It was a reasonable survey. No survey is going to ask 100% accurate questions but this one had enough variety to be reasonable and enough "other" to make a point if needed.
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Ooohhhhh! ....wow.... and I'm not even into mods yet. Those are awesomely beautiful... just.... wow....
Wish I could be a fly on the wall in Tampa when you show them that!
I agree. Also, AFAIK, this is the first survey to solicit participation via focus groups. Gives us vapers a chance to introduce the researchers to the "real world of vaping."
You guys, I am SO jealous! I wanna go too. :waving arm in air: Pick me! Pick me!
I can almost guarantee CASAA will come up during the focus group session next Tuesday. At the very least, I'll try my hardest to get it into the dialog as much as possible.
BTW, I took that survey and I feel a strong intuition that they are looking to cash in on the same little Obamacare provision that is exciting the Pharma companies .... the Obamacare provision regarding smokers is that starting this October (now postponed for a year) there is a 50% surcharge allowed for "tobacco users" on insurance policies UNLESS the tobacco users are signed up for an approved smoking cessation program. I've read about this on some of the web pages explaining the insurance angle to employers of smokers.
Not sure if that is ALSO to be paid for by employers or the gov't or the "user."
I doubt there's a provision that the people going to the smoking cessation programs need to be smokers, lol, so snus users can presumably pay to quit something they never started.
In any case, this is good news and bad news for vapers.
The bad news is suddenly there is a LOT of extra money that everybody in Tobacco Control will be fighting for, including BP.
The good news is that they might be willing to accept sales of e-cigs that don't try to qualify for use in "approved" programs. But this last part is purely speculation on my part.
Anyway, looks to me like USF wants to make money on people that want to quit vaping, lol.
Not sure if that is ALSO to be paid for by employers or the gov't or the "user."
I doubt there's a provision that the people going to the smoking cessation programs need to be smokers, lol, so snus users can presumably pay to quit something they never started.
In any case, this is good news and bad news for vapers.
The bad news is suddenly there is a LOT of extra money that everybody in Tobacco Control will be fighting for, including BP.
The good news is that they might be willing to accept sales of e-cigs that don't try to qualify for use in "approved" programs. But this last part is purely speculation on my part.
Anyway, looks to me like USF wants to make money on people that want to quit vaping, lol.
Good luck to everyone going. I didn't volunteer for that (since I don't live close enough) but I would have loved to go.
I live in California and I volunteered to go.
I was kind of hoping they would fly me out there.
Heck, I live only 3 hours away and would have driven myself! But nooooo.... (I guess my reputation preceded me...
)
Focus groups are meeting today, AFIK. Bumping this up so our attendees can give us their reports. Standing by...
PS: If you read this before going in, please ask them when they expect to publish their results!
PS: If you read this before going in, please ask them when they expect to publish their results!
Yes, it's scheduled for 6:00PM to 7:30PM tonight. I'll be reporting whatever I can within the next couple of days, and while I don't know that the focus group(s) will produce a public report, I will ask if they plan to publish the survey results and when.
No prob, no rush. I'm just sitting here holding my breath for your report, but don't worry. Since I stopped smoking, I can hold my breath for a looooooong time!
Indeed! I've been operating under the assumption they would publish the results.
The question that should have been asked at the beginning was IF...Facedesk, when a palm just isn't enough...
Quick report. I asked one of the facilitators of the focus group about publishing the survey results, and she said that it probably won't be published. She said that their purpose for the survey and the focus groups was to gather information about e-cigarettes so they can petition for federal grant money for research. During the focus group discussions, some of the questions indicated that they were interested in maybe getting cancer patients who smoke to switch to e-cigarettes as one of the ways to quit smoking. They also seemed very interested in our stories on how we were introduced to e-cigarettes and what our experiences have been.
There were a couple of questions about any negative side effects, and the general response from the group was only about occasional dehydration. Those conversations quickly turned toward underlining the health benefits from just about all of the group members, without prompting. The only other "negative" question raised was about the negative press, and that question was brought up by the group, not the facilitators. The facilitator then ran with that theme and asked that if the ALA or ACS came out and said that vaping was as bad as smoking, would it influence our decision to vape. Almost with a singular voice, the group said that if they did come out with that report, they would be lying. CASAA was also brought up by another participant and myself as a source of unbiased information, and the other participant even brought CASAA cards to hand out (which was an excellent idea on his part).
All in all, it was a very relaxed discussion and they seemed genuinely interested in all that we had to say. I met some very cool people tonight, and hopefully I'll get the chance to meet up with them again.
There were a couple of questions about any negative side effects, and the general response from the group was only about occasional dehydration. Those conversations quickly turned toward underlining the health benefits from just about all of the group members, without prompting. The only other "negative" question raised was about the negative press, and that question was brought up by the group, not the facilitators. The facilitator then ran with that theme and asked that if the ALA or ACS came out and said that vaping was as bad as smoking, would it influence our decision to vape. Almost with a singular voice, the group said that if they did come out with that report, they would be lying. CASAA was also brought up by another participant and myself as a source of unbiased information, and the other participant even brought CASAA cards to hand out (which was an excellent idea on his part).
All in all, it was a very relaxed discussion and they seemed genuinely interested in all that we had to say. I met some very cool people tonight, and hopefully I'll get the chance to meet up with them again.
BuGlen pretty much summed it up perfectly. Glad to meet you man. Had a great time.
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