e Cigarette Has Unlikely Critics

(Shameless attempt to grab users attention with an attractive female)

As former (or current) smoker we all know how hard it’s been to stop smoking. Wait hold on a minute, I can hear our lawyers calling. Let me rephrase, how hard it can be to switch to another alternative. e Cigarettes have serious potential. So many smokers are now successful Vapers. They no longer have to deal with the stench of cigarette smoke and a whole host of other disadvantages to smoking.

Riccardo Polosa of the University of Catania recently performed a study involving “hard core” smokers. Within 6  months half had permanently switched successfully to the electronic cigarette.

With all this in mind there is a powerful group working against e cigarettes. And believe it or not, it’s not Big Tobacco. Its a group of government officials and antismoking groups who have been warning about the dangers of e-cigarettes and trying to ban their sale.

John Tierney of the New York Times writes

The controversy is part of a long-running philosophical debate about public health policy, but with an odd role reversal. In the past, conservatives have leaned toward “abstinence only” policies for dealing with problems like teenage pregnancy and heroin addiction, while liberals have been open to “harm reduction” strategies like encouraging birth control and dispensing methadone.

When it comes to nicotine, though, the abstinence forces tend to be more liberal, including Democratic officials at the state and national level who have been trying to stop the sale of e-cigarettes and ban their use in smoke-free places. They’ve argued that smokers who want an alternative source of nicotine should use only thoroughly tested products like Nicorette gum and prescription patches — and use them only briefly, as a way to get off nicotine altogether. 

Here we have these large organizations who’ve been fighting against tobacco for years due to the serious health risks only to shun a revolutionary advance in nicotine delivery. While e cigarette safety tests are still young and information limited, it’s mind boggling that such organizations (American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, Action on Smoking and Health, and the Center for Tobacco-Free Kids) would simply strike for a ban. If an adult chooses to use nicotine through a method that is potentially proven to be safe, should he or she have the right to? Should it be banned purely because it’s a “sin” product? Personally I feel every adult in this country as the right to choose how they treat their body. If it’s not harming others, fair game. I’m willing to bet none of their board directors would give up coffee…

You’re thoughts?