Why is Senator Burr on our side?

[DaveP]

It's AGAINST THE LAW for kids to buy 'combustible' tobacco flavored cigarettes, yet it was never mentioned once how many kids are smoking cigarettes.

Exactly. When I was a teenager it was against the law for us to buy alcoholic beverages and I guess it was against the law for us to buy cigarettes. No one turned me down on a pack of Marlboros, but I was able to get a few adults to buy beer and pass it off outside the store. There was always someone in our circle of friends who knew people who would buy beer for us.

 

[klynnn]

I can imagine that when all people quit burning cigs they will still be using nicotine in the ecig which is made from tobacco...which is grown in NC.

 

[Stosh]

This is the thoughts of the other senator from NC, the one that couldn't be bothered showing up for the hearing.....

Dear Fellow North Carolinian,

Thank you for contacting me to share your thoughts and opinions. This automatic e-mail is to confirm that my office has received your message. Please be assured that we will get back to you as soon as possible regarding your specific concern. In the meantime, please feel free to visit Kay Hagan | U.S. Senator for North Carolina to find contact information for my offices and information about what I've been doing in North Carolina and Washington.


Sincerely,

Signature

Kay R. Hagan
United States Senator, North Carolina

 

[AgentAnia]

This is the thoughts of the other senator from NC, the one that couldn't be bothered showing up for the hearing.....

This is the boilerplate "interim reply" most, if not all, congressional offices send out. It's probably automated and has never enjoyed human input after the original programmer signed off.

Can't tell you how many of these I've received. After sending dozens (good grief, maybe hundreds) of emails to my representative and two senators, I've received a whopping two substantive replies, and both were clearly "issue boilerplates." I'd give up, except I know those offices are at least keeping a tally of sheer numbers of emails, hopefully by issue, and as I always say, numbers count.

As for who showed up at the hearing and who didn't, the fact that Burr did shows, IMO, that he has either a real commitment to the issue or a desire to publicly thwart Harkin. Possibly both. Otherwise, being on the same podium as Harkin could have been viewed as an embarrassment. Just my opinion... (I do wish I could have seen Harkin's expression and body language while Burr was speaking! )

 

[thebanik]

DC, I sent him this letter last night. I had also posted in another thread, but very relevant here for obvious reasons! Hopefully it will inspire others to do the same!!

Dear Senator Burr,
I want to start by saying THANK YOU for being the voice of reason during the hearing on 5-15-14 in regard to Tobacco Control and E-cigarettes. There are over 15,000 small businesses nationwide selling e-cigarettes and promoting harm reduction. The current e-cig was created by Hon Lik (a pharmacist), who wanted a safer alternative to combustible cigarettes. This idea was initiated after watching his father die from lung cancer.
E-cigarettes CAN NOT be deemed under the Tobacco Control Act as it is currently written. This will be a death sentence to the ENTIRE industry. The TCA was designed to restrict Big Tobacco from introducing more deadly products to the market. This is done by a burdensome and expensive application process among other things. This same process will decimate the e-cig industry, and hand over what little is left, to Big Tobacco. The Same BT that we have been fighting to get Americans away from. In essence they will be rewarded while all small business will suffer.
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! There is no arguing that some sort of regulation be placed on the e-cig industry. These regulations must be reasonable and affordable, so small business can sustain them.
You spoke about wanting to see the science. I implore you to look at science being done all over the world that shows nothing but promising results in regard to this new industry. The CDC has been driven by specific agenda. For example, the study that cites e-cig use had doubled among High school kids.....what Mr Friedan fails to mention, is that 90% of all kids that ever tried e-cigs were already smoking. We can not let the science be cherry picked to fit a specific agenda. Please hold everyone involved in this regulation process to a higher standard. Insist that small business not be shuttered because of over-expensive regulation. Let Americans continue to choose. The free market got this industry to where it is today.
Warmest Regards,
Tom Pavlou

By any chance are you a vendor yourself???? Although nicely written it seems as if you are only imploring his business side and how small businesses would be affected, what if he states that a business which is damaging the society is not his problem? IMO if you are a e-cig user you should have given more stress on yours and people you know testimonies and how e-cig is not dangerous at all.

 

[CassiusCloud]

Could be that many people have been contacting him recently to let him know..
Hey we're watching you buuuuudee.

 

[Bobbilly]

Unfortunately I think he would be happy with anything that would only benefit Reynolds

 

[3mg Meniere]

Unfortunately I think he would be happy with anything that would only benefit Reynolds

No, I don't think so. I think he is more concerned about the welfare of individual tobacco farmers. That benefits the state more than huge corporate interests. Although that is more the Democratic angle. Harkin might be losing his mental edge-- he has been in office too long.

