The Flint Journal April 20, 2009

[Moonlightcsp]

Smokers fear backlash from health advocates over "e-cigarettes"

Posted by Elizabeth Shaw | The Flint Journal April 20, 2009 12:20PM

GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan -- Scott Gilbert is no longer asking for the right to light up in his favorite restaurant.
But now he's worried that health advocates might take away his right to "not" smoke, too.
Flint Journal extras Electronic cigarettes
• How they work: A cigarette-sized tube with a battery that heats a nicotine solution into a mist that's inhaled by the user. Most come in a variety of flavors and strengths. They do not contain tobacco or create smoke.

• What's at issue: Health advocates say the imported products are untested and not approved by the FDA and make unsupported health claims that could constitute a public health risk. E-cigarette supporters say the devices are better for the environment because they don't create secondhand smoke and are less damaging to smokers than traditional tobacco products.

• The petition: www.thepetitionsite.com/1/keep-life-saving-electronic-cigarettes-ava


Three weeks ago, the Flint native discovered the "electronic cigarette" -- a smokeless, pseudo-cigarette that delivers controlled levels of nicotine through a vapor that's sucked into the lungs......

Read the rest here: http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2009/04/smokers_fear_backlash_from_hea.html

 

[TropicalBob]

An excellent article, with both sides fairly represented. Can't ask for more than this.

 

[techtravis]

My home county

I wonder if I sold him his E-cig ?

 

[Wally]

An excellent article, with both sides fairly represented. Can't ask for more than this.

Well, there is a significant component of "the public health community" that does not concur with Sward's comments and that might have been cited in opposition to simply banning these things.

 

[Avid]

Smokers fear backlash from health advocates over "e-cigarettes"

"All these ideas and claims the companies are making and users are making that they're safe -- we don't know that any of that's actually true. I don't think we can rely on the companies' statements," said Sward.
"This is tantamount to some pharmaceutical company setting up a card table outside (a drugstore) to sell a cancer cure that's never been tested."

If Ms. Sward were dying of cancer and had exhausted all available "proven" treatment options to no avail, I think she might find herself standing at the card table.


Patch
Nicorette Gum
Zyban
Chantix
Hypnosis (twice)
Lozenge
"Cold Turkey"
"Cutting down"

I'm tired. My e-cig is working for me. At this point, I feel I'm better off with the "unknown".

 

[TropicalBob]

We all do. I feel better with the "unknowns" than with my former cigarette addiction. But let the rational side of your brain acknowledge the accuracy of her statements. Because they are accurate. And we should all be working for tests that prove just how valuable e-smoking can be as a cigarette substitute.

 

[Avid]

We all do. I feel better with the "unknowns" than with my former cigarette addiction. But let the rational side of your brain acknowledge the accuracy of her statements. Because they are accurate. And we should all be working for tests that prove just how valuable e-smoking can be as a cigarette substitute.

I do not disagree with her statement in regard to it's accuracy, and I would welcome testing of e-cigs to ensure their safety. No question about it. My common sense tells me that vaping is a lot safER (comparatively speaking) than smoking traditional cigarettes. My body is telling me the same thing, but it would be nice to have some official lab report proving it.

My biggest concern is that remarks such as those noted promote *banning* of e-cigs until they're properly tested - the card table remark implies much danger from the e-cig when I feel the greater danger is the analogs. I need to have parts, nicquid, etc. readily available to me during that time or else I will go back to my 3 pack a day analog habit. That thought scares the hell out of me.

Speaking for myself, a person who has run out of available proven options to quit and still continues to smoke, I would like to take my chances at the card table.

 

[MonkeyMonk]

We all do. I feel better with the "unknowns" than with my former cigarette addiction. But let the rational side of your brain acknowledge the accuracy of her statements. Because they are accurate. And we should all be working for tests that prove just how valuable e-smoking can be as a cigarette substitute.

Agreed! Great article Moonlightcsp ; Thanks for the find!

 

[yvilla]

We all do. I feel better with the "unknowns" than with my former cigarette addiction. But let the rational side of your brain acknowledge the accuracy of her statements. Because they are accurate. And we should all be working for tests that prove just how valuable e-smoking can be as a cigarette substitute.

"We understand the FDA has stopped a number of these products at the border ... but the public health community believes they should not be allowed to be on the market yet at all," said Sward.

This statement is not accurate.

Only a portion of the "public health community" is so shortsighted as to believe that.