E-Cigarettes and the FDA conspiracy to stop them.

There are two kinds of Ecigarettes, those with nicotine and those without.
I quit smoking using the nicotine-free Ecigarettes, which are the only legal kind available in Canada.
Any discussion of Ecigarettes needs to specify which of the two types it is referring to.
I am no longer addicted to nicotine of ANY kind.
Advocates for Ecigarettes with nicotine are still addicts.
Nico-derm patches can wean a person off cigarettes and nicotine-free Ecigarettes can satisfy the physical reflex to smoke.
After the quitting process is complete, there's not much point in continuing to use nicotine-free Ecigarettes, hence any health risk is eliminated.
I still carry one around for those times when I'm with a smoker and they light up. I consider them candy in vapour form.
As long as one is still addicted to nicotine, airline flights, office work, cinemas and any other activity which prevents one from smoking will still be ordeals of endurance.

a reply to: Psynic

Not the only legal ones. I thought so too until found out they only blew smoke but didn't outlaw the others. Been ordering online legally ever since then. But drug stores only sell the no nicotine kind.

a reply to: Cabin

Vaping has actually been around long enough to show that it is a safer alternative. I will need to find several links to studies, but the gist is this. Studies have been done since about 1942 if I recall correctly. An experiment was done in a hospital in 1942, vaporizing PG (Propylene Glycol) in a children's ward. The study lasted several years and the children in that ward had fewer chest infections than the control group that did not receive vapor. The other 'major ingredient' in e'cigs is VG (Vegetable Glycerine). Bothe PG an VG have been used and continue to be used in some breathing treatments in the hospital.

The discussion of nicotine can be considered from several different angles. If you consider any addiction a 'bad thing' then, yes, nicotine addiction is bad. Shift your perspective slightly and look at it this way. Nicotine is the substance that addicts you to tobacco. The OTHER chemicals in tobacco (tar, formaldehyde and several thousand other chemicals) are the real problem, causing cancer and other health problems. The nicotine by itself does not cause cancer or any other health problems (other than addiction).

"We don't have long term studies on the affects of vaping" is really a red herring. We have studies going back more than 70 years. The patent on vaping equipment has been around since some time in the 1960's. I'm not sure of the exact year but that still means evidence of vaping and the lack of medical issues resulting from vaping is 50 years old. I am busy atm but will post the links to several studies asap.

a reply to: Hoosierdaddy71

Most of the people I now that vape, do so in an attempt to slowly wean themselves from nicotine (myself included). The question constantly arises, "Will children be enticed to vape because of the flavors?" Personally, I get tired of that one. Are adults automatically excluded from enjoying different flavors, simply because they passed the magical age of 18? So, adults like flavor too and making flavored e-liquid does not mean the person or company producing the product is trying to entice children. It simply means adults like the flavor of bubble gum and grape. I have no problem with an age restriction of 18 being placed on nicotine products. Leave the adults alone.

As a smoker (roughly 1-2 pack of red marlboros a day) hoping to quit some day, I do not see e-cigarettes as of much better alternative.

As a (former) smoker married to a (former) smoker, I can say that e-cigs are the reason I'm not smoking today (or for the past 3 years). Certainly, you could argue that using a e-cig for 3 years is equivalent to smoking (where the nicotine is concerned) but that's where the similarity ends.

The first two "kits" were given as a gift, and after having tried everything else (gum, lozenge, patch and even Chantix) I decided that another attempt couldn't hurt. After my experience with Chantix, I never wanted to go a chemical route (my wife and I went nuts, and split up for almost a year).

The first week, I went from being pack-a-day-plus - to (in the last 3 days) scheduling my remaining cigarettes. I wanted to have closure - to have smoked my last pack, my last cigarette and be done with it. When I had a craving - I took a puff or two from the e-cig. After a couple of days I found that I preferred the e-cig. It was more convenient and less expensive.

Where the real kicker comes in is the cost. At $5 a pack (for easier math, they're usually over $7 in my part of the country) - my wife and I were spending $300 a month on cigarettes. Although the first kits were a gift - they paid for themselves in the first 10 days. Now we buy kits and give them as gifts ourselves - and we still don't come anywhere near the $300 a month we spent smoking.

Nicotine addiction can be managed and overcome easily with e-cigs. When I started, I used 18mg (high) nicotine dose "juice". Now I use (very very low) 4mg nicotine dose. My next step is to go nicotine free with just flavored juice. I'm almost there, at my own pace - and without breaking the bank.

As mentioned earlier, the main component of the juice is either propylene-glycol or vegetable-glycerin/glycerol (or a variable blend of the two).

PG is used in fog machines, in food as antifreeze (common in ice-cream) and vaporizers used for delivery of pharmaceuticals. It's been long classified by the FDA as GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe). If you've seen a laser show, eaten ice cream, or taken a prescribed breathing treatment - you've inhaled/ingested PG. I suspect that covers just about everyone.

Glycerol is classified by the U.S. FDA among the sugar alcohols as a caloric macronutrient. It's commonly used for topical ointments, cough syrups, soaps, and even sex-lube. Again, I suspect that covers just about everyone.

This campaign is just an effort to impose a tax. Taking this economical and effective method to stop smoking from affordable to expensive. Someone saw an opportunity to "regulate" a popular and growing industry and the rest of us have to pay for it.

a reply to: Khaleesi

Here is a site that has links to several studies. At least one of the studies listed explains the lack of harmful chemicals in vapor that is exhaled by the user, therefore making it safe to vape indoors.

mnvapers.com...

Here is a interview with Dr. David Baron, M.D. and Chief of Staff at the UCLA Santa Monica Hospital.

originally posted by: flyingfish

Now you're talking! VV- mod with a Tank!!!

