Snail Mail -- It gets more attention

[Data4]

I see a lot of threads and admonishments to email this or that government official, organization, news source, etc., and that's great, but snail mail still packs a punch. Email can easily be deleted without reading, especially since all the recipient needs to see is the subject before making a decision to read. However, piles of hardcopy mail-- whether read or not-- tends to send a stronger message.

I just want to encourage everyone to not neglect this form of activism in favor of the more convenient but easily discarded electronic variety.

-D4

 

[Mitty]

This was my attempt.

President Obama ,

Roughly one month ago, the FDA moved to ban the importation, marketing and sale of battery powered Nicotine inhalers , more commonly known as Electric Cigarettes or e-cigs.

They claim that the device is used to deliver a Poison and or Drug depending on the press releases you read, in this case Nicotine and is therefore under their jurisdiction to ban its use. If Nicotine is as deadly a threat to health as they profess in their carefully crafted statements then it must be banned across the board. No sales of Cigarettes, Cigars , Snuff, Snus , Nicotine patches, Lozenges must be allowed if it is as dangerous as they make it sound. The FDAs statements regarding Electric Cigarettes as dispensing poisons do not sound as well informed as they should ; almost as if those opinions were being spoon fed to the people making these accusations .

It would seem to me, that someone with enough money and lobbying power has attempted to manipulate the FDA to meet their goals. The intentional manipulation of a Federal Agency, in this case the FDA, by large Tobacco companies and or pharmaceutical companies to remove electric cigarettes from the market would constitute not only interference in free trade by such businesses as Njoy, a distributor of e-cigs, but would also create, in the absence of any competition, a monopoly held by Big tobacco and Nicotine replacement companies for the sole control of Nicotine distribution goods and services. In doing so this violates the Sherman Anti Trust Act of 1890 and successive antimonopoly laws.

I have smoked off and on for many years and I can tell you with all certainty that these devices allow those of us prone to losing the struggle to stay off Tobacco a means to manage the addiction on our terms without resorting to continued abuse of our bodies by the over 4000 chemicals found in Tobacco smoke. This safety net has now been removed from people like myself for the supposed purpose of protecting "the children " from the evils of Tobacco. In reality these measures are being put through to protect the profit margins of Tobacco and major pharmaceutical companies. Those that choose to smoke will do so no matter the risks just as they have done for over 300 years. No Bill passed by Congress nor signed into law by you will prevent children from sealing tobacco products from their parents to satisfy their curiosities; no bill will prevent them from buying tobacco products when they reach legal age and no bill will prevent them from having legal adults purchase tobacco for them until they are of legal age.

For those of us that choose to manage our addiction in a far better way ,I respectfully ask your assistance in overturning the FDA ban on these devices. The number of current smokers in the US alone, assures that there will never be a shortfall of revenue for Tobacco companies. People like myself pose no threat to them and should not be punished for our choice in how we manage our addiction and improve our lives and health.

On the behalf of not only myself, but the estimated 400,000 Americans who will lose their lives to Smoking this year alone ; please help us.

Most Respectfully,

Kevin Scott Wilcomb
Louisville, Kentucky