Hi all,
I've been a lurker here for a couple of years, but signed up as a new member today, mainly because I am interested in joining all efforts to try to sway public opinion in our direction. E-cigs have really changed my life for the better, and I don't want them taken away.
Below, I've cut and pasted a long letter I email to the NYC Health Committee members. (New here, so I hope this is the right way to post something like this.)
Dear New York City Council Health Committee members:
I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed e-cigarette regulation ordinance.
In all likelihood, everyone who regularly uses personal vaporizers (a term I prefer to "e-cigarettes") is a former smoker.
I stopped smoking tobacco cigarettes in September of 2012 over a year ago by switching to personal vaporizers. This is the longest I have ever quit since I first began smoking at the age of 15, some 30 years ago.
I have tried nicotine gum, patches, Chantix, and plain cold turkey. None of those quits were successful for long. The gum causes mouth ulcers, stomach upset, and jaw pain. The patch was ineffective for me, and I always felt "wired" using it. Chantix did not lessen my desire to smoke, but did make me feel severely depressed (a common side effect). Sooner or later, every time, I eventually became tempted to smoke "just one" cigarette.
That has not been true with vaporizers. I have not smoked one tobacco cigarette, nor have I been tempted to, once I made the complete switch to vaporizers.
My wife is incredibly happy that I switched to vaporizers. She has allergies and slight asthma and has always hated that I smoked. It was a source of great conflict between us. But she doesn't care at all about the vaporizers she says she doesn't even notice that I am using them.
From my standpoint, I began feeling the difference in my health within a few weeks. I no longer got winded walking up stairs. I didn't feel tired all the time. I stopped snoring when I slept. I felt so much better, I began going to the gym. I regularly go on six mile runs.
When I told my doctor that I had quit tobacco and switch to "e-cigarettes," she said "Fantastic!" She told me that she had many patients who had done the same.
For me and many other former smokers like me the "e-cigarette" has been a godsend. I am so happy that this device was invented. It has changed my life and probably saved my life, too. I am thrilled not to be smoking tobacco anymore.
The people who take up personal vaporizers are people like me, who have been unable to quit smoking despite the high prices of cigarettes, the bans on smoking in public places, and the obvious and dreadful impact on personal health. In spite of all of that, we continued to smoke. The "e-cigarette" changed everything for many of us.
By the way, I do not use the "tobacco" or "menthol" flavors that are available. I do not want to taste anything like tobacco. I regularly use other flavors: mango, cherry, coffee, and chocolate. If you take a look at the most significant "e-cigarette" forum (http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com) you will find that most users of personal vaporizers do not like to use tobacco or menthol flavors. I say this because I have heard the argument that the "flavors" are intended to appeal to children. This is not true. The flavors have been developed because ex-smokers like me prefer them to the flavor of "tobacco" (which is also artificial, in any case).
Indeed, I wish all members of the Health Committee would some time to look through posts on the forum I linked to above. You will see how many lives this device has changed; you will also see that everyone who uses them is a former smoker who was unable to quit.
Another fantastic thing about personal vaporizers is that they are easy to titrate. The cartridges for the brand I use come in various levels of nicotine including zero. Over the course of the year I have lowered my nicotine level dramatically, and I have begun occasionally using the zero milligram cartridges. Over time, I intend to stop using them altogether but not until I am ready. I do not ever want to be tempted by real tobacco cigarettes.
I am aware there are many unknowns about personal vaporizers at this time. I welcome public investigation of these unknowns. But I strongly feel that equating them with actual tobacco cigarettes has no basis in reality. They are not burning sticks of tobacco leaves. They should not be lumped together with tobacco because they are not tobacco.
The regulations that the Health Committee is currently considering will hurt people. It will powerfully discourage hardcore smokers smokers like I was from trying e-cigarettes and switching to them. (And it may encourage many current users of personal vaporizers to go back to actual cigarettes, since they will be sent out into the cold to join the actual smokers.) I think it is perfectly reasonable to say that these regulations, if passed, will almost certainly result in more smokers dying. Passing this legislation may even harm the health of non-smokers who live with smokers because they will continue to be exposed to second hand smoke.
If you truly care about the health of New Yorkers, you will not pass these regulations. It is a matter of harm reduction.
