Courtesy:
Health New Zealand News 2010
They make a strong case and I do tend to agree with their conclusions. I am not completely convinced of the feasibility as it does seem to come out of left field, but I could get behind this.
We need to get behind stuff like this. I said I was going to stay out of this discussion, but over the last few days, i've just become so infuriated with the whole situation and this discussion that I finally must speak my mind.
I know my thoughts are not really welcomed here in this forum, but I'm going to post anyway and hope they don't mod it or ban me. I just have to get some of this off my chest.
1- The arguments over he said she said what did you say??
Enough already. We've wasted a week now going over the same old thing over and over and over again. All it does is incite more drama and division, which is the last thing we need at the moment. Yes, some things were misunderstood, others were not, some were insulted, some were put down, some just got plain blindsided. It happens in politics.
It's time for the vaper community to have some leaders. And not to insult anyone or point a finger at certain individuals or any one group but:
Do you see anyone taking the flag and rallying the troops? I certainly don't. Instead I see our "leaders" wasting time arguing moot points and frivolity.
WE are all very opinionated people. It's just part of the personality profile of vapers I think, LOL. I know I'm pretty opinionated, and it's gotten me in trouble in the past and will again in the future. Most of the ecig "activists" are also very opinionated too and in the end it only hurts our cause to show that in public.
Leaders can not be opinionated and quick to fly off the handle, neither can effective activists. Vapers need a strong voice at the moment, someone to act as a calming influence and guide the discussion and the fight in the right direction. Let's put our efforts into that and keep our personal battles between us. There simply is no time for bickering in public.
As Vicks said "zip up, people, and put the measuring tapes away!"
the Secret Societies and "We Saved Vaping" Brag Rights
As Vicks pointed out, this has been going on for a long time. Our "society" if you will, has been split now for a long time and further splits just happen more and more. Opinionated people with strong personalities often times have trouble working together and we've seen that happen over and over in this fight.
It's time for this to stop. Our enemies may not all get along, they all have their own little groups with their own take on things, their own agendas, their own personalities, but when it comes to the important stuff, they all manage to put their differences aside and work together towards their common goal;
namely killing us.
Look at the info put out by groups as diverse as ASH and the American Cancer Society, same talking points, same issues, same info just presented in a slightly different way. They are focused and clear.
As i've said before in this forum and others: They are running their playbook, a playbook they've had years to develop and one that works very well. These people are professionals at activism and they are kicking our asses in the public arena.
It's time to band together and work together and work hard. We have six months people, maybe less, maybe more. But the time for sitting on our duffs and wringing our hands over how unfair it is in forums is over. The time to stand up and fight is here and fighting amongst ourselves does nothing.
Tobacco vs Drug vs Reduced Risk
I've been saying since day one the argument for classifying us as a tobacco product is a flawed one. So have many others. As Kirstin points out though, those were the only two we thought we had available and tobacco seems the lesser of two evils, the one we might achieve, the one that would give us time to explore other options.
The Family smoking act and the PACT act and the recent court decisions and state legislation have severely crippled this argument. Yes, Njoy and SE threw all their eggs in that basket, so did a lot of other organizations. Will it work? I doubt it, but maybe. There's still hope, although fleeting.
Drug device is a classification we all don't want. We know what will happen if ecigs are classified as drugs. Even if they are approved, it won't be any of the current companies who get it approved, it will be a pharmaceutical or tobacco company because it's going to take years and millions. We all know this.
Reduced Harm vs recreational does seem to be our best bet. Reduced harm is going to be a hard fight. the laws clearly state what is needed for that and were very craftily written to make it difficult. Yes, the FDA is mandated with encouraging harm reduction strategies and products but the rules on what that is and the requirements for medical proof and public benefit are so strict, I doubt we have the time or energy or money to make that happen.
Recreational seems our only option. Or is it?
Public Perception and PR
What is killing us is we completely lack any PR.
Did we read Thuliums post about the Sensor Pad?? Did you notice what saved them? Was it court battles or studies or sidestepping or consumer advocacy groups?? NO. It was PR.
It was the Wall Street Journal and 20/20. It was a sympathetic congressman, users and doctors who testified the product worked. It was a well crafted PR campaign.
PR is king. It's what our enemies have that we do not. The reason the anti smoking folks get all the press is simple. They go after it. They hire the PR people. They hire the lobbyists. They have the resources and the known names and the well crafted arguments that sell air time and newspapers.
