You be the judge I mean isn t it obvious that the victims of the smoking addiction are now deemed insignificant if they think outside the mainstream of failed quit methods. It is well known the patch, gums, lozenges and all those legal Big Pharma vaporizers containing nicotine (up to 4mg) not to mention chemicals we can t talk about that produce negative thought like suicide from Chantix. Another taboo would be to mention local children viewing such adult behavour. After all children do mimic don t they? Hmmm guess that is the only reason we still don t stand up for the children under 12 picking tobacco for the tobacco industry. We are quick though to ban asbestos which is directly linked to many cancers. Oh .lets sell it to Africa instead since we are already down there digging up their diamonds and gold as if it were our own.

I m ashamed really. Ashamed I turned into a smoker back in 67. Ashamed I have all these liberties to simply speak out LOUD .if I have to. Ashamed in my leaders of great nations that I believed were a good example for the entire world of those who simply are not educated enough to know what they have of true value. Nelson Mandela once said There can be no keener revelation of a society s soul than in the way it treats its children. My generation, myself included have failed terribly and I m here still to yell it out if I have to s time to fix this Corruption, Deception, and worst of all Complacency that we embrace while projecting to the world how civilized we are.

In closing, know this I m a 64 year old single dad with two teens living at home with me now that has advanced emphyzema and was given 3 6 months back in June 2013 if I don t do chemo or targeted radiation on my severely damaged lungs caused from smoking. It took me til September to finally decide to try an electronic cigarette with ( 1.2mg) of nicotine. I have not had to have a tobacco cigarette since. I quit smoking. I now VAPE. Lucky me, it s the only four letter world I threw out here even though I m really pissed at all the negative attitude thrown at the victims of those giant corporations society so much embraces through ignorance and complacency. With my time left with my children this will be my means of paying back for what I owe to those who are still suffering from bad choices. Don t smoke. Thank you. VAPE OUT LOUD!

Tobacco or medicinal product? europe divided over e-cigarettes

Price of a carton of ashima cigarettes in virginia
BRUSSELS Should electronic cigarettes be regulated as tobacco products? Or are they medicinal devices that should only be sold in pharmacies?

That s the debate brewing in Europe after a vote on October 8 by the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

As part of a legislative package aimed at discouraging young people from smoking tobacco, European lawmakers approved a draft law that would regulate the marketing of electronic cigarettes.

The bill still must be approved by the 28 European Union government leaders in the European Council.

The council recommended in June that e cigarettes should be regulated as medicinal products that could help smokers quit a step that would make the devices available only in pharmacies.

But after intense lobbying from the growing electronic cigarette industry, which includes powerful global tobacco companies, the European Parliament refused to heed the council s recommendation.

Instead, lawmakers in Strasbourg voted for the marketing of e cigarettes to be regulated in the same way that tobacco marketing is regulated.

That means sales of e cigarettes to children under 18 would be banned in the European Union, along with most advertising. Health warning labels also would be required.

But the smokeless vaporizing devices and their nicotine cartridge refills could still be sold in tobacco shops and specialist stores.

What Comes Next?

The vote has set the stage for an e cigarette tussle in Brussels. Will the council agree that e cigarettes should be treated like tobacco? Or will the council continue to insist that e cigarettes should be regulated as medicinal devices?

MEP Linda McAvan, a member of Britain s Labour Party, will serve as the European Parliament s rapporteur during negotiations on the issue with the European Council.

McAvan says all members of the European parliament agree that e cigarettes cannot be unregulated on the market. The debate boils down to how they should be regulated.

McAvan says she is certain there is a basis for compromise with EU governments that insist on medicinal regulations.

“Obviously, the European parliament has got a position which is the opposite of that in the sense that it is to be not medicines,” she says. “But at the same time, there are some common elements which are that there should be a regulatory framework. So I think we have to start a dialogue. It s difficult to predict what my colleagues in the European Parliament would accept and what the governments in the European Council will accept. But we ll start those negotiations quite soon.”

Research shows that about 85 percent of e cigarette users start because they want to wean themselves off the habit of smoking tobacco.

The devices vaporize liquid from cartridges that contain different amounts of nicotine, allowing users to gradually reduce their nicotine consumption.

E cigarette consumers say they are “vaping,” rather than smoking.

Helpful Or Harmful?

“It is probably less harmful because it doesn&#39 t contain any byproducts from the burning of tobacco,” one e cigarette user in the Czech capital, Prague, told RFE/RL. “It&#39 s also cheaper. And it&#39 s not smoking. It is something completely different and it takes some getting used to. I have given up tobacco completely. I haven&#39 t smoked a cigarette for 18 months now. And I started smoking when I was 15, so it had been more than 40 years of smoking .”

But Francesco Blasi, a professor of respiratory medicine at the University of Milan and the former president of the European Respiratory Society, told RFE/RL that e cigarettes are still too new to be sure about the long term health implications.