Well said, quite true .. and I'll add that with the mass proliferation of liquid makers that are mostly mixing in the garage or basement, attempting to develop some sort of hot selling liquid without the benefit of any real chemistry knowledge, knowing full well that it's a low cost entry into a small business that possibly could make some money .. anyone that does not thing some sort of standard should be put in place has their head in the sand .. <snip>
SUMMARY OF MY POST: You're suggesting that we solve a problem that's purely hypothetical thus far, with a solution that's probably pure fantasy - based on vapers' experience with regulation in other industrialized Western countries.
The alleged problem (that hasn't been documented yet): harm from unregulated e-juice.
The alleged solution (probably pure fantasy, based on experience): sensible regulation that doesn't drive people back to smoking.
(Sorry, my post is a bit long, so I thought I'd summarize it.)
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So you can count me among those folks who has their head in the sand.
Because (as has been said), this is not a choice between good (sensible regulation) and bad (no regulation). If you genuinely believe that those are our alternatives ... then you might want to look in the mirror before you talk about where people's heads are.
We're faced with the lessar of two evils. One's hypothetical, and exists only in people's minds. But the other is likely: based on the experience of vapers in other countries.
I'm a whole lot more worried about the latter.
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There are 3M vapers in the US, and millions more world-wide. Not
one verifiable case of harm from improperly-mixed e-juice has yet been documented. Yet every time a discarded PV cartridge punctures a tire, we get a media story on it. I've seen at least two dozen stories in the last ten days alone about that stupid puppy in Britan who killed herself by chewing a nic cartridge ... and I expect to see these stories for the next ten months, if not longer.
Do you ever read my daily summaries on the media forum? I read hundreds of stories every week, and so I can tell you from experience that anything even remotely usable against vapers will not only hit the press, but it will be repeated over and over again,
ad nauseum - usually for years. We're
still reading about the bogus discredited FDA '09 study, four years later.
Doesn't matter whether it's true, or whether it's the "fear" or "concern" or "unknown" expressed by some allegedly responsible person with a name followed by the appropriate letters.
That's why I feel fairly confident that there hasn't been
one documented case or even a rumour involving someone getting ill from badly-made e-juice.
***
So that's evil #1: the one you want to avoid, and the one that (so far)
exists only in the heads of people who are champing at the bit to "regulate" e-juice.
You suggest that I have
my head in the sand, because I'm not worrying about something which has apparently never happened. That's your opinion, and you're entitled to it.
You seem to imply that we have an alternative: sensible regulation. Nothing could be further from the truth.
There isn't a single country on this planet that has sensible vaping regulations which cover either e-juice or PVs. (I'm okay with the simple minor sales bans, BTW: that's
not what we're discussing here.)
Let's talk about the second (and much more likely) undesireable outcome: one which absolutely
has ocurred in a number of countries, and which most certainly
can happen here - and if I had to bet, I'd say that it probably will.
In other words, since you're expressing your "fears, concerns and unknowns" (about something which has
never been known to happen) - which are the three words we hear repeated in 90% of the media stories ... let me tell you what my "fears, concerns and unknowns" are -
based on what has actually ocurred in other industrialized Western countries.
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After the regulators in the US and the EU get hold of the vaping industry, it's probably going to become treated like medicine, since the only public policy justification that they can see for vaping is as a cessation tool. There's plenty of evidence already that this is going to occur in both Britan and the EU as a whole.
That means they're going to tax it to high heaven - and require a prescription. To protect children, they'll ban interstate sales and importation (they're already trying to doing that). Eliminate all flavors (including perhaps even tobacco and menthol: already proposed as well).
Vaping will become about as appetizing and appealing as taking a pill - or using a prescription nic. inhaler, for that matter. After all, that makes sense, because the only justification for vaping in the eyes of regulators will be as "cessation therapy."
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At some point, people like me (who DIY) will no longer have supplies of nic. juice available. Our supplies of PVs will run out, because those will likely be banned, too (since we'll only be allowed to buy non-refillable cartridges).
So we won't even be able to chew nicorette and vape 0% - unless we make our own vaporizers. (Assuming, of course, that regulators don't require licenses to purchase PG, VG, and water-soluable flavors.)
That's no paranoid fantasy or hypothetical (unlike the nonextant ill that you cite).
What I'm talking about
is precisely how vaping is regulated in places like Sweden:
Electronic Cigarettes (except here in the states, I doubt they'll allow refillable 0% cartridges, in order to protext children).
What will happen then? Me, and millions of other vapers will go back to smoking tobacco.
And perhaps folks like you will be utterly delighted, because there will be zero chance of anyone suffering the unintended consequences of unregulated e-juice - even though it's never happened before, as far as we know.
***
Bottom line: you're pretending that we have a choice that doesn't exist. You seem to be suggesting that there will either be no regulation, or there will be sensible regulation. All the evidence arising from the pronouncements of our "authorities," as well as the experience in other countries, suggests that regulation will be beyond dreadful - and will likely drive people back towards smoking tobacco cigarettes.
All in the name of solving a problem that's known to be - at most - merely theoretical at this point, and which exists (if at all) in some people's heads.
Signed,
--An Ostrich who doesn't smoke anymore, but who will eventually have to start again once vaping becomes "regulated."
Well that pretty well sums it up huh? Thanks for the post, well said!
