My E-cig Rant - thanks for listening

[Ruby_Red_Shoes]

The following is correspondence that I will be sending off to the elected officials who 'work' in my geographical area -

I am getting rather sick and tired of all these so-called ‘public health advocates’ who think they have the right and obligation to stick their nose into the entire public’s business to dictate the what, why and how of the population is to live their lives. The latest assault on the e-cigarette market is another example of the intrusion of a certain ‘we know what is best for you and we’re going to cram it down your throats’ mentality into the lives of the citizens of this country. The anti-smoking fascists in America have fairly well won the round when it comes to blotting out cigarette smoking anywhere except in the privacy of one’s own home. If these ASF’s thought they had the chance, they’d attempt to eradicate it there as well. So be it, round one to them, but I will not stand by silently while the assault now turns to vaping.


One of the primary motivators for the ASF’s – and I use the term literally since the world’s first dedicated anti-smoking campaign originated in Nazi Germany – was the CDC’s well-researched studies on the dangers of ‘second-hand’ smoke (Proctor, 1996) (Koop, 1982). I am in complete agreement with the material published on this topic with regards to ‘smoke;’ vapor, however, is NOT smoke. With regards to the nicotine, should we outlaw the ingestion of potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers which, according to the CDC, also contain nicotine? Huh – let’s see the agricultural lobby fight that one! This whole scenario is sounding so very familiar – The Volstead Act was such a smashing success so let’s try it again, but of course we must choose a different substance that also indirectly causes a release of dopamine in the brain regions that control pleasure and motivation, a process involved in the development of addiction (Biomonitoring, n.d., para. 5). Of course, in the case of alcohol and many other drugs such as ......., morphine, and ...... et cetera the cause is DIRECT. vaping on my e-cigarette is not going to cause me to drive my car the wrong-way on a major highway. Vaping on my e-cigarette is not going to cause me to hock my family’s possessions to feed my ‘high.’ Vaping on my e-cigarette is also not going to cause me to proliferate nicotine in the air like smoking a real cigarette does. Show me the proof – Show me UNBIASED scientific information that the nicotine contained in my vapor is contributing copious amounts of cotinine in the air around me, especially considering that even for my own use, the level of nicotine introduced in my body by vapor is nowhere at the level it is when I smoke a tobacco cigarette.

So the ASF’s want me to quit smoking. I am trying and e-cigarettes are helping me to do this. Anyone who has EVER smoked cigarettes for any length of time understands the difficulty of quitting and I don’t care what kind of ‘spin’ the ASFs want to put on it, it is a very hard habit to break. Cigarette addiction doesn’t get the ‘feel good about yourself 12-step’ attention that alcoholism receives. And yet, here is an ironic display of self-serving contradictory double-talk if ever there was – “The CDC says half of all smokers try to quit every year, but only 5 percent succeed. Drugs, acupuncture, counseling and nicotine replacement therapies are all available to help, but nothing works perfectly. Over the weekend, researchers reported that e-cigarettes work about as well as nicotine patches to help people quit. ‘This is exciting news. Quitting can be hard and I congratulate and celebrate with former smokers - this is the most important step you can take to a longer, healthier life,’ said Director Dr. Tom Frieden. “I encourage anyone who tried to quit to keep trying – it may take several attempts to succeed.” (Fox, 2013, para. 12-13). So, it appears I’m supposed to be grateful that I’m being congratulated at the same time I’m being smacked upside my head.



