Paypal received a letter from an attorney, John Banzhaf, of Action on Smoking and Health. He stated that the FDA has declared the products unapproved drug-delivery devices and therefore it is illegal to sell them. Theoretically, it is illegal to sell unapproved products, but we all know the FDA has since been smacked down by two levels of U.S. courts telling them that the products are not drug-delivery devices. Until the FDA steps up to bat and says, OK, we agree to regulate them as Tobacco Products, Paypal can't know for certain that they will not get into trouble for processing sales. But once the FDA regulates them as Tobacco Products, we run into Paypals volunatary stance that they don't participate in sales of tobacco products.
Bottom line: Look for a different payment processor.
I will indeed look to cancelling my PayPal account.
But Vocaltek is right that currently PV users are between a rock and a hard place even now with the 'tobacco product' regulation ruling. I'm still new to all this, but I'm convinced that the best (also the most impossible sounding) option is to bring light to the subject with hard scientific fact and divorce nicotine from tobacco with PV use. From the research I've done I can't find health or cost to society risks to nicotine (for sure in this delivery method and typical usage) that are significantly worse than caffeine or alcohol. The biggest problem is that until, what, 2006 or 7 this method of nicotine delivery wasn't available on a wide enough scale to make meaningful health or cost to society studies and claims whatsoever.
I'm sitting here SERIOUSLY upset about the prospect that society is going to call me a children-ignorant addicted miscreant because I desire nicotine, while they suck down caffeine (gets a pass) and alcohol (not as relatively costly as they are going to make nicotine, I'm sure).
I'm also absolutely STEAMED over the fact that my government 'protectors' made it so that I didn't find PV's and quit tobacco until 3 years past when I should have. I consider it a total breach of trust. Additionally, my health insurance through my employer created a 'new tier' for those that still smoked which has increased deductibles. I'm anticipating that when I go to the doctor to get 'certified tobacco-free' to get back on the regular (still crappy) insurance tier I'll likely fail a blood or urine test for cotine.
When that time comes, I'm going to look for a lawyer and will SERIOUSLY consider a lawsuit against the insurance company as well as the FDA in an attempt for THEM to prove to ME that nicotine use in this manner is the egregious health risk that requires increased insurance premiums or deductibles, or it causes the same 'cost to society' as tobacco. And, I'm NOT funding a tobacco reparation fund (through taxes) because I DON'T USE tobacco any more. I've come up with a better analogy about 'tobacco products' since my first thoughts by the way. Nicotine is to a "tobacco product" as caffeine is to a soda product. Meaning when we talk about either component, we need to be talking about the particular end product in question. Who would accept caffeine statistics for coffee use as the primary criteria if the subject was the effect of soda?
Don't know where I'd get the $ for that, or if I'll have the 'nads for it when the time comes, but that's my feeling.
Whew. That and a draw on my PV made me feel a
little better. I'm lying. It didn't really.
