Great articles on 'The Rest of the Story' blog.

[AegisPrime]

The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary

Dr. Siegel is a Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health. He has 25 years of experience in the field of tobacco control. He previously spent two years working at the Office on Smoking and Health at CDC, where he conducted research on secondhand smoke and cigarette advertising.

Some quotes from Dr. Seigel's blog:

As 2013 draws to a close, I reflect on the lessons of the past year on The Rest of the Story. One of the most notable phenomena that has arisen this year is what appears to be the new mantra of tobacco control research, which I would describe as follows:

The purpose of tobacco control research is to demonstrate preconceived conclusions. If the research does not support those conclusions, make up some excuse or draw those conclusions anyway.

It is becoming impossible for me to keep track of all the tobacco control advocates (electronic cigarette opponents) who are publicly denying that vaping is any safer than smoking. This, of course, amounts to making a public statement that we are not sure smoking is any worse than using non-tobacco e-cigarettes. It is an absurd, and demonstrably false claim.

According to an article in the Portsmouth Herald, a New Hampshire pulmonologist is telling his patients, and the public, that cigarette smoking may not be any more dangerous than vaping.

In other news, a Massachusetts anti-smoking group has informed the public that cigarette smoking is not any more dangerous than vaping.

It has become clear that many electronic cigarette opponents in the tobacco control movement really don't care about the science. They have a pre-existing opposition to electronic cigarettes on ideological grounds. So the actual facts don't matter. The truth must not get in the way of the ideology.

Apparently, quitting smoking is not the goal. You have to quit smoking the right way. And that way happens to be an extremely ineffective method, one with a 90% failure rate. But it does provide income to many anti-smoking groups, through their funding by the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture these largely ineffective drugs.

 

[Uma]

In a nutshell.

 

[Stosh]

Science is no longer a search for factual information but only a mechanism to form a consensus opinion that supports your group's view and can provide funding.

 

[NorthOfAtlanta]

In other words the golden rule:

He who has the gold makes the rules.

Yeah BP, I'm looking at you.

 

[rothenbj]

I wish the good doctor could stand up and admit is own mistakes of the past, when he was part of the same culture that he now criticizes for their battle against e cigs. He still refuses to even discuss other smokeless alternatives that are at least 99% safer than smoking that were labeled, "not safe alternatives to smoking". Until the scientific community gets scientific and starts establishing and promoting risk profiles, we will always be facing propaganda generated for the benefit of their corporate masters.

 

[AegisPrime]

I wish the good doctor could stand up and admit is own mistakes of the past, when he was part of the same culture that he now criticizes for their battle against e cigs. He still refuses to even discuss other smokeless alternatives that are at least 99% safer than smoking that were labeled, "not safe alternatives to smoking". Until the scientific community gets scientific and starts establishing and promoting risk profiles, we will always be facing propaganda generated for the benefit of their corporate masters.

I'm not sure what past transgressions Dr. Siegel has made against THR (and I don't have time to look right now so if you have any links I'd be really interested!) but perhaps this is is way of addressing them (or not - again, I don't know the man).

Certainly e-cigs have brought as many unlikely champions to our side (Bill, Clive) as they have surprising opponents - and I suspect as the battle lines are draw even more clearly in the coming year, even more surprises (good and bad) await us.

This was an interesting exchange on Clive Bates blog:

You fail to realise that the whole anti smoking lobby, of which you were once part(and still are?), have never operated with humility or empathy for smokers. Blinded by the cause of a new smokefree world, their ideology rolled roughshod over smokers like the blitzkrieg. Even now, it has no empathy for old people, prisoners, hospital patients, psychiatric patients, pub owners, shop keepers or the 13 000000 smokers in the UK. It has put about lies and half-truths and dodgy science, guesstimates, and sweeping statements about smokers, smoking, Second Hand Smoke and even Third Hand Smoke to promote its cause. It has brainwashed and frightened a whole society and divided it into “lepers” and “healthy”. It is pushing to have the Government drip medical pornographic images and nocebo slogans on “plain” packaging into every smoker’s consciousness and into young minds especially – brain rape – that is abuse on those who see them. I have watched the rise of the new smokefree totalitarian world and the iron grip Tobacco Control has on it. Why do you think it would treat vapers any differently to smokers? They are about control, not health. Vaping is the new smoking. It must be stamped out!

I smoked for 50 years. The more persecutive legislation was passed against me, the more I was determined NEVER to give up smoking as a matter of principle. In 2011 I started vaping and have never smoked another cigarette. I constantly bang on in my blog that vapers should not scramble over smokers to get the recognition for vaping that we now need, because all the lobbying by anti smoking groups used to cause Government legislation against smokers, will be used against us.

Fair enough – I come at this from a public health harm reduction perspective, not a smokers’ rights perspective. They are different, but in the case of e-cigs, smokeless tobacco and any non-combustible tobacco, they are overlapping. The art of the great game is to find coalitions of the like-minded willing and work with them on what you can.

 

[Uma]

I love VapingPoint.