The pleasures of caffeine and nicotine

[LaraC]

In Jessica99's always interesting "Nothing About Us Without Us" thread, the Friday July 8 edition included a really good article called "Understanding Pleasure" in Jester's "Midnight Musings" blog.

Midnight Musings: Understanding Pleasure

A couple of excerpts that I really liked a lot:

"Anyone who has attended any Public Health seminars or symposiums will know that such events are usually awash with coffee and tea, which are eagerly consumed by the attendees. But while those in Public Health and tobacco Control are happily indulging their ‘Pleasure Principal’ with coffee, they will expend all their breath telling us the nicotine is ‘addictive’ and ‘bad’. They are wrong on both counts as recent studies have proven that nicotine on its own is no more addictive or damaging than its caffeine counterpart."

---------------

"For tobacco Control and Public Health people, herein lies the problem [that nicotine is inhaled.] Whilst they see nothing wrong with drinking a drug like caffeine, Vaping is far too close in appearance to smoking to make inhaling nicotine in that form acceptable - even without the smoke. They are driven by their hatred of tobacco and as a result cannot get past the similarity between vaping and smoking – even while privately acknowledging that vaping is vastly safer than smoking. It also means that they cannot ‘publically’ acknowledge that vapers and smokers get as much enjoyment from nicotine as they do from caffeine."

 

[Rossum]

It also means that they cannot ‘publically’ acknowledge that vapers and smokers get as much enjoyment from nicotine as they do from caffeine."

Why settle for one when you can have both?

 

[Cool_Breeze]

As well with caffeine, there is no concerted effort to keep it away from minors...

 

[r77r7r]

" such events are awash with coffee and tea " Yum, I may have to defect. So, addicts against addicts. That should turn out well. Wait a minute, I thought we were supposed to Follow The Money Trail? Or, is this how it's paved?

 

[Kent C]

" such events are awash with coffee and tea " Yum, I may have to defect. So, addicts against addicts. That should turn out well. Wait a minute, I thought we were supposed to Follow The Money Trail? Or, is this how it's paved?

Fairly good point, although 'follow the money' can be just as hypocritical in some respects.

How about 'no coffee, tea or money for hypocrites'. :- )

 

[LaraC]

" such events are awash with coffee and tea " Yum, I may have to defect. So, addicts against addicts. That should turn out well. Wait a minute, I thought we were supposed to Follow The Money Trail? Or, is this how it's paved?

The so-called "nicotine addiction" is just one more crumbly brick in the trail that people who have always hated tobacco in any form (and hated it especially when they smelled smoke from a cigarette or a cigar) have used since the days of the Godber Blueprint: Rampant Antismoking Signifies Grave Danger (a friendly nod to DC2 for my borrowing his favorite link. )

The trail has a lot of forks and detours but the final destination of all the twists and turns is a pathological, very strong determination to CONTROL how other people live and enjoy pleasures, even if the pleasure is harmless to the user and to bystanders. And even if the pleasure (vaping) is harmless to the "population as a whole" (a phrase FDA's Zeller likes to use. ugh. )

 

[WorksForMe]

snip

people who have always hated tobacco in any form (and hated it especially when they smelled smoke from a cigarette or a cigar) ...

I believe this is the crux of the matter for a huge percentage of the people in the anti-smoking movement that are not profiting from the movement. They don't really care about other people's health. They just don't want to smell cigarette smoke all the time. Health and SHS are just a smoke screen(pun intended).

 

[LaraC]

WorksForMe wrote: "I believe this is the crux of the matter for a huge percentage of the people in the anti-smoking movement that are not profiting from the movement. They don't really care about other people's health. They just don't want to smell cigarette smoke all the time."

I agree. I also think that's the crux of the matter for a huge percentage of people in general...people who are a majority of the population in any country. Since they don't like the smell of cigarette smoke, and they neither smoke nor vape, they are not interested in the health pros/cons of those two activities.

All that the never-smokers know is that they absolutely don't like cigarette smoke, and vaping "looks like" smoking.

If politicians, regulators, or junk "scientists with an agenda says, "vaping is bad, vaping is harmful, vaping lures kids as a gateway to smoking, nicotine is one of the most addictive substances on earth, etc." , the never-smoked, never-vaped public that dislikes the smell of cigarette smoke is content to accept scare headlines. They will sit by and let the wheels grind vaping into the ground.

"I never have smoked and never will" people are in the majority. The politicians and regulators know it.

 

[rico942]

I was sitting in an outdoor cafe patio just last week, no walls, just a fabric cover overhead ...

The patio was adjacent to a sidewalk, and a busy commercial street with lots of vehicle traffic, so a noticeable amount of exhaust fumes, but not overwhelming. Also some very pungent aromas emanating from the cafe kitchen. People at nearby tables were chatting cheerfully and enjoying the warm day and gentle ocean breeze ...

A couple of teenage dudes strolled by on the sidewalk, both smoking cigarettes, maybe 10 feet from the nearest tables. Perhaps the tiniest wisp of smoke invaded the cafe airspace ...

The fake coughing and frantic hand waving started immediately, and spread to more distant tables within seconds. It was amazing to watch, as if they had all simultaneously swallowed a cayenne pepper ...

Its a conditioned response of the weak-minded and easily influenced, supported by decades of relentless propaganda ...

I couldn't rightfully join in the group outrage, as I had been stealth vaping the whole time I was there ...

 

[DC2]

WorksForMe wrote: "I believe this is the crux of the matter for a huge percentage of the people in the anti-smoking movement that are not profiting from the movement. They don't really care about other people's health. They just don't want to smell cigarette smoke all the time."

I agree. I also think that's the crux of the matter for a huge percentage of people in general...people who are a majority of the population in any country. Since they don't like the smell of cigarette smoke, and they neither smoke nor vape, they are not interested in the health pros/cons of those two activities.

All that the never-smokers know is that they absolutely don't like cigarette smoke, and vaping "looks like" smoking.

If politicians, regulators, or junk "scientists with an agenda says, "vaping is bad, vaping is harmful, vaping lures kids as a gateway to smoking, nicotine is one of the most addictive substances on earth, etc." , the never-smoked, never-vaped public that dislikes the smell of cigarette smoke is content to accept scare headlines. They will sit by and let the wheels grind vaping into the ground.

"I never have smoked and never will" people are in the majority. The politicians and regulators know it.

That pretty much sums up everything all at once in one concise post.
Which is why I never let the "sheep" get away with bad-mouthing vaping.

If they want to open their mouths in range of my hearing it...
Then they have to deal with a mountain of truth that I will spill right on them..

We have no hope whatsoever if we remain silent.
END OF STORY