Simply put: They work it. We don't.
BUT PR takes money so do lobbyists!!
Yes. And this is where we have failed the most. This is where our enemies have us beat hands down. And it's our own fault.
We have a lobbyist in Washington. He's good too. He's an ex Congressman. His office is two blocks from capitol hill. He's well spoken and skilled at public speaking. He knows the right people. He was a great asset to our community and was making some inroads last year, getting some press, people were listening to him.
But did we help him? NO, we did not. WE whined and complained he wanted too much money. WE complained his members were the evil big boys out for profit. Membership to the ECA is too expensive said mom and pop mixing juice in their basement and Bob selling ecigs out of his garage.
So we started our own grass roots groups. Which is good. Some of them are doing good things. But are they going to raise enough money to win this fight with auctions and concerts? NO, they are not. Do they have the resources and experience to be effective? NO they do not.
The entire community refused to donate any money for things that work or to hire some pros.
As a matter of fact we actively encouraged and promoted the companies with the lowest prices while calling anyone who charged a decent price to afford advertising, attorneys, lobbyists, PR people and professional activism a "scam" or a "fraud". We turned them away from forums like this and instead promoted he who would sell us the cheapest mod, the cheapest juice, the cheapest kits. $99 bucks!!! we screamed and bought the $39 versions instead. Then we told everyone who would listen to do the same.
Now where is the money for PR? Where is the money for ads? Where is the money for radio? Where is the money to get our voice heard by the people who matter?? Where is the money to hire some professionals who can get things done?
Where is the money for anything? There isn't any. The profit margins for most of the "reputable" and "approved" companies out there are so low they are lucky to afford some Adwords, let alone a $10,000 national radio campaign or a $4000 full page ad in a magazine or a $100,000 a year lobbyist.
Now you watch, mom and pop are out of business. Bob too. The FDA is going to squash them as quickly as they can. The only ones who can survive are those that are already pretty big, or those who can band together to fight as one. (which they should have been doing the entire time but instead waited till now. lets hope its not too late.)
So, SE is what people see. They are the company with the money, they are the ones with the attorneys, they are the ones with the name and the PR power. And yes, IMHO they are scumbags and PR ...... out for themselves and could care less about the rest of us and have done as much, if not more damage to our cause than ASH. That's true. But like it or not, they are the ones getting all the attention.
Don't make any claims, Stay Under the Radar, Shun anyone who does
Over the last year i've watched this industry go from a handful of companies to literally hundreds. And some of them are pretty good! Small companies out to do right, provide great products and great service. Men and women who saw opportunity and thought they could do it better. I applaud each and every one of them.
But in the beginning most of us found vaping through the first few "big" companies. The ones who said "smoke anywhere!" "No carcinogens". "Safer!!" Of course we did. Who is going to buy a "smoking alternative that we can't really tell you the benefits of"? "is it safe?" we can't tell you. "do doctors like it" we can't tell you. "Can I quit smoking?" Go to the forums and ask, we can't say.
It was only after these first few companies got us all started that we formed our little groups, started our forums and built up this huge grassroots "cottage" community that allowed these small companies to find a market. It was those of us who already knew the benefits of vaping that could buy from these small guys without needing to hear any claims or see any advertising. It's the guys who do the radio ads, the publications, the heavy marketing who get people interested in ecigs. Then they come to places like this and find the cottage market.
But as time went on, and the pressure from the FDA grew, we said "don't make any claims" "Don't mention any studies" "don't talk about what doctors say" don't say you quit smoking, don't mention anything except "it's a smoking alternative. Then we decided you could perhaps say "no tar" or "no smoke" but that's it!! No medical quotes, no nothing. Shun anyone who does. And that's just what our enemies wanted us to do.
Heck, even I've been classified here as one of the rogue "unregistered suppliers" and unable to post links to anything useful because I had one company listed on my site that made the ECF blacklist by saying "no carcinogens" and i'm quick to point out some of the medical studies and quote the doctors in my blog. It made people nervous and since i make a few bucks from affiliate links, even though i've never once pushed any ecig here and even my site is not geared towards selling, but rather news and opinion, I'm classified as a rogue supplier. So be it. OK. Whatever.
And there
were valid reasons for that. the FTC and the FDA and the WHO were breathing down our necks. After the FDA report it was hard to say "no carcinogens" and the FTC says you can't say "stop smoking" without studies. So now what do the companies do? They make no claims and instead, as at least one prominent "approved ECF supplier" does on their site FAQ about why there is no info about the benefits of vaping or if it will help you quit smoking, you just say "join a forum and ask there".
