better. Then they would know what we are talking about.

During their intolerable withdrawal and craving for nicotine, I would ask them to apply an NRT patch or give them a lozenge and then ask them -"Feeling better now?"

These are the same types of people who demanded RIP to be on cigarette paper.
Will they (the liars) rest in peace when they die? I doubt it.

 

[kristin]

Woot! lol!

 

[fjames]

Saw it in the Herald Leader today - Kristin from Wisconsin, who I know from a web forum, shows up in my local paper. The power of ecigs

 

[Placebo Effect]

Saw it in the Herald Leader today - Kristin from Wisconsin, who I know from a web forum, shows up in my local paper. The power of ecigs

Awesome. Any chance you could get a copy and scan / take a photo of it, as well as the front page?

 

[fjames]

Awesome. Any chance you could get a copy and scan / take a photo of it, as well as the front page?

Hmm, apparently kentucky.com and the HL are the same thing - I didn't know what Ky.com was before. Don't have a scanner anyhow ...

 

[River]

"A recent study by the University of Kentucky revealed that 34 percent of college students nationally have used Adderall recreationally, and an estimated 75 percent know someone who takes Adderall without a prescription. A second study by the University of Kentucky, which was covered in an April 2010 “60 Minutes” report, found that 60 percent of juniors and seniors “could be said to have used” Adderall, or drugs like it, without a prescription."

The Adderall Epidemic « The Study Drug

yep, they should be worried about e cigs there at UK shouldn't they?

thank goodness the spotlight has been focused on them right?