A week ago, after 27 years at an average of probably two packs of cigarettes a day (and “smokeless tobacco” before that; I switched when I discovered that girls I wanted to kiss objected to the whole mouth full of tobacco thing), I’d have called you crazy if you suggested I was within a week or so of becoming an ex-smoker.
It’s true, though. I had two-and-a-half packs of cigarettes left last Tuesday. Now, on Sunday, I’ve still got half a pack. I’ve cut my smoking by about 75% through “vaping” — getting my nicotine from an “electronic cigarette” that delivers a smokeless vapor without all the tars and gunk that you get from burning tobacco — and when this pack is gone I expect to never buy another.
About the time a friend was putting together an “electronic cigarette” package to send me, the US Food and Drug Administration was mailing letters to several manufacturers/sellers of e-cigs, informing them that the regulatory hammer is about to come down.
I’m dismayed, but hardly surprised, to learn that the US government, the tobacco companies and their “non-profit” anti-smoking counterparts are conspiring to keep me (and millions of other Americans) on tobacco. Smoking, and pretending to oppose it, are big moneymakers for the political class.
The FDA’s been trying for decades to bring tobacco within its regulatory grasp. It seems to have finally succeeded. That’s only natural. Bureaucrats always seek more power for themselves.
The tobacco companies fought FDA regulation tooth and nail, but once it became reality they embraced it and made the best of it. What is the best of it? In a word, monopoly.
One of FDA’s first acts was to ban flavored cigarettes (except for menthol). The main target was the clove cigarette, which is usually imported. One competitor down.
Buried in FDA’s new authority is a grandfather clause. Existing cigarette brands and types are somewhat protected, but new products require “approval.” Anyone who follows the ongoing saga of pharmaceutical development knows that FDA approval entails hundreds of million dollars in trial, submission and lobbying costs.
The days of tobacco innovation are over. FDA is giving existing tobacco companies and their existing product lines a de facto corner on the US nicotine market. As of 2005, that market included about 45 million cigarette smokers and another 8 or 9 million cigar smokers and smokeless tobacco users. That’s billions of dollars in sales (and — cough, hack — tax revenues) every year, locked up nice and neat for Big Tobacco and its friends in government respectively.
Enter the electronic cigarette: No tobacco involved. Nicotine and flavorings are delivered in a liquid (propylene glycol or vegetable glycerine), slightly heated to produce a fog or vapor. While the full health implications aren’t yet clear, it’s a safe bet that e-cigs are safer than “real” cigarettes. Cigarette smoke is full of carcinogen-laden “tars.” E-cig vapor isn’t. There’s no “secondhand smoke” because there’s no smoke at all.
Even thought they’re currently only a tiny portion of the nicotine market, e-cigs are driving all the usual suspects crazy.
Big Tobacco wants them gone ASAP because they threaten tobacco profits.
The FDA wants to bring them under its regulatory authority because authority is what regulation is all about.
If you’re surprised to hear that the American Lung Association has condemned e-cigarettes, you shouldn’t be. They rake in more than $50 million per year, mostly by leveraging the scare value of tobacco-related lung disease. “Non-profit” or not, the continued solvency of ALA depends largely on the continued popularity of their bête noire, smoking.
The alleged Axis of Anti-Smoking — Big Government and Big Non-Profits — are fully aligned with Big Tobacco on the issue of electronic cigarettes. If we take their claims at face value, smoking kills more than 400,000 Americans per year … and they want to keep it that way.
If you ever find yourself falling for the lie that government is on your side, remember that the FDA and its “private sector” cronies are willing to inflict the equivalent of the 9/11 attacks, 130 times over — every year, year after year — as the price of preserving their own power and profits.
Citations to this article:
- Thomas L. Knapp, Electronic Cigarettes and the Fog of (Class) War, Des Moines Free Press, 21 Sep 2010
Thanks for the roundup of recent tobacco politics.
It's funny that the ALA is against vapor nicotine, since (as you pointed out) it avoids most if not all of the lung-damaging components of smoke.
I've heard that nicotine is bad for the heart, independent of smoke inhalation, but I'd be surprized if it caused meaningful lung problems.
Thomas, thanks for a very good article in support of e-cigarettes. I've been using them for 1-1/2 years. I just wanted to suggest that you follow the money trail a little further, as it leads directly to Big Pharm. The "Axis of Anti-Smoking" receive untold millions (maybe billions?) in funding from BP. Nicotine replacement therapy, anyone? Oh, and don't forget Chantix, which has horrendous side effects, one of which is suicide!
Kinda brings it all into perspective, doesn’t it? Smoking traditional tobacco products in this country has ALWAYS been a huge cash cow – when the Gov’t implemented the ‘sin tax’ and discovered exactly HOW large a revenue stream they had – well, there’s all the incentive they need to maintain the current status quo. The only new partner in this old dog-n-pony show is an increase in the guilt factor to justify the increase in the sin tax.
And, like another poster said above – don’t discount the string-pulling of the Pharma industry. It’s their goal to lock down the monopoly on quitting smoking products.
Hey Thomas, great write up and welcome to the wonderful world of vaping! As you have just discovered and many thousands have discovered over the last few years electronic cigarettes are the best alternative to smoking out there, a chance for millions of smokers to kick smoke for good.
But, as you pointed out, we have some enemies. Although it's not the one you thought. Big Tobacco really has not been a major enemy of ecigs, the ones we have to worry about are Big Pharma. In the great scheme of things, big pharma's attacks on us make the tobacco concerns seem in consequential. It's the American Lung Association who is writting the smoking ban legislation, it's the American Cancer Society who enjoys every opportunity to put down ecigs and push the pharmaceutical options, it's the Action for Smoking and Health who writes the letters to the banks, the auction sites, the big boys in the internet threatening lawsuits if they support ecig sales in any way. These are not non profits that get a major source of funding from Big Tobacco, but they do get billions from Big Pharma.