I think it’s really the aesthetics of the whole thing that really piss the ASF’s off. It ‘looks’ like I’m smoking and it is just BURNING them up inside that there is a work-around to their self-righteous campaign to regulate the behaviors and values of everyone around them. As far as the government is concerned, anything that smacks of righteous indignation plays well, especially in politics. Soapboxes abound – anti-smoking, anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, anti-anything that goes against what the moral police believe should be eradicated from our society. The government, however, is at least pragmatic enough to realize that there has to be enough ‘bread and circus’ material to satisfy the majority of civilians. Sports, celebrity and tech entertainment isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. The government just hasn’t quite figured a way yet to turn e-cigarettes into a revenue stream. They will be cautious, of course – don’t want to antagonize the ASFs right from the get-go. Naturally, the focus is on young people – (McMullen, September 2013, [FONT="][B]E-Cigarette Use Doubles Among Young People[/B][/FONT][/I][FONT="]) – however, what CDC Director McAfee fails to note is that there are many users of e-cigarettes which contain NO nicotine. And in his own words, Director McAfee states, “[/FONT]We're not saying that e-cigarettes are worse than real cigarettes – far from it.” So what gives??!! Oh, the millions of dollars that must be spent to conduct reams and reams of studies to show that 1. An e-cigarette LOOKS like a cigarette – 2. An e-cigarette produces vapor that LOOKS like smoke, but isn’t. 3. An e-cigarette provides a vehicle for people who DO smoke to quit that habit. The study I want to see, however, is the one that specifies just how much cash can be generated from the REGULATION of e-cigarettes. Because we all know where THAT money will find a home - in the pockets of those that already have their pockets lined. A whole new crop of regulatory police (according to FDA director Mitchell Zeller “said the agency intended to expand its authority to all tobacco products” – duh – e-cigarettes do NOT contain tobacco), more industry lobbyists, the legal teams needed to argue both sides of the issue and perhaps even the spawning of a new generation of gang warfare when nicotine is out-right banned and we have to take to the streets to find our ‘fix.’ Yea, Welcome to America – Home of the Not-so-Free unless Sanctioned by the CDC and Moral Major-ITY. Wonder if they’ve ever done studies to see if the dirt that immigrants bring with them contributes to the poor quality of our air? Could be a reason behind the hold up of any meaningful legislation – poor folks can’t buy ‘pollution credits.’


References [FONT="][B][/B][/FONT]

Biomonitoring Summary. (n.d.). Retrieved from
[url=http://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/Cotinine_BiomonitoringSummary.html]CDC - NBP - Biomonitoring Summaries - Cotinine[/url]

[h=1][B]FDA Regulation Expected As CDC Study Finds E-Cigarette Use Rising. (n.d.). Retrieved from [/B][URL="http://www.orangepower.com/threads/fda-regulation-expected-as-cdc-study-finds-e-cigarette-use-rising.172598/"]http://www.orangepower.com/threads/...dc-study-finds-e-cigarette-use-rising.172598/[/URL][/h] [h=1]Fox, M. (2013, September 6). Graphic anti-smoking ads helped 100,000 kick the habit for good, CDC says. Retrieved from [url]http://www.nbcnews.com/health/graphic-anti-smoking-ads-helped-100-000-kick-habit-good-8C11111432[/URL][/h] Koop, C. Everett. (1982, February). Release of 1982 Report on Health Consequences of Smoking. Retrieved from http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/access/QQBBBH.pdf
Proctor, R. (1996, November). The anti-tobacco campaign of the Nazis: a little known aspect of public health in Germany, 1933–45. Retrieved from The anti-tobacco campaign of the Nazis: a little known aspect of public health in Germany, 1933
[h=1] [/h] [h=1] [/h] [h=1] [/h]

 

[Ruby_Red_Shoes]

Oh and one more interesting tidbit to add - tell me it aint about the money - the organization I work for received a fax today - has an American eagle with the letters CPC next to it at the top (bogus from the get-go) - 'News Press Release - For Immediate Release - The Federal Government Takes Action on Radon Gas to Prevent Lung Cancer Deaths in the U. S. by Announcing National Radon Awareness Week' (gonna have to do some research on THAT!) - Now this is all well, fine and good BUT - the second sentence of this flyer reads, "Health agencies throughout the United States have joined forces to promote awareness of the leading cause of lung cancer for non-smokers." WHAT - I thought it was cigarette smoking bums who were the cause!! Yea - this is an ad from some company using 'fear tactics' with the government's blessing to gain access to our pockets. Shameful.

 

[OlDogNewTricks]

Folks, I've said it before and I'll say it again, these are the public arguments, not what is driving them. There is a lot of money in cigarettes; taxes, drug sales, anti-smoking lobbying. Your points are impeccable, albeit with some rather charged language but they truly don't care. If you think they do, look at airbags in cars. They keep you safer? Nope. They reduce the claims for plastic surgery after car accidents. Don't believe it? Why do you still need seat belts? If you want to attack something publicly, show the public why they are fighting by showing them how much money they stand to lose. It isn't the precious little children being poisoned by drinking e-juice, second hand nicotine ingestion or unregulated mom and pops making juice in a public toilet. It's cash, period. Sorry, had to say it.

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

Join and donate to CASAA, it'll do more good. Their arguments and supporting data is better as well. I sincerely respect your passion. Good luck to you.