We Need Nation-wide Protests Against The Flavor Ban!!!

Friends,
I really have to stop reading the news.
Every single day there is a new article bashing and smearing vaping as a viable, healthy alternative to smoking the 'stink sticks' (I coined that yesterday, patent pending).
Anyway, it absolutely infuriates me when I read these one-sided articles that is backed by little to no research. Not to mention that these articles are most likely written with some sort of bias. Whether it be BT, BP or the numerous anti-smoking groups, very seldom do they actually ask anyone who knows anything about vaping and the initiative of the hobby/lifestyle and they sure don't interview actual vapers or want to hear the numerous stories of how vaping has saved so many lives.
They say they don't want to 'normalize or glamorize' smoking because it will make it more attractive to kids.
Well, you know what? The more you tell kids NOT to do something, the more they WILL do it. I know, I have 2 of them.
As a former smoker and now around 6 months smoke free, I detest smoking cigarettes. But having said that, I would rather see a kid puffing on a vape than on a Stink Stick.
So, yes, I can see the need for regulations, but the vaping industry does a good job with self-regulation and reputable businesses do not sell to minors.
But, kids will be kids and they will find a way to get their hands on cigarettes just like they do with alcohol.
Let's discuss and vape on!  

I haven't come across any studies or polls that determine how important flavors are/were to help vapers to quit smoking and remain off cigarettes.

This video is a fantastic testimony on how important flavors are in vaping. It's in an MP4 format, so the link looks funny, but its safe to click on. Mark_Slis-Michigan_Testimony-2019-09-12.mp4

He shares that 99% of his customers choose a fruit or desert flavor. An 87 year old grandmother chose "Fruity COPYRIGHTDMCA Cereal". Yes, older people like flavors and demand "kid flavors".

Why You Don't Need an E-Liquid that Tastes Like Cigarettes

So I'm asking everyone in this community to voice their opinion on how important flavors were to get you off of cigarettes when you began vaping, and how important are they to you today to keep you from returning back to smoking? Will you be able to use just "tobacco" flavors if the FDA bans flavors?




Sign the Petition
 

Well, I just got back from a week in Orlando (Kids, theme parks) and I wanted to share what I saw.

Disney: What a pita! Vaping is restricted to smoking areas, and these are extremely rare and far out.
Universal: Awesome. Even though I (mostly) vaped in the smoking areas, they were all over the place, easily accessible.

I also have to say that we (both myself and the kids) were really disappointed in the Disney parks (Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios). Old, stale, lame. Universal was awesome (We went to the Islands of adventure park; wish I had done 2 days of universal and one of Disney, rather than the other way around!)

But that actually isn't the reason for my post. What impressed me is the number of vapers I ran into (in the smoking areas). And I didn't see a single cigalike! Several big-ego batts (usually with EVOD heads) but also some great gear! There was a guy blowing such beautiful vape that I had to go ask - he was using a Herkales (don't remember what his box mod was) and uses an Arctic for backup. And never heard of ECF! (Hopefully he's joined!)

But what stunned me was that:
a) Every smoking area I went to, 25 percent of the people there were vaping, not smoking.
b) Everyone I talked to (was only about 4 people) had just started within the last few months
c) Nobody was using crap gear, or gas-station cigalikes.

Icing on the cake: While I was on vacation, a tree fell on my house. Met the adjuster today, and guess what? While we were walking around the outside of the house, he pulled out his vape! (And he also started just 2 months ago!)

Maybe I don't get out enough, but I was amazed, and encouraged. I think, when the end-of-year numbers come out on vaping some politicians are going to be unpleasantly shocked.  

