That's the problem. BT is the biggest single enemy of e-cigs. Worse than BP, the gov't or the anti-nicotine brigade.
People who think that Lorillard's purchase of Blu will somehow benefit the industry are incredibly naive. BT will push regulations so that only the biggest, most heavily capitalized companies will be able to comply. They'll advocate for tax parity between cigarettes and e-cigs. Lorillard would love nothing better than regulations that required all e-cigs to have the same form factor as the Blu. They'd be tickled pink if laws were passed to require sealed, tamper-proof cartridges in regular and menthol only, and sales only in B&M stores already licensed to sell
tobacco.
Vapers don't have the product loyalty that will allow Lorillard, or any other
tobacco company, to expect 30-40 years of revenue from a single person. Every pack of Blu that Lorillard sells is another person who won't be buying Newports, or Blu either, for the next 30 years. To the extent BT gets into e-cigs, it's purely an act of desperation and they'll use every bit of their political clout and influence on regulatory agencies to keep e-cigs from replacing cigarettes
