Ok that was a great deal of information very rapidly thrown out there. I read each section twice, at first glance most of it seems to be the rantings of anarchist. However, I believe that a great deal of what he is saying holds validity. His methods of conveying his information are however, how shall we say ohhh slightly less than diplomatic. His first two sections seem the most "rant like". I am guessing this is a tactic to piss people off and make them want to read more. Some it will work with, some it will not and they will shut him down.
He makes several points that are worthy of discussion:
1. There IS without a doubt a stigma against smoking. I'm still on the fence as to the idea that it goes as far as racial profiling. Having said that I believe it is possible(perhaps even likely) for things to progress that far.
2. PVs are NOT cigarettes and having nothing even remotely in common with them except perhaps how some of them may look, the marketing behind them, and the fact that they deliver nicotine (which as he stated comes from many other sources and in many different quantities/qualities).
3. We really do not KNOW for sure the effects of nicotine in and of itself outside the context of big tobacco. At least that is my understanding and I admit a great deal of ignorance on this particular subject. To the best of my knowledge there are not any macro level, peer reviewed, double blind scientific studies on the effects (short and long term) for nicotine outside the context of tobacco. If someone has read or knows of such research I would be very interested in reading it.
4 The government DOES pick and choose which evils they think are ok enough for us to engage in. With the help of large amounts of money changing hands. They happen to choose cigarettes (among other things) because they do make money (billions) off the tobacco industry. One thing I would add to this point is that the government also collects taxes off of every "sin" industry they can their hands on (alcohol much?).
5. The FDA, big tobacco, and the pharma industries have been tight for years. This is nothing new. Even the casual observer should be able to see this. If people think that tobacco is the exception and not the rule to this I would point out two other substances that are just as dangerous if not more so than cigarettes: Trans fatty acids and High Fructose Corn Syrup. Most Americans ingest those substances on a daily basis and they are most likely even more dangerous than cigarettes.
6. Regulation is coming for PVs. If for no other reason than it is something else the government can control, regulate, and tax to its (non-existent) hearts content.
7. Children can and most likely will be using PVs just by virtue of that fact that it is "forbidden fruit". Kids are always attracted what they are not allowed to do. In the case of PVs, I do not believe that children will be any more or less attracted to them than other "sins" (Alcohol, porn, gambling, sex, etc.) No one likes to believe that their own vices may attract children, but almost all of them do. I started using tobacco at a very young age, as I know many people do.
All in all an interesting perspective IMO.
VMS