VAPING TESTIMONIAL
I smoked for over 50 years and it got to the point where I could barely breathe. I knew I had to quit but I also knew I had no will power to do so. Then 6 years ago I tried vaping and it literally saved my life. I still got my nicotine fix and could finally breathe easier and I was not inhaling all those harmful chemicals. I know taking anything into your lungs is harmful but vaping really is the lesser of two evils. And speaking of evils look at these statistics:
Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year
68,557 people died in 2018 of an opioid overdose
in 2017, 39,773 people in the US lost their lives at the point of a gun
In 2016, 10,497 people died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes
30,000 deaths were the result of domestic abuse world wide in 2018.
There are 2,200 alcohol poisoning deaths in the US each year.
so in the last year 631,027 died of unnatural causes, extrapolated over six years that is 3,786,162 deaths
1978 to 1995 a total of 37 Americans were killed by falling vending machines
There have been six confirmed deaths connected to vaping across the US
of these two were from lithium batteries exploding and not the vaping itself
and two were from people experimenting by adding dangerous chemicals to their e-cigarettes.
So in reality only two people died due to vaping.
and you pick vaping as a just cause. Really? where are your values and priorities?
more people die each year from choking or acts of stupidity than vaping.
Of all these causes you could get behind why are you picking the least dangerous and offensive one? I think it's time people learned to pick their battles.
so, 480,000 deaths by cigarettes and why doesn't the government care? Here's why, because for every smoker that dies a new smoker starts. And tobacco is such a cash cow the government doesn't want it to disappear. In Canada the average taxes on a carton of cigarettes is 65%, in the US the taxes are around 45%. That's a lot of free cash. But, if people switch to vaping there are no taxes associated with it. There are no health concerns, it is purely greed.
Here is the thing about statistics: you can make up anything you want or manipulate the facts to get your point of view across. Why? Because they can't be verified. So all the government does is use scare tactics and people are gullible enough to believe it. They have no scientific proof to back up their claims, it is all BS.
Vaping is a much safer alternative to smoking, so why don't they shut down the tobacco industry? MONEY!! MONEY!! MONEY!!
I will defend vaping over cigarettes forever.  

If people under a certain age are not allowed to purchase vape items, then what's the issue?

Just don't sell to any minors, and handle it like alcohol and tobacco. Go after any stores or vendors that break these rules and that sells to any minor and hit them with hefty fines or prosecution. Problem solved.

I reject the idiotic, false and unscientific argument that certain types of flavors are only suitable for kids. An adult is not allowed to like fruit flavors or desert flavors or any other type of flavor?

Do adults suddenly lose their sense of taste when they age, and they'll be content vaping poor tobacco imitation flavors and menthol for the rest of their lives?

I'm an adult, and my favorite flavors are custard type flavors. Just because I used to smoke, that doesn't mean that I should have to vape and like tobacco flavors. You don't ban all sorts of flavors and deny adults who are ex-smokers the opportunity to continue to be smoke free, just because they were lucky enough to have found and switched to vaping.

Sorry if I sound cynical, but so what if a handful of people have reportedly died because they were foolish enough to use blackmarket counterfeit items? Items that have zero to do with nic based vaping I should add.

How many millions of people die from tobacco related diseases?

Millions is a lot more than a handful last I checked, and the only thing that banning vaping and vaping related items will accomplish is to ensure that many more people will be added to the list of the dead as many will return to cigs and many current cig smokers will never make the switch to vaping, as the politicians seek to deny people the opportunity to stay off of cigs.

If they ever find a cure for cancer, I wouldn't be surprised if they ban that too, because 7 people happened to get some ill side effects from it.  

News here said, E-Cigarrette is TEN (10) times more danerous/Hazardous than smoking traditional Cigarrette !

My translation is: It is SAFER to smoke a Traditional cigarrette "Analogs" than E-Cigs/Vaping.

But the Smoking ban here is almost everywhere.. even in you OWN PRIVATE Car.. you'll get fined.

Even in your own porch when the smokes drifts to you neighbor... if they compalined to the police you'll get ....in fined.


while the news in europe/England Vaping is LEGAL and SAFER than Analogs... I would love to show them (Taiwanese) the u-tubes and the news abroad...

BUT IT'S their fault ! THEY CAN'T understand English... Just ....in' pathetic...

So my wife is still complaining and asking me to quit vaping too.

I Said, I already swift to a SAFER Alternative already and that is Vaping... This one I'm taking with me to the Grave.

They understand chinese, so THEY ONLY TRUST Chinese... SQUARE people.  

