In explaining what just happened yesterday to another person (a non-vaper), I realized I am more upset than I am possibly conveying when I take the time to type out my thoughts. I also noticed that my talk on eCigs is no longer holding back with the 'maybe this' and 'maybe that' type language. IMO, that language can be set aside as wishy washy version of propaganda.
This does mean war. How that war looks remains to be seen. For now, knowing that today I could go to any vendor I went to a week, month or year ago and order the same things I did then, tells me the war is about where it was 5 years ago.
Now, we have indication that the war is being suggested by one side to deplete supply as much as humanly possible. And if I were opposed to eCigs, I would call that a great thing. How could you not?
I'll tell you how anyone sane and reasonable cannot call this a good thing. Demand would have to go way way down for it to be a great thing, plus not be substituted for something else. I would argue for literally anything else that is a physical substance, but that is where the philosophical aspect of the debate becomes the argument to be had. As long as the demand is there for either eCigs or a physical alternative, then all those people who wish to believe depletion of supply side is a great thing are either being short-sighted or idiotic.
Not only will this impact all adults going forward, there is no conceivable way that it will not impact the next generation after us, if demand remains even 15% of what it is now or higher. Add in the notion that propaganda / lies are being conveyed as 'scientific fact' and it compounds the issue exponentially. It's not like humanity has never been down this road before. We have and there are many other examples existing now but on topics that an eCig forum perhaps cares very little about.
Now, those who have demand/desire to use eCigs are essentially being told to take it underground, do it in secret. As that won't really impact demand, and will just give rise to a supply side that is underground, then the war that is coming is really going to be waged between the next generation of suppliers and anyone that stands opposed to them. As long as demand is there, the suppliers will be as well. Kill off (figurative speaking) 50% of the suppliers today and that vacuum will be filled faster than what I think most wish to acknowledge. It likely won't be known how fast it is filled, or by whom, because somehow we are all supposed to like the idea that it is being done underground, and that is deemed 'sanity.'
As noted countless times before, the genie is out of the bottle. Yes, this is horrible news for the legal market going forward, but if demand remains anywhere near what it is now (and I'd go as low as 15% of what it is now), then those that stand opposed are engaging in a battle they will inevitably lose. In the process, could be another 100 years for that process to play out, kids will be used as pawns in the war. They will be people who were naive at first about what's at stake and yet a 5 year old today could be a general 20 years from now on either side of this war.
Before, or even today, we stand a chance to reasonably impact how kids figure into the eCig market. With the direction the FDA has put forth, kids will be engaged in the underground market/battle and only a fool will try to convince others that kids are being shielded from the war. Like all things, kids will learn just how much adults are willing to lie, to their faces, about some aspect of authority and think that won't come back and bite them.
This means war, and unless this is your first day on earth, the reality is those who oppose eCigs have so overplayed their hand, they have now guaranteed their demise.
I rejoice in knowing that.