e-Cig News Roundup 1-23-12 – Rare gems
Today’s e-cigarette news roundup is another king-sized selection of e-cigarette news. A committee charged with advising the FDA on dissolvable (and smokeless) tobacco met late last week, prompting a number of related news stories. There were also several e-cigarette stories in local newspapers ranging from profile pieces to prohibitionist propaganda to actual journalism. There’s also a community-driven charity drive that could result in inexpensive e-cigarette gear for you. Let’s begin our e-cigarette news-filled journey now!
Programming Note
A few of the stories today are the result of a meeting held in Washington DC last week. Last Thursday the committee responsible for delivering recommendations regarding dissolvable tobacco products heard testimony regarding reduced harm products. There were representatives from the prohibition camps, tobacco lobby as well as folks from CASAA, ordinary vapers and other members of the science community in favor of harm reduction. I watched part of the testimony which was quite interesting. While the focus of the committee was specifically about dissolvable, there was a lot of discussion about e-cigarettes as well. Once a recording of the events are available, I will post a link. Also, if you testified, you have my thanks for doing your part to help keep all of us healthier!
The Art of Sarcasm and Government Testimony
One of the most interesting speakers at the hearings was Dr. Carl V. Phillips who through a very sarcastic (and quite entertaining) testimony blasted prohibitionists who ignore or manipulate data to further their own causes. To get the full effect, you’ll want to see the video (which I’ll post when it shows up online). Dr. Phillips posted a transcript along with an explanation of his approach on his blog.
The internet will love this!
In case you are wondering, still more background re that third bullet (explaining the joke does not make it funny, but it can clarify): The “manipulating children” refers to the Indiana Health Department who presented there and are the darling of the anti-tobacco extremist nutcase faction; their infamous “study” consisted of assembling some children, mixing dissolvable tobacco products (which the children had never seen or heard of before) in with some candies, and asking the children what they thought they were looking at. Obviously, they “discovered” that the kids thought the dissolvables were candies like the other items they were presented with. This is what passes for evidence for these people. I suspect it would be possible to convince the kids that the dissolvables were cats if you worked at it.
You really need to read the post to get the full gist of what went on. I also asked via the comments if Dr. Phillips though his testimony may have sent the wrong message about harm reduction proponents. He provided an excellent response to my questions illustrating why he felt his comments may have been helpful in waking some people up.
NPR Covers the FDA Testimony
National Public Radio ran a story on the dissolvables hearings during Morning Edition. Greg Connely of CASAA fame was one of the people they interviewed for the story. The piece basically summed up both sides of the debate, without really dipping to extremes in either direction.
Stolen from GregCASAA's Twitter feed
Companies can’t market dissolvables as a stop-smoking aid. Some health officials and a group of U.S. senators have called them “nicotine candy” and want the FDA to tighten the rules. Conley says he hopes they won’t.
“The public health people are saying, ‘Oh, we need to wait, we need to still get more data,’” he says. “Every day and every year that they wait to tell the truth about the relative risks of different tobacco products, more people are dying.”
The same person reporting the story for NPR also filed a separate story for her local station. That report seemed to slant a little more toward the prohibition side than the piece on NPR. You can read that story on WHYY’s site.
Via @GregCASAA and the We are CASAA Facebook Group
Something’s Missing
Pegasus News posted a story profiling the Vapor Bar out of McKinney, Texas. The story covers the usual things found in a business profile story, how the business started, what customers think, how things have picked up. Pretty formulaic stuff. Where it differs from many news stories about e-cigarettes is that it goes into great detail explaining how the owner started vaping, what is an e-cigarette, what sort of people experience using e-cigarettes for the first time, and the benefits of e-Cigarettes.
image: thevaporbarstore.com
“I’m not saying that this is healthy, but you’re getting rid of about 4,800 chemicals and going straight to nicotine,” shop owner Schell Hammel said of e-cigarettes. “When you’re talking about comparing this, apples to apples, with cigarettes, I’d much rather someone smokes this every day and twice on Sunday than smoke another cigarette.”
What’s really noteworthy is what’s missing. That quote above, that’s as close to input from the prohibitionists as it gets. There’s no interview with a random person who despises e-cigarettes, no mention of the FDA’s fear mongering. Nada. Quite refreshing indeed! I took the liberty of adding the Vapor Bar to the new Vape Lounge Directory as well.
In-depth Look at e-Cigarettes
While a nice puffy business profile about e-cigarette related merchants is rare, perhaps even more rare is a thoroughly researched and balanced article about the devices in the mainstream media. The Indy Star did just that in a recent article. The article covered a local retailer as well, interviewing several vapers, detailing the proposed addition of e-cigarettes to the non-smoking ordinance and explaining the prohibitionist position. The article even did a good job of summarizing the whole thing.
e-cigarette related image
On one side: Anti-smoking and health groups that need more conclusive proof, and data on the impact of long-term nicotine inhaling. They worry non-smokers will use them and youth will be attracted by e-cigarette flavors like chocolate.
On the other side: Some researchers and advocates who say enough evidence exists about e-cigarettes to show they are less harmful and should be promoted as a way to stop smoking.