While I do support to some extent the FDA keeping people from making outrageous claims in marketing, we do laugh when ecigs, whose entire purpose is to replace cigarettes, must not be marketed with any mention of how they help you stop smoking cigarettes without proof. Well, do we really need expensive studies to show that hundreds of thousands of people have put down their cigarettes and taken up vaping instead? The devil is in the details here. Do you quit smoking when you stop using cigarettes or when you stop using nicotine? The FDA want's it both ways,why? well, look at the management of the FDA, all former, current, and/or future leaders in the pharmaceutical industry. Ecigs are cutting into their profits on their ineffective nicotine replacement therapies and that scares them to death. It's all about protecting current market share, and Big Pharma's products that don't work, or in the case of Chantix, that have proven horribly dangerous to boot.
Great article! and glad to see you vaping. if you want to learn more about the debate, http://electroniccigarettespot.com is the place i've been ranting now for over a year!! Help us spread the word!!
moderator…. i need a moderator
First Low-Carb, now quitting smoking? Awesome! Next thing to do is pick up CrossFit. Check out CrossFit.com to find a Gym near you.
e-Cig Gy, Jac, et al,
Yeah, I dropped the ball a little bit there and didn’t follow the breadcrumbs all the way back to Big Pharma. Sorry about that.
Bleicke,
I said I’d check out low carb, but I’m not on it. Matter of fact, I’m probably eating a few more carbs than I used to. I’m eating less sugary snacky stuff and more whole grain — oat cereals, whole wheat bread, etc. Or maybe my carbs HAVE gone down … I’ve been eating smaller PORTIONS of everything.
We went to Olive Garden the other day. First time I’d been there in probably 15 years, special occasion (taking some friends who are moving away out to dinner). I ordered the “never-ending pasta bowl,” not because I thought I’d eat a lot, but because it was cheaper than most of the entrees. But I was still embarrassed that I didn’t even put away one whole bowl (in fairness, I did have quite a bit of salad, and a couple of bread sticks, beforehand).
I’ll take a loot at CrossFit. Right now I’m bicycling daily, but I’ll need something else to do during the winter. Two months ago, pants with a 40-inch waist were tight on me. Now 38s are loose and I’m thinking I could probably get into 36es.
Regards,
Tom
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Hi,
I'm also a user of the e-cig (I made a website for a French company – see link, and they gave me one)
Same thing happened to me. I'm 23 and been smoking about 1 pack a day for 1-2 years. Since i got it, I smoke half as much as I always use my ecig at home. I still like the real deal when i'm going out though.
And I 100% agree with you on the fact that tobacco leaders(aka ALA) are the reason why ecigs are so underused.
Sorry for my bad english.
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I 100% agree with your post, we have a big battle to fight to for our right to choose what we know is the better alternative. It just makes no sense for them to try and ban ecigs over the #1 killer on the market today. We went though a possible ban in my state of IL, it was a bill that was put together in the cover of darkness. All I know is the electronic cigarette saved my life, I have been smoke free for almost a year now.
I used to be cigarette smoker, but ever since I tried out e-cig, things did change. For some reason, I find it better to smoke e-cig. I'm not really quite sure which one is more harmful though.
i used the electronic cigarette to give up regular tobacco, i think they are a great way to stop smoking, though the e-cigs i bought werent as cheap as they should be, so i ended up importing them and selling them on cheaper.
it would be good to find the safest e-liquid also.
Based on the blu cigs review I read it seems like ecig and blucigs are better alternative than the usual cigarettes.
I'm 29 this year I have been 'vaping' for about 2 months now. I love it but my friends (around my ages) told me that e cigarettes are for sissies. I don't care really, as long as I know that I'm doing the right thing. I'm not saying e cig is the ultimate healthy solution, it still has chemicals and Nicotine but to hell with all the cigarettes. It's not like I'm gonna be any cooler than I am right now smoking a "real" cigarette. At least at the end of the day I'm happy with who I am. I see you are making progress too. Let's spread out the words and let others know that the new e cigarette is cool.
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Thomas, thanks for a very good article in support of e-cigarettes. I've been using them for 1-1/2 years. I just wanted to suggest that you follow the money trail a little further, as it leads directly to Big Pharm. The "Axis of Anti-Smoking" receive untold millions (maybe billions?) in funding from BP. Nicotine replacement therapy, anyone? Oh, and don't forget Chantix, which has horrendous side effects, one of which is suicide!
great write up and welcome to the wonderful world of vaping! As you have just discovered and many thousands have discovered over the last few years electronic cigarettes are the best alternative to smoking out there http://www.ub-electronic-cigarette.co.uk/ego-c-st…
Wow, the self justification of the drug addict. I used to smoke, heavily for 13 years. I quite the old fashioned way before the "e-cig." If you think that you "quit" smoking just because you replaced it with "vaping," then you are fooling yourself. You are no different from the heroin junkie who stops injecting and starts snorting. You're still hooked on the drug, you're still thinking like an addict, and it is just a matter of time before you go crawling back to your master. "Oh the government wants to regulate 'vaping' so that we are all pushed back to smoking and they can collect taxes". Are you sure all your smoking is nicotine? Guess what? The government doesn't care if you smoke, they can and will collect taxes other places. Think it through, they keep raising the tax and increasing the restrictions, and the numbers of smokers keeps dropping. If they wanted more tax revenue wouldn't they lower the tax to encourage more smoking? Instead of creating barriers to smoke wouldn't they make it easier? Maybe the push for regulation is because nobody actually knows what the health implications of "vaping" are or what the manufacturer is putting in there.
Fantastic love this
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