Good replies above, even if we disagree on some of it, there are some good points being made, without needless personal attacks for the most part.
Keep em coming!
Keep em coming!
This very philosophy is why all the vaping legislation is going on all over the country right now.
I think the question comes up here, where you say " or don't vape at all in places you can't."
To me, "places I can't" are places where I've been asked not to, or which have a sign on the door saying no vaping or similar, or which have a known public policy against vaping. I'm completely fine with a business saying "No vaping here", and I will comply.
But I also assume that if I'm now aware of any policy against vaping, that I *can* vape there. I think that's the difference, is that you assume "Unless they have a sign saying "Vape all you want", then you aren't allowed to vape there." I assume that if they don't want me vaping, they will find a way to inform me. I will comply with a No Vaping sign. I don't, however, assume that everyplace has a no vaping policy until informed otherwise.
that's what I was trying to say... I'm just not that great with words so sometimes I don't get my point all the way across.
![]()
Good replies above, even if we disagree on some of it, there are some good points being made, without needless personal attacks for the most part.
Keep em coming!
(actually IMHO blowing that cloud in front of government officials will get more done, but to the ANTI's benefit.)
We live in a (used to be, and still mostly is) a free country. If something is NOT illegal, have at it. I vape everywhere. I really don't care since what I am doing is not illegal. If I try to hide it, it looks like I am doing something illegal.
We all know that vaping is safer than smoking. As of right now, there is zero proof that it is harmful. People have been vaping since 2006. IF there were ANY negative impacts from either 1st hand or 2nd hand vapor at all, those who have been looking to make it illegal would have jumped all over it. They have been looking (hard), and they have found nothing. That is why we keep hearing about a flawed study from years ago that showed "some" problems with pre-loaded cartridges.
I went into a bar with a vaping buddy last weekend. During our first round of beers, we semi-stealth vaped by just exhaling down towards our laps. Nobody noticed. I set my PV on the bar, and eventually the bartender saw it. At that point, I held it up and asked if they minded. If he had said yes, I would have gone out to the patio for a few, and vaped. As it was, they were cool with it. I am not assuming that I have to give up my personal liberties for fear that it will give the wrong impression. Chances are that Maryland will follow NYC's lead and ban indoor vaping at some point, with or without scientific evidence. Since I understand that this is yet another personal freedom that I will likely have to surrender in the near future, I am going to "get while the gettin' is good". Sooner or later, I wil lose that freedom to placate someone who feels like I should not be allowed to "normalize" smoking. Screw that. Let them observe me vaping and get ...... off. I am going to get ...... when they ban it, and they won't give it a second thought. I won't just roll over and voluntarily give up my freedom because it might give people an idea to ban it. That is why the government gets away with easily taking our freedoms away so haphazardly and with such ease.
This roll over and play dead mentality is what dooms us to failure before we even start.
Vape everywhere, and answer questions. We need to educate non vapers that it is possible for us to co-exist without either side giving up their personal liberties, or their health. Whenever I encounter someone who is per-conditioned to think that vaping is bad, I ask them if they know a loved one or close friend that smokes. Nearly all of them do. I tell them, "If you truly care about them, ask them to try this. It will make them WALK away from smoking. You may help save, or extend their life.". The conversation generally turns much more cordial after that. Another tactic that is very effective is to use their own argument against them. I talk about how big tobacco, and big pharma (two entities despised by folks preconditioned to be against smoking and vaping) are losing money, and funding the efforts to ban vaping in order to maintain their profits. I love doing this, as you can immediately see the inner conflict that it causes in their heads. Veins start popping.
So yeah... I will blow whatever size cloud, whenever and wherever I want. It ain't illegal until it is...![]()
This is not a battle about vaping. It is a battle about the government continuing to interfere with the personal lives of people while touting that "It is for your own good".
I have read all your responses, and using the logic you have put down, we should eliminate soft drinks because they look like we are drinking alcohol. We should eliminate flavored alcohol because they are being marketed to children. Some drinks even GASP look and taste like fruit punch!!! Oh the horror.
The weak assumption you base your arguments on, is you think anti-e-cig regulation is due to the large number of vapers out there creating havoc.
The truth is, the campaign against e-cigs has been in full force long before many of us knew what they were.
The ANTZ don't want to "regulate" your behavior, they want to eliminate it. Just like the recent ban on smoking in your own home if it shares a wall with a neighbor was recently passed in several California towns.
IN YOUR OWN HOME!!!! These are not the actions of people who simply want to regulate tobacco use, or the use of e-cigs. These are the actions of people who want to dictate how you live your life and feel it is their mission from God, to force you to live by their own standards.
What's next? Can't order a large drink because it has too many calories? Oops, that one is taken. Can't put a toy in a happy meal because it promotes bad eating habits?... Oh, that's taken too. Kid's being expelled from school because they point their finger into something that resembles a gun?....Yep, already done.
This is not about some hipster douche bag billowing clouds in Sam's Club because he thinks it's cool. This is about the fundamental rights that we enjoy as Americans to do what we want to do as long as it does not HARM someone else.
I don't drink alcohol, but I feel someone of legal age should be able to drink alcohol,
I don't own a gun, but I feel a responsible adult should be able to purchase and own a gun.
I'm not Gay, but however two responsible adults choose to form relationships is not my business.
This is not a battle about vaping. It is a battle about the government continuing to interfere with the personal lives of people while touting that "It is for your own good".
It is about government dictating what you drink, what you eat, what you wear, and how you think. It's about control.
We deal with annoyances every day and we are expected to deal with them. I don't enjoy being blasted by a big cloud of car exhaust, but it's something I deal with If I'm walking down the street. I don't like sitting next to a lady that bathed herself in Chanel No. 5, but I am expected to deal with it. (And I deal with that much more often down here in So. Fla. than I deal with vapers).
We don't ban things because other people may find them offensive. This is political correctness at it's core. We ban things because the are shown to cause harm. Second hand smoke was shown (using terribly flawed studies, BTW) to cause harm to non-smokers so smoking was banned.
Vaping has yet to reach that threshold, and scientific studies that have been done indicate that it never will.
There is NO scientific evidence that points to vaping as being potentially harmful to anyone but the vaper himself, and studies are showing that the harm to the vaper is less than the harm in eating a Big Mac.
Yet vaping continues to be banned because it LOOKS LIKE a harmful activity?
This is not a fight for vaping, it is a fight against increasingly intrusive government officials and society that states we have to conform to their way of thinking or be expelled.
This happened over 70 years ago elsewhere in the world, and when that was all said an done, over 100 million people's lives were extinguished simply because of their genealogy.