The article didn’t just mention the evidence supporting e-cigarettes, but went into detail about that research. The other thing I took away from this is it illustrates the prohibitionists demand that e-cigarettes be proven 100% before they can exist. I’m pretty sure that’s actually impossible.
e-Cigarettes and Pregnancy
The Post-Tribune had a mention of e-cigarettes in a health Q&A column recently. The reader wanted to know if her granddaughter who switched to vaping while pregnant should vape indoors or not since she claims there’s no second-hand smoke. The response kind of glazed over the question.
Look! Stock Image
Electronic cigarettes are cigarette-shaped, battery-operated vaporizers that deliver nicotine through flavored liquids. They have not yet undergone any rigorous study, so the effects regarding secondhand smoke are still unknown. They are not regulated, and there are no industry standards, which means you can’t be sure what you are inhaling, but it generally includes nicotine and propylene glycol. Please urge your daughter to treat electronic cigarettes as she would any other type when it comes to smoking while pregnant. She is still risking the health of her child.
This sort of covers a bit of a personal grey area for me. While I completely disagree with the absolute terms the answer applied to e-cigarettes, I doubt there has been any study into the effects of vaping during pregnancy. On one hand, if she is unable to quit, then e-cigarettes are probably the best option. Studies show that the nicotine patch isn’t harmful during pregnancy (citation). Therefore, it seems like e-cigarettes may be a good option. On the other hand, it probably is best if you can minimize the amount of foreign substances in your body during pregnancy.
Support a Cause and Get Cheap Carto Tanks
I ran across a thread on ECF over the weekend. One of members there is trying to raise money for the March of Dimes. To get people to donate, he’s offering a little sweetener. Carto tanks!
This is the tank
I make carto tanks and am offering them in exchange for your donation. These are poly tanks with 2 grommets and an o ring. They hold approx. 3ml.
For every donation of $7 I will send you 1 carto tank.
For every donation of $10 I will send you 2 carto tanks or 1 tank with a carto.
Some people are also donating but refusing the free tanks. Any tanks that are passed up by the donors will be given away in the PIF forum! Other members and vendors are getting in on the action by giving away other gear to people who donate. The thread has all the details about the charity drive. So if you like carto tanks, or if you just want to donate hit the thread.
Comedy into Tragedy
One of my favorite guilty pleasures and #1 time-waster online is Cracked.com. Recently, the site posted an article lampooning petitions sent to the White House via the internet site. Unfortunately, the e-Cigarette petition we all worked so hard to push through made the list at the number 2 spot. Not only is this spot above the demand to admit aliens are real and a machine can create energy, e-cigarettes were dismissed as “spam”
You're dead to me!
This isn’t about e-cigs: This is about turning anything online into a sales pitch. The official response made it clear that smoking was indeed bad, and the second there actually was any more valid scientific data on sticking an electrical circuit full of chemicals in your face, the subject would be reconsidered. They resisted the urge to point out you can’t just skip FDA testing by asking nicely.
There’s a couple of things at work here. First it’s infuriating to be poked fun at by my favorite site. Second, this site is read by millions of people, this isn’t really going to be helpful to the industry’s image. I blame the scores of questionable e-cigarette sites out there for this. When you Google e-cigarette reviews (sorry couldn’t resist) you turn up a ton of bad sites, it’s probably the main reason I started this site (of course I’m languishing down on page 5 of that search). That’s really the problem here, it illustrates how far we have to go to get the general public to understand why we hold e-cigarettes in such high regard.
Idaho to Ban e-Cig Sales to Minors
The Idaho Statesman reports that the state is moving forward with a law to ban the sales of e-cigarettes to minors. Previously I reported the state was looking at the ban, but not interested in banning e-cigarettes for adults. I can’t say I have much of a problem with the move, other than this comment in the news article.
The so-called e-cigarettes allow the user to heat nicotine, herbs or other substances and ingest the active ingredients without actually burning the substance.
Maybe it’s me but using the phrase “so-called” usually means you’re really talking about something else. This might be the case since the description is also describing herbal vaporizers which is used for the other kind of vaping. That sort of lies outside the scope of this site even if both e-cigarettes and herbal vaporizers use the same terminology “vape”. There is a difference between the two devices.
Deal of the Moment
While the fancy new variable voltage box mod from MadVapes has stolen the thunder from the original variable voltage box mod, the original is still a good and affordable solution. It’s slightly more affordable now since MadVapes just put it on sale. There’s also a 5% discount available (if you haven’t used it twice yet). Use code “newyear” when you buy the vari-volt mod to save another 5%.
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Image credit:
Godfather image lifted from Websites Give B@ck (they probably stole it too)
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That's twice in a few days you've highlighted articles on e-cigs talking about 'secondhand smoke'. Have these people even seen one?
Great to hear from you!
It seems to be a common tactic among the prohibitionists. I guess there are a few possibilities. Either they never have seen one, they hear the word cigarette and automatically make assumptions it's an evil plot by Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man, they assume since it looks like smoke, it must be (those people should stay away from places like Disney World and shows like Phantom of the Opera).
The last alternative is they know better but insist on calling it smoke to try and transfer the negative associations with cigarettes over to vapor. Not that anyone would twist the facts to suit their own personal agendas.
Another "deal of the moment" for those who want but have not yet purchased a Lava Tube. Green House One has the complete starter kit for $65
Given that I paid $74 for a bare unit plus one battery I consider this quite a deal. When considering the cost of any comparable alternative, it's a steal.
http://www.greenhouseone.com/LavaTube-Premium-Sta…
Errol