By the way, I urge all of you to read Joe Nocera's column in the New York Times this week in which he makes some powerful arguments against this proposed legislation:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/07/opinion/two-cheers-for-e-cigarettes.html
Sincerely,
I've been a lurker here for a couple of years, but signed up as a new member today, mainly because I am interested in joining all efforts to try to sway public opinion in our direction. E-cigs have really changed my life for the better, and I don't want them taken away.
Below, I've cut and pasted a long letter I email to the NYC Health Committee members. (New here, so I hope this is the right way to post something like this.)
Dear New York City Council Health Committee members:
I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed e-cigarette regulation ordinance.
In all likelihood, everyone who regularly uses personal vaporizers (a term I prefer to "e-cigarettes") is a former smoker.
I stopped smoking tobacco cigarettes in September of 2012 over a year ago by switching to personal vaporizers. This is the longest I have ever quit since I first began smoking at the age of 15, some 30 years ago.
I have tried nicotine gum, patches, Chantix, and plain cold turkey. None of those quits were successful for long. The gum causes mouth ulcers, stomach upset, and jaw pain. The patch was ineffective for me, and I always felt "wired" using it. Chantix did not lessen my desire to smoke, but did make me feel severely depressed (a common side effect). Sooner or later, every time, I eventually became tempted to smoke "just one" cigarette.
That has not been true with vaporizers. I have not smoked one tobacco cigarette, nor have I been tempted to, once I made the complete switch to vaporizers.
My wife is incredibly happy that I switched to vaporizers. She has allergies and slight asthma and has always hated that I smoked. It was a source of great conflict between us. But she doesn't care at all about the vaporizers she says she doesn't even notice that I am using them.
From my standpoint, I began feeling the difference in my health within a few weeks. I no longer got winded walking up stairs. I didn't feel tired all the time. I stopped snoring when I slept. I felt so much better, I began going to the gym. I regularly go on six mile runs.
When I told my doctor that I had quit tobacco and switch to "e-cigarettes," she said "Fantastic!" She told me that she had many patients who had done the same.
For me and many other former smokers like me the "e-cigarette" has been a godsend. I am so happy that this device was invented. It has changed my life and probably saved my life, too. I am thrilled not to be smoking tobacco anymore.
The people who take up personal vaporizers are people like me, who have been unable to quit smoking despite the high prices of cigarettes, the bans on smoking in public places, and the obvious and dreadful impact on personal health. In spite of all of that, we continued to smoke. The "e-cigarette" changed everything for many of us.
By the way, I do not use the "tobacco" or "menthol" flavors that are available. I do not want to taste anything like tobacco. I regularly use other flavors: mango, cherry, coffee, and chocolate. If you take a look at the most significant "e-cigarette" forum (http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com) you will find that most users of personal vaporizers do not like to use tobacco or menthol flavors. I say this because I have heard the argument that the "flavors" are intended to appeal to children. This is not true. The flavors have been developed because ex-smokers like me prefer them to the flavor of "tobacco" (which is also artificial, in any case).
Indeed, I wish all members of the Health Committee would some time to look through posts on the forum I linked to above. You will see how many lives this device has changed; you will also see that everyone who uses them is a former smoker who was unable to quit.
Another fantastic thing about personal vaporizers is that they are easy to titrate. The cartridges for the brand I use come in various levels of nicotine including zero. Over the course of the year I have lowered my nicotine level dramatically, and I have begun occasionally using the zero milligram cartridges. Over time, I intend to stop using them altogether but not until I am ready. I do not ever want to be tempted by real tobacco cigarettes.
I am aware there are many unknowns about personal vaporizers at this time. I welcome public investigation of these unknowns. But I strongly feel that equating them with actual tobacco cigarettes has no basis in reality. They are not burning sticks of tobacco leaves. They should not be lumped together with tobacco because they are not tobacco.
The regulations that the Health Committee is currently considering will hurt people. It will powerfully discourage hardcore smokers smokers like I was from trying e-cigarettes and switching to them. (And it may encourage many current users of personal vaporizers to go back to actual cigarettes, since they will be sent out into the cold to join the actual smokers.) I think it is perfectly reasonable to say that these regulations, if passed, will almost certainly result in more smokers dying. Passing this legislation may even harm the health of non-smokers who live with smokers because they will continue to be exposed to second hand smoke.
If you truly care about the health of New Yorkers, you will not pass these regulations. It is a matter of harm reduction.
By the way, I urge all of you to read Joe Nocera's column in the New York Times this week in which he makes some powerful arguments against this proposed legislation:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/07/opinion/two-cheers-for-e-cigarettes.html
Sincerely,
