In response to post #5: you're absolutely right, Mindfield. I think it's high time, for the enlightenment of everyone, to share a post I was going to put in a different
thread,
(which has since slipped down the page). Here it is:
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I just listened to a podcast that Rachel just sent me regarding Ivaqs. Ok scratch my post about having hope. After hearing this podcast I am more in the sand then ever.
Take heart, hun.
Yes, IVAQS is a total mess - and that's sad, because a lot of well-meaning people gave a lot of money to it. But it never offered anyone salvation, no matter how it turned out. A lot of people still don't seem to understand: the government is
not interested in how safe vaping is or isn't.
If they cared about that
at all, there wouldn't be an issue. There's enough evidence to sink a ship, to prove exactly what is & isn't in e-juice & to prove that vaping is no more harmful than common caffeine consumption.
None of that has the
slightest impact on HC - no matter if a million studies were conducted, no matter how much overwhelming proof is offered. Why? Because the relative safety of vaping is not the issue for them. It's a regulatory issue. If we can deal with the stumbling block of the regulatory issue, the rest falls into place.
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WHOSE MOVE?
And who is it that's regulated? The
industry. So it's the industry that must challenge the problem that faces it. But so far, they haven't done that.
To date, our Canadian e-cig / e-juice industry has
never proposed an alternative regulatory framework to HC. Not professionally, or any which way. So far, the grand plan has been to do nothing; to ignore the elephant in the room. And that's a problem - doing nothing, changes nothing.
It's impossible to displace inappropriate regulation without effectively, professionally proposing the alternative of
appropriate regulation. No one has done that here. We haven't even adopted standards, for goodness' sakes. We've proposed nothing.
That's why nothing has changed yet.
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THE CHOICE
Regulation is not optional.
No industry offering electronic merchandise and/or consumable products goes unregulated in Canada.
Every industry must adopt standards.
Without industry-wide standards & some form of
(appropriate) regulation, consumers are potentially placed at risk. How would you feel about eating food that wasn't subject to any regulatory oversight? How would you feel about buying electronic merchandise that hasn't been checked for toxic lead, or faulty wiring, or shoddy construction? You see? The government is
obligated to regulate our industry.
So the question now is:
What kind of regulation do we want?
Do we sit by & allow HC's
inappropriate regulation
(which misclassifies e-cigs & e-juice w/nic, & prevents any possibility of market authorization) to go unchallenged?
Or does the Canadian industry finally get down to the business of adopting industry-wide standards & proposing an affordable,
appropriate regulatory alternative?
We've seen the UK vendors make the right choice: we
know it leads to success. And we know that success cannot possibly come without it.
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HELP REQUIRES CHANGE
Vapers can only
effectively advocate for the industry when it helps itself & rises to a professional level of operation. I know the industry isn't huge yet. But our suppliers want to prosper & grow. We want them to prosper & grow. And there are people that can help make prosperity & growth the norm. The potential for growth & profit should not be underestimated - it's
staggering. But our industry's inaction is standing in the way of it...and indeed, threatening what we have now.
Which deeply concerns me & royally pisses me off. It's bad enough to have the government threatening our access to vaping - but to have our own suppliers threatening it
(through inaction) is ridiculous!
So suppliers need to sit down & ask themselves:
"Are we going to address the situation, or keep on avoiding it?" The ball is in their court.
I know that change can be frightening; it's always tempting & easier in a way to just ignore a problem. But that doesn't fix things. I'm sure some of our suppliers are thinking:
"Hey, I don't know how to propose alternatives to HC. I'm just trying to sell a product!" Relax. There are experienced, skilled people ready & willing to help our industry make the right changes that it
needs to make. People that will make the changes as affordable & uniform as possible, too. Canadian suppliers: you're not alone. Significant help is at hand.
More importantly...you
have to do this, if you want to survive. You've run out of time for dilly-dallying & fence-sitting.
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CONCLUSION
Anyway, as I said earlier to Danesnpits...take heart. There
is a new day on the horizon for we vapers. There are positive things that can be done. In light of Mindfield's post today, you better believe we are going to press forward that much harder to drive home the
urgency! A lot of this stuff is happening behind the scenes
(which is why I haven't named any names here); it's stuff that the average vaper can't contribute to, or be involved with. It's the
industry that has to do these things.
(And you'd better believe that we vapers demand the industry act already!)
This post is
not an attack on our industry - it is a passionate & urgent appeal for our beloved industry to do what it
needs to bloody well do! Because we
need you. As do countless smokers who have still never even heard of vaping.
These things aren't going to happen overnight. But they are being done. Things that will change our situation for the better. To everyone here: keep on vaping, and keep on praying.