NC is ahead of the game-- other states need to follow their model.

 

[Bobbilly]

NC is ahead of the game-- other states need to follow their model.

They have done right by calling it a vapor product but to tax in order to replace lost tobacco tax is wrong. Tobacco tax should not be considered revenue.

 

[yzer]

You have to wonder if Senator Burr, being from NC, is pressured to go with big tobacco given that they are transitioning into ecigs and need for them to be legal and unencumbered. His enthusiasm may not extend to Mom and Pop stores selling Chinese products that don't contribute to BT profits. The local B&M or online store is just competition for the big boys.

We'll have to wait and see how government configures the rules and if they craft some regulations that preclude profits for small business.

There will be big changes to big tobacco and it will take time for this to happen. Ten years down the road I have little doubt that big tobacco will control production and sales of extracted nicotine in the US. The tobacco farms will switch to cost-effective new tobacco plant varieties that are optimized for nicotine extraction, not leaf tobacco production. The seed companies and probably Monsanto will be key players in this. Corporations like Dow Chemical will provide US produced Nicotine USP.

 

[3mg Meniere]

They have done right by calling it a vapor product but to tax in order to replace lost tobacco tax is wrong. Tobacco tax should not be considered revenue.

And exactly who should pay health costs for those of us who made the switch after cumulative damage from many years of smoking?

 

[Gato del Jugo]

North Carolina is the largest tobacco producer. Senator Richard Burr is from North Carolina. Senator Burr has an interest in the economy of his state. Revenues from the tobacco industry are going down, because fewer and fewer people are smoking. Nic is extracted from tobacco. Senator Burr sees an economic opportunity in the long run, because vaping is less risky than smoking. He is looking at the long-range forecast for his state. Instead of selling tobacco for cancer-sticks, the industry can switch to extracting one of the least harmful components of tobacco, thus preserving the economy of his state. It is actually quite simple.


Can you see BT becoming the biggest producer of purified nicotine?

What I saw in the video (and I couldn't watch it for very long because my computer audio is bad) was a bunch of people who are afraid of technology. They see something that is moving too fast for them to control. Senator Burr is seeing opportunity in change.

I don't know the tobacco-use rate in NC, but I'd wager it's a bit higher than the national average..

In addition to all that you mentioned, perhaps he's also seen over the years quite a few people in his state have health issues due to combustible tobacco use...

 

[yzer]

I'm kind of hard-line about who should pay for health care costs from smoking. The smoker should pay for treatment directly or through their health insurance unless they can prove a tobacco company forced them start smoking.

 

[Bobbilly]

And exactly who should pay health costs for those of us who made the switch after many years and cumulative damage from smoking?

You already paid for it with tobacco taxes and the MSA. You also pay for general taxes for all those who make other bad choices.

 

[Stosh]

This is the boilerplate "interim reply" most, if not all, congressional offices send out. It's probably automated and has never enjoyed human input after the original programmer signed off....

... (I do wish I could have seen Harkin's expression and body language while Burr was speaking! )

I realize it's boilerplate, just aggravating since she actually sits on the committee.

Regarding Harkin's reactions....I'd pay for that movie...

 

[CassiusCloud]

I'm kind of hard-line about who should pay for health care costs from smoking. The smoker should pay for treatment directly or through their health insurance unless they can prove a tobacco company forced them start smoking.

I guess according to Zeller the CDC and Harkin,if we were underage at the time we started,The tobacco companies did it by marketing to us

 

[yzer]

I guess according to Zeller the CDC and Harkin,if we were underage at the time we started,The tobacco companies did it by marketing to us

You may have a point there. By that thinking business marketing forced many people to pay more than $1000 a year for TV and more than $300 per year for telephones.

 

[Stosh]

I guess according to Zeller the CDC and Harkin,if we were underage at the time we started,The tobacco companies did it by marketing to us

I was underage when I started....and old enough that the tobacco companies likely were marketing to youth.
That was regulated out of existence decades ago.....yet we still have teenage smokers...

Insanity is repeating the same actions and expecting different results....

 

[Bobbilly]

I forgot smokers also cover themselves by increased insurance rates as well. My argument is that loss of tobacco tax revenue is a sign that use is going down and however unrealistic should have a plan for budgeting without it

 

[CassiusCloud]

You may have a point there. By that thinking business marketing forced many people to pay more than $1000 a year for TV and more than $300 per year for telephones.

It was their point,that's the beauty of it..
But then again,they are politicians and people let them slide back and forth on points as it suits them..
Would be nice if we made them stick to their guns rather than allowing them to kiss the current cheek they need to be kissing to stay afloat.