Got this from the world wide web and wanted to share it here.

Apologies if it's already been shared. It's a handy list for reference as well as informative.

E-CIGARETTE POLICY BRIEF: Seven Things Policy Makers Need to Know

All references are hyperlinked to official WHO and government reports, and peer-reviewed studies

The death toll from smoking is enormous

8 million people die every year from smoking-related diseases (WHO), including 480,000 in the USA (CDC) 1.1 billion people smoke worldwide (WHO), including 34 million in the USA (CDC) In the USA, smoking is now concentrated among low-income and LGBTQ people, people living with mental illnesses, and indigenous peoples (American Lung Association)

→ Tobacco smoking is, by far, the world’s leading cause of preventable cancer, heart and lung disease

Harm reduction can reduce that death toll

There is growing independent consensus that e-cigarettes are safer than smoking (35+ official public statements) There is strong evidence that smokers who switch to e-cigarettes have lower risk of cancer, heart & lung disease When not in tobacco smoke, nicotine itself does not cause cancer, heart or lung disease (CDC and IARC/WHO) → Other examples of harm reduction include seat belts, bicycle helmets, parachutes, methadone and condoms

Safer nicotine alternatives help smokers quit

Big pharma nicotine patches & gum (NRTs) cause neither addiction nor cancer, heart or lung disease (FDA; CDC) NRTs increase quit success from 5% (cold turkey) to 9% (on average, smokers try and fail 30 times before quitting) E-cigarettes are two times more effective than NRTs (Cochrane review of 50 peer-reviewed studies worldwide) Many adult vapers “quit by accident” with e-cigarettes (online survey); NRTs only benefit those who want to quit 92% of US all vapers are ADULTS; 4.3 million US adults have quit smoking completely with nicotine vapes (CDC) The adult cessation total may be 5.4 million because 26% of those who quit with e-cigarettes later quit vaping 2.1 million UK smokers (UK government) and 7.5 million EU smokers (Eurobarometer) have quit with e-cigarettes ‘Flavors’ are up to 2.3 times more effective for smoking cessation than tobacco flavor (Yale study) (UK study) 80% of US adult vapers prefer fruit, dessert or candy flavors that don’t remind them of smoking (FDA submission) → Forcing ex-smokers to vape tobacco flavor is like forcing recovering alcoholics to drink rum-flavored club soda

Teen vaping is undesirable, but not a crisis

In the UK, which promotes nicotine vaping for adult smokers, teen “current use” by never-smokers is just 1% US high school “current use” of vaping products dropped 29% between 2019 and March 2020 (CDC/NYTS) By March 2020, only 1 in 20 US high school students vaped daily (4.4%, but 53% of that may be THC not nicotine) US youth & young adult vaping dropped another 32% during the pandemic (JAMA survey up to November 2020) If both surveys are combined, just 1 in 10 US high school-age teens are now “current users” (13%) → If this assumption is correct, then US teen past 30-day ever-use is now lower than it was in 2015 (6 years ago)

Proposed policy “cures” are worse than the “disease”

Proposed policies to reduce teen vaping include higher taxes, ‘flavor’ bans, online sales bans and shipping bans E-cigarette taxes have caused cigarette sales to increase in 8 US states (National Bureau of Economic Research) E-cigarette taxes “increase prenatal smoking and lower smoking cessation during pregnancy” in female smokers Ecig flavor bans increased cigarette sales in San Francisco; Washington; Rhode Island; New York; and Nova Scotia Online sales and mail shipment bans reduce adult access, so are also very likely to strengthen cigarette sales → Higher taxes, ‘flavor’ bans, and online/mail bans protect big tobacco’s main cash cow: deadly cigarettes

Unintended consequences and logical inconsistencies

Probable outcome of ‘flavor’ bans: Teen vapers will switch to THC vaping or to cigarette smoking; many adult vapers will relapse to smoking; fewer smokers will quit; an illicit market (with no age-checks) will arise

The same organizations that claim teen vaping is a gateway to tobacco smoking, also claim tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes repel teens (i.e., banning ‘flavored’ nicotine vapes will reduce teen vaping)

