36
Social Issues
Smoking Of The Future… If allowed.
Sept. 2013
Visit www.MakeASceneAK.com
Contributed by Glacier Vapors There is a trend sweeping through the cigarette smoking community. In droves people are dropping the nasty, stinky habit of cigarettes and picking up futuristic looking devices, known as APV’s, PV’s or as most people know them, electronic cigarettes. These are not the Blu’s or Njoys that you can buy at gas stations (although they are in the same classifications) These are devices where you can choose your battery type, your nicotine delivery system such as tanks, drip attys, clearomizers, cartomizers and glassomizers, your e-liquids (aka juice which consist of 4 ingredientsPropylene Glycol, Vegetable Glycerin, food grade flavorings and nicotine), what milligram of nicotine you want, what flavor you want and last but not least, you can decide what kind of mouth piece you want (driptip). The people who pick up these futuristic devices choose to get their nicotine fix, by vaping. To those that vape, it’s about choices. They can choose what milligram of nicotine they want to use. It ranges from 0 mg nicotine to 36mg. Most people choose to stop smoking once they get into vaping. Most people start vaping to quit smoking! Can this be touted as a smoking cessation device? No. Absolutely not. Is that what it’s used for? Absolutely. Does it work? Absolutely! So much so that the vaping industry is suppose to top 1 Billion dollars in 2013. Many studies have shown that it’s far healthier than smoking real cigarettes, there is no harm in the second hand vapor and yet, the art of vaping is under scrutiny. It is possible that this will become illegal. It’s unlikely that it will be, but there’s still the possibility. The technology behind these devices
started in 2000 by a pharmacist in China and in 2004 they were introduced to the Chinese domestic market before going global in 20052006. Although the sales and popularity of these devices have continued to grow, as well as the designs and introduction of new systems continue to change sometimes weekly, it has left many countries, citizens and governments confused as to how to handle these devices. Some countries have done nothing. Some countries have regulated the nicotine juices and hardware. Some countries have taxed the nicotine juices to the point that the cost is the same as smoking. Some countries have made it a crime to even possess the devices and if caught would be fined as much as $100,000 and up to 2 years in jail. Now, it’s time for the USA to decide what it’s going to do about an industry that is unregulated and costing big tobacco and pharmaceuticals money. The passage of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 (FSPTCA) gave the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate the manufacture, distribution, and marketing of tobacco products to “protect public health.” The FSPTCA defines the term “tobacco product,” in part, as any product “made or derived from tobacco” that is not a “drug,” “device,” or combination product. Between 2008 and 2010 the FDA tried to stop electronic cigarettes from entering the US by stating that they were an unapproved drug/device combo. The companies which were trying to import the electronic cigarettes sued the FDA and they won. The US Court Of Appeals for the D.C Circuit, in Sottera. Inc VS Food & Drug Administration issued a decision with regard to e-cigarettes and other products “made or derived from tobacco” and the jurisdiction line that should be made between tobacco, drugs and devices.
They stated that electronic cigarettes and other products made or derived from tobacco can be regulated as tobacco products and are not drugs/ devices, UNLESS they are marketed as therapeutic devices. Rather than appeal the ruling, the FDA sent letters to stakeholders stating that they intend to propose a regulation that extend the FDA’s “tobacco product”. In the letter, the FDA specified Electronic Cigarettes and “other tobacco products” as products it intends to regulate. Unless the FDA chooses to do otherwise they will consider electronic cigarettes, and other new products not already specified in the FSPTCA, to also be “tobacco products”. This could subject electronic cigarettes to the same regulations as other tobacco products already covered. So, the bottom line is this. Is vaping healthy? It’s healthier than smoking a cigarette. In a perfect world, we would only inhale pristine clean air, people wouldn’t be addicted to nicotine and people could cuddle baby polar bears and not get mauled. We don’t live in a perfect world. We do live in America, where we are suppose to have rights. We should have the right to vape. It’s not about WHERE to vape. We, as vapers, don’t want the right to vape in public places where smoking is not allowed. We want the right to throw big tobacco and pharmaceutical companies the middle finger and say, “ We don’t NEED you! We don’t need your drugs that come with all the horrible side affects and big price tags! We don’t NEED to smoke one of your chemical laden cigarettes! We have CHOSEN to receive our nicotine in a healthier way”! If the FDA takes away this right, then it will be a clear sign that this has nothing to do with being healthy. This has to do with money. Since we have quit smoking and started vaping (after 35 years of smoking cigarettes) the improvements to our health is
astounding. We can walk a flight of stairs without becoming winded. We can run a mile and not feel like we are fixing to have a heart attack, blood pressure is lower, illnesses, like colds, only last a quarter of the time as they did when we were smoking. And then there’s the extra added bonuses. We have a sense of taste, we can smell things, and even our dental issues have faded away. All in all, we can truthfully say that vaping saved us from an early grave. No doubt about it. We believe in it so much that we cashed out our retirement and opened a vape shop. What happens to all the people across America who has done the same thing? Will we receive all the money and time that we’ve invested back from the FDA if they deem that this needs to be regulated out of existence (read only for big tobacco)? Nope. Yes, it was a gamble that I chose to take. It’s a gamble to stick a cigarette in our mouth and light it every single time too. My gamble was a healthier one. I am sure, if you have read this far, then you have to be somewhat intelligent... Do your own research. Look at ALL the studies. Not just one done by the FDA in 2009. Studies are coming out daily on the benefits of vaping VS cigarettes.
“The next time you see someone vaping, congratulate them on their achievement: they kicked the nasty cigarette habit.”