Because as much as we say "don't make any claims or mention any studies or say you can quit smoking" that's a lot of what we do around here isn't it?? Most of us have "Smoke free for ______ days" banners and we talk a lot about studies and such.
AND WE SHOULD. Our enemies don't want us to talk about this, but we need to.
Its time to talk about it
Every single time our enemies hit us, we back down. Every demand they make we comply. So far what has it gotten us? Not a damned thing.
They call us dangerous and we can't defend ourselves. They say no studies and we can't show the ones there are. They say "second hand vapor" and we do nothing. They say "contain carcinogens" and we do nothing to explain that while that is technically true, the amounts present are so small the FDA can't even quantify how much there is.
Now we've all decided to just say "Smoking Alternative" and what does the WHO do?? “recommends that claims that ENDS are safer than cigarettes, or that they could be marketed as cigarette substitutes, be prohibited until such claims are substantiated by sufficient evidence to satisfy their accuracy to independent scientific organizations and regulatory authorities.”
So there goes that.
WHAT IS MY POINT??
My point is simple: We are out gunned, we are out funded and we've retreated to the edge of the sea. WE are losing the war quickly. It's all going to be over this year if we don't press forward NOW!
It's time to put our money where our mouths are. It's time to band together. It's time to get some action done. It's time to get busy ladies and gentlemen.
CASH
It's time for every company to put up some cash. It's time for every vaper to find a group they like and support them with time and/or money.
Just look at the numbers of this forum alone. 34,000+ members? 7,854 active? Do the math, $20 bucks each is a chunk of change we can use to hire some pros and get our voice heard where it matters most.
PR, LEGAL and LOBBYIST PROS
It's time to call in the pros. All our discussions in the forums and our armchair quarterbacking of the debate does nothing. Get some real pros in here and put together a strategy that's going to work.
Grassroots is great. I love it. I participate in many, and some are having great success. But it takes time. And it seems time is exactly what we don't have.
IF we want to vape next year, we need to get our voice heard on some major media right now. WE need face time with the politicians and policy makers. Only pros can make that happen. ASH has theirs, the ACS and the tobacco free kids have theirs. It's time for us to have some of our own.
WIN THE HEARTS AND MINDS
Get out and talk to everyone you can. Write anyone who will listen. Take a few minutes a day and share your story with anyone who will listen. Congressmen, legislators, newspaper editors, news reporters, hell, even the neighborhood gossip. Whatever works!!
Tell everyone the benefits of ecigs. Tell them how you quit smoking the moment you picked one up. Tell them you are certain this product saved your lives and the government wants them banned.
OUR ORGANIZATIONS NEED TO DO BETTER AND WE NEED TO HELP THEM
I know it's tough. I know none of you are pros. I know this is overwhelming, confusing and you are doing the best you can with the limited resources available. I really do. As much as I've criticized some of you in the past I do know how hard activism is.
BUT we have to do better. You have to do more, you need to be more active in sending out updates and action alerts. How many of you have gotten one single thing from any organization in your email about the new laws? the new court cases?
How many of you are like, I believe it was CS2? who said he needed guidance and education to know what to do?? He pleaded for some leadership, he pleaded many times in this thread alone to be told what he can do to help.
Organizations, you are charged with that. You say so in your mission statement. Can you honestly say you've done all you can to lead?
Companies: Mobilize your customers!! Help get the word out. You are the ones with the mailing lists. You are the ones who mail the boxes. You are the ones who can get the word out fastest and the ones with the most to lose.
People, you are charged with helping them. Can you honestly say you've done the best you can to follow??
I can't. I've not done the best I can either. There is much more I could have done but I let some people's bad attitudes and my dislike for a few people and my fear of being banned from forums because of my sometimes unpopular opinions convince me to give up and just do what I can with my blog.
Well, no more. I'm not going to stand on the sidelines anymore. like me, don't like me. Trust me. Don't trust me. Ban me, don't Ban me. Label me however you like because I believe so much in ecigs that I sell a few now and then. I don't care anymore. There simply isn't any time left now.
I don't have any money and i have too little time, but what I do have will be spent fighting to keep vaping legal.
Who wants my help?? I stand ready to assist in anyway I can. I'm already a member of everyone save for the ECA I think. Put me to work, I beg you.
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