OK. Sure. I'm an addict. All addicts deserve this treatment, I guess.
But what I -- and most other addicts I'd wager -- most object to is being treated like idiots.
We know.
We know smoking is bad.
It's expensive. It stinks. It burns holes in our clothes. It stains our teeth.
It makes us sick and if it doesn't kill us, will probably contribute to our deaths or long-term ill-health.
It may harm people around us, hence self-ostracization.
We know all that.
But we are addicted to nicotine.
We try to quit. Alternate nicotine delivery systems -- patches, gum -- have deficiencies of two main types.
1. They are not like smoking: no warmth, no fiddle-factor, no-"I'm having a break"-factor.
2. The nicotine dose is not adjustable to the user's mood and need.
The fiddle-factor is surmountable. The dosage problem is not so easy.
If I light a cigarette and decide I don't really want one now, I put it out.
If I put a patch on and immediately want to puke (which is what patches do to me), I rip it off.
If I light a cigarette and get involved in reading something and forget about the cigarette, it burns away.
If I chomp down on a piece of nicotine gum, get involved in reading something, forget about the gum and chomp down a few more times absent-mindedly, I want to puke (see above).
Enter e-cigs. Dosage is variable. With added fiddle-factor fun.
They're not perfect, but they are definitely a huge advance.
But guess who doesn't like e-cigs?
Big Pharma who wants to sell us patches and gum -- outrageously over-priced patches and gum.
And Big Tobacco who doesn't want us to quit smoking.
And Nanny Staters. Who, according to Sweetie, have an addiction problem of their own. They are addicted to telling others what to do.
Viz.
The optics of the e-cig concept: a controlled nicotine delivery system. Why would anyone expect that to be well received in the gen public?
— Dr. Brian Goldman (@NightShiftMD) August 26, 2014
I don't watch much telly any more. But I remember ads with people smugly patting their upper arms: "I've got the patch." Did people go insane over that "optic"?
.@NightShiftMD Why not? It's way better than the nicotine patch that Big Pharma makes a ton of $. I can't use patch because of indigestion.
— Fern Hill (@fernhilldammit) August 26, 2014
Oh but wait. Maybe patting the upper arm sends the "right message" whereas Nanny Staters worry about the "wrong message."
@AureliaCotta @fernhilldammit I don't disagree. But do billboards of famous people inhaling nic vapour send the right message?
— Dr. Brian Goldman (@NightShiftMD) August 26, 2014
You mean like this?
From the same source, a succinct summary of the issue.
No matter how you feel about the product or the industry, electronic cigarettes do not contain tobacco and lack virtually all of harmful chemicals found in cigarettes. THEY SHOULD NOT BE CLASSIFIED AS SUCH or be limited by the same harsh restrictions. So far, no adverse health effects have been associated with electronic cigarettes, yet the alcohol industry is responsible for at least 80,000 deaths each year and the media seems unconcerned about their marketing techniques. Most people acknowledge that kids should not have access to these devices, but comparing electronic cigarette companies to the tobacco industry of the past is not only unfair – it’s inaccurate. Electronic cigarettes help smokers quit and expose them to significantly less health risks. For now, consumers have a wide array of choices and full access to these products, but if the government, pharmaceutical and big tobacco companies have their way, that may be a thing of the past.
My succinct summary: Fuck right off, Nanny Staters.
ADDED: from Anonymous in the comments: UN doing Big Pharma's bidding. Again.
Study of second-hand effects of vapours. No apparent risk.
Added: deBeauxOs' response as a non-smoker:
No reply from Dr Goldman yet.
5 comments:
UPDATE
The WHO is yapping about these in the BBC article I will link to below . The article has a rather snappy pic of how these work.
I only know of one person who uses one of these but it helped him quit smoking real cigs.
Now the WHO are putting their yappers out and you know a total ban on them is coming. I can see where banning sales to children would be okay but by them using the word children they are making it sound like 5 year olds are spending $100.00 on these.
I have heard some local yappers whining that it is a 'gateway' to smoking real cigs to which I say Fuck you and everyone who looks like you.
I agree Big Pharma that has all of the Quit Smoking crap are behind this
The World Health Organization says there should be a ban on the use of e-cigarettes indoors
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-28937610
Clickable link.
The disposable ecigs (about $10) have NO nicotine. To get nicotine, as Anonymous says requires an investment of about $100. Gateway, my ass.
But it is an almost perfect demonstration of a moral panic. Totally manufactured and benefiting somebody.
Not us.
UPDATE on My Last UPDATE
It has absolutely been proven that there is no presence of a public safety risk, even indoors. The US Library of Medicine, Nation Institutes of Health; Have finally published the study on the effect of e-cigarette vapor and cigarette smoke on indoor air quality.
The National Center for Biotechnology Information
Comparison of the effects of e-cigarette vapor and cigarette smoke on indoor air quality.
CONCLUSIONS:
For all byproducts measured, electronic cigarettes produce very small exposures relative to tobacco cigarettes. The study indicates no apparent risk to human health from e-cigarette emissions based on the compounds analyzed.
link
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23033998
New link clickable. "No apparent risk."
The three people I have chatted with that use e-cigs swear by them - all former HEAVY smokers. I can't understand how any physician would be against this. And really, if you treated an e-cigarette as say an inhaler, you wouldn't get any kids jumping on the "this is so freaking cool" band wagon.
It is hard to regulate the nicotine intake with the patch (and I'm not sure what it does to blood pressure) and I have never tried the gum but I know that it too can be pretty addictive. Champex (sp?) also has all sorts of side effects for some people as well as contraindication with many meds that some of us older folks may be on already. So again, from a medical POV, why not recommend e-cigs to patients who want to quit smoking.
Another aspect that should be considered is that weed is becoming increasingly popular and acceptable as a medical aid/painkiller. An e-vapour approach will make life a hell of a lot easier for those who need to smoke indoors. I don't think the tabs have as quick a hit as inhaling; ditto eating brownies or other baked goods.
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