Hello, all you smart and helpful people. This is not the ideal place to post this, I guess, but I am new here. In reading other threads I remembered a non-profit site that helped a cause I worked on some years ago, and wondered if anyone here has tried posting there. It is called askquestions.org; they invite burning questions on current topics of public interest, and then allows browsers to vote on whether they would like the media to investigate the question, and to add comments and links below the question. Questions with many votes get forwarded to a list of reporters. If nobody grabs the idea for a story, the organization will sometimes hire a professional journalist to write an article (which is what happened for my previous issue).
I am working on a question and a comment to post, and want to be absolutely sure my facts are unassailable, and that my question is concise and clear. Please, rip it apart! Any comments welcome.
If the question is accepted for posting, I hope many of you will add votes and comments and links to help journalists research the issue, and perhaps that someone will post the voting link in a thread where the whole forum will see it. Thanks in advance, VG
(THE QUESTION) Why, oh why, is the FDA trying to stop the use of the electronic cigarette? This device has the potential to sweep the world as a smoking alternative, and is even now improving the health and extending the lives of thousands. The FDA says it has not been proven safe, since the user may inhale trace amounts of "tobacco-specific" carcinogens. The puzzling thing is, these substances are also found in nicotine gum, lozenges, and patches in similar amounts; and, in normal cigarettes, much, much greater quantities!
(MY COMMENT) After 35 years of heavy smoking, and 30 years of trying to stop, I finally quit my pack-a-day cigarette habit three months ago. Patches, gum, cold turkey, weird little pills: none of it worked. Today, real cigarettes are repugnant to me. My lung capacity amazes me, my energy seems boundless, and I no longer cough. At all. My solution, and that of thousands of other recently-quit lifelong smokers? The electronic cigarette, which vaporizes glycerine, water, and flavorings, with or without a specific level of nicotine, to mimic the inhalation of smoke. The vapor exhaled by the user vanishes almost instantly and produces no offensive odor or dangerous substance. Although it is highly addictive, nicotine is not carcinogenic, and even has beneficial properties. The glycerine which produces the cloud of vapor has been used for years in beauty products, medical inhalers, and theatrical fog. The improvement to my own health goes far beyond my expectation. Why does the FDA want to send me back to smoke and tar and thousands of dangerous chemicals?
I am working on a question and a comment to post, and want to be absolutely sure my facts are unassailable, and that my question is concise and clear. Please, rip it apart! Any comments welcome.
If the question is accepted for posting, I hope many of you will add votes and comments and links to help journalists research the issue, and perhaps that someone will post the voting link in a thread where the whole forum will see it. Thanks in advance, VG
(THE QUESTION) Why, oh why, is the FDA trying to stop the use of the electronic cigarette? This device has the potential to sweep the world as a smoking alternative, and is even now improving the health and extending the lives of thousands. The FDA says it has not been proven safe, since the user may inhale trace amounts of "tobacco-specific" carcinogens. The puzzling thing is, these substances are also found in nicotine gum, lozenges, and patches in similar amounts; and, in normal cigarettes, much, much greater quantities!
(MY COMMENT) After 35 years of heavy smoking, and 30 years of trying to stop, I finally quit my pack-a-day cigarette habit three months ago. Patches, gum, cold turkey, weird little pills: none of it worked. Today, real cigarettes are repugnant to me. My lung capacity amazes me, my energy seems boundless, and I no longer cough. At all. My solution, and that of thousands of other recently-quit lifelong smokers? The electronic cigarette, which vaporizes glycerine, water, and flavorings, with or without a specific level of nicotine, to mimic the inhalation of smoke. The vapor exhaled by the user vanishes almost instantly and produces no offensive odor or dangerous substance. Although it is highly addictive, nicotine is not carcinogenic, and even has beneficial properties. The glycerine which produces the cloud of vapor has been used for years in beauty products, medical inhalers, and theatrical fog. The improvement to my own health goes far beyond my expectation. Why does the FDA want to send me back to smoke and tar and thousands of dangerous chemicals?