→ Definitions differ: adult current use = daily or regular use; teen current use = past 30-day ever-use

Full context of adult products that teens use, but should not use

US teens are more likely to smoke pot or use illegal drugs than to be “current users” of e-cigarettes (NIDA MTF) US teens are 2X more likely to binge drink than vape “frequently”; 3X more likely to binge drink than vape daily US teen binge drinking causes 3,500 deaths and 119,000 ER visits/year (CDC); US policy response? Age-checks US teen “current smoking” rates dropped 3X faster than historical trends after 2012 (NIDA MTF) → Teens should not vape, smoke, drink or use cannabis (and adults should try to avoid irrational moral panics)  

With all the bad press regarding vaping i've found myself really self-conscience about vaping in public lately. been vaping for 6 years solid and i haven't felt like this since i was a smoker. where once i was enjoying the freedom of blowing billowing blue-white clouds while waltzing down the avenue, now i feel like i'm the harlot in the midnight choir wearing a scarlet letter.

to top it off is my frustration of the talking heads in the media not telling the full truth about those who are falling ill or dying from vaping due to vaping things other than just nicotine. it seems easier for them to just lump everyone in a general vaping category without specifying the underlying cause.

i get that parents have been in a tizzy over their kids treating vaping like it's candy time at the O.K. Corral, but deal with that issue specifically. it's socially irresponsible to go after all vapors, many of whom might be tempted to pick up smoking again because, at least right now, it seems like it might become a more socially acceptable stigma than vaping ... imagine that ... despite the fact that smoking is many times more dangerous. of course there's always good 'ol Chantix ... if you don't mind the possible psychopathic side-effects.

anyway i don't know what the point of this is. i'm just frustrated and needed to vent.  

Children Vaping is a Parenting Issue, NOT a Government Issue

I am so tired of the "What about the Children" crap I could scream.

I listened to some of the Round table talk with the President today at work.

I actually heard a woman exclaim WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN ...omg...

What's the matter with people that they can't parent their children and instead go crying to the government to DO SOMETHING ! ??
The school that let Juul in to talk with the kids...What the hell kind of school does that anyway ?
That really passed approval of the School Board ? THAT should be addressed.

Let's see...e-cigarettes are for 18 or older and kids are still getting them (just exactly like WE did with our cigarettes). HOW is raising the age to 21 going to magically stop that ?
ALL that is going to do is make it difficult for those smokers under 21 that need/want to stop smoking cigarettes.

Parents need to start paying attention to their children and what they are doing.
Get off the phones and iPads and act like a family.


I have a feeling many parents are going to be really surprised to find out that little kiddo's e-cig is really THC instead of nicotine.
How ya like THEM apples - huh ?

but...that's legal now so I guess it's just fine.

What a messed up world.
Yea...I'm a bit royally pissed.  

I was thinking the whole situation in many countries that vaping is straight up banned or illegal....and also countries like USA that is not that extreme but still many regulations going on and anyways we all know the big tobacco companies and what they try to do.

I am sure tho that vaping won't be stoped...u can't stop vaping and all the big tobacco do is to try buy some more time for them cause they know that cigarettes are in their end..

I don't know how long this will last but I am sure vaping will make cigarette smoking obselete and it will go very big...

Europe claims they have a plan to end tobacco use until 2032 or something like that for example....maybe that happens and it would be good cause it's for everyone's good.... but u can't just fight vaping and let smoking still exist...

Vaping will be back and for good....the people slowly start accept it and learn it cause honestly imagine how many smokers are out there and how many vapers...while vaping is much more enjoyable objectively...

We the people didn't support vaping enough...
ok maybe we the vapers did but I mean the majority out there don't......people are scared and they don't like to change their habits easy....even if it's for their own good.

I know politics are corrupted and all that....but some of us live in democracies maybe not perfect but still....if all people wanted to stop smoking and switch into vaping to make their life better then they couldn't stop us...
Worst case they would do it to get votes like they usually do with everything they do... not that they care for us...

So yeah vaping will go very big the next year's..