Research shows that higher-quality hardware and appealing flavors are important for smoking cessation. Many former smokers, including myself, report that they are tempted to go back to smoking while using the smaller devices with imitation tobacco flavoring, but we have quit smoking for good, now that there is better hardware and flavors that no longer reminded us of smoking.

This is a bit of a drift, but it is related to the OP. Which e-cig worked for you? I am looking to buy my mother an e-cig for Mother's Day, so I have to order that today or tomorrow to arrive in time. I did some research and was considering the Vapor Zone Express or the V2. Are these good choices? Is there a better one? Money isn't so much an issue.

Also, I do not feel that there is anything wrong with nicotine or tobacco if used properly. So I am not necessarily looking to get my mother to quit, but I just want her to have a healthier option than cigarettes.

If anyone has else any recommendations, let me know. I did use the search feature on this website to see if this topic was already covered. It might be if it is pages deep. I did find "share your e-cig" but that doesn't really help with what's good to buy.

e cigs are easy to stick to.
no other method of giving up smoking comes close. Most people will relapse.

The government's tax take off proper cigarettes is huge. Their tax take from e cigs is next to nothing.

That's what it's about.

originally posted by: flyingfish
a reply to: michaelmcclen

There are few people who are apposed to regulation, regulation is not the problem. The problem is lying about the whole industry in order to line the pockets of your backers and in the processes destroy small businesses and their vendors all across the country. All the while pretending to care about the public health..It's disgusting !

EXACTY! This is about money and I think we all know that. Tobacco Inc. and Big Pharma are both pissed because they are losing money. Most of the people I know that tried the nicotine patches couldn't quit. Those of us that smoke or used to smoke know about the 'other part of the addiction'. For most of us, weaning off of nicotine isn't the hard part. Getting away from all of our own personal 'rituals' (for lack of a better word) is where we lose the battle. Smoking with your cup of coffee in the morning or when you drive or after a meal. There is a ritual involved here that reinforces the act along with the addiction to nicotine. Keeping the ritual but reducing the nicotine levels helps break the cycle. That doesn't happen with the patch or a pill. I smoked a pack a day and quit over night with vaping earlier this year. I started at 12 mg and am now currently mostly vaping zero. Occasionally, I switch to 6mg when I'm stressed or feel the need for a cigarette.

Face it folks. We found a way to quit that works better than using Big Pharma products and they are pissed. Vaping is easier and less expensive. They are losing our $ so they are pushing for 'regulations' that will bring the profit back to them.

If it has never been clear before it should be clear now that the FDA is nothing but a puppet for Big Pharma, Ag, Tobacco.

That they are even trying to stop something that contains thousands of less harmful chemicals and will undoubtedly save money and lives is totally messed up.

a reply to: iosolomon
Just my opinion but, the 'e-cigs' that they sell in convenience stores that look like a cigarette didn't work for me. The flavors are awful. Look into vaping. Google search for a vape shop or online website. I was able to quit analog cigs entirely once I found vaping.

Most people start out with a tobacco flavor or menthol and eventually switch over to food and candy flavors. When you first quit, keeping close to your cig flavor of choice seems to work best. Eventually your taste buds wake the hell up from all those years of smoking and the flavors become appealing. Right now I'm enjoying Fuzzy Navel but had to switch to menthol the other night during a very stressful family problem. I literally thought of buying a pack of cigs but luckily I still had some menthol flavored liquid. That took away the urge and everything was fine.

double post

double post

originally posted by: morder1

I run my own e-juice store, and make all of the liquids myself. There is only 4 common ingredients in my liquids, and most of the other vendors as well... flavoring, USP grade propylene , vegetable glycerine, and nicotine if the customer wants it.


They want to charge $5000 per approval, which my store for instance, carries over 90 flavors. so for 1 flavor, say cotton candy. you need approval for each level of nicotine you want to sell, which for each flavor, I have 4 nicotine options, and 1 no-nic option. which equals to $20,000 per the cotton candy flavor... Then if I wanted every flavor approved, thats 1.8 million dollars. How can anyone possibly afford that?

The problem is that china does not have laws requiring them to use food grade components.

china has been caught selling things like toothpaste with Ethylene glycol, and vegetable glycerine made from left over vegetable glycerine with methanol from biofuel processing
scienceblogs.com...

Glycerol(vegetable glycerine)from china has also been found to be toxic.
goodnessgracioustreats.wordpress.com...

The problem is under international trade laws the FDA has to test all sources of a product and not just products from a single source or not test at all.

a reply to: ANNED

Easy fix (for now the ingredients are still available) Buy American or make your own liquids.

a reply to: amazing

I vape indoors all the time, my house smells like cheesecake it goes great with vanilla candles, It may get a little foggy at times but that does not bother me or my dogs. But I never vape in public for a couple reasons, first and foremost I don't need to, unlike cigarettes I don't get the jones or cravings to vape when I'm out, nor do I panic if I forget and leave my PV at home. Secondly I respect others enough to know they could be offended not knowing if I'm poisoning their air or not. but I'm informed enough to know this is not the case.

From the second link of the OP.

PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 8, 2013/PRNewwire-USNewswire -- E-cigarette users can breathe a little easier today. A study just released by Professor Igor Burstyn, Drexel University School of Public Health, confirms that chemicals in electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) pose no health concern for users or bystanders. This is the first definitive study of e-cigarette chemistry and finds that there are no health concerns based on generally accepted exposure limits.

And..

By reviewing over 9,000 observations about the chemistry of the vapor and the liquid in e-cigarettes, Dr. Burstyn was able to determine that the levels of contaminants e-cigarette users are exposed to are insignificant, far below levels that would pose any health risk. Additionally, there is no health risk to bystanders. Proposals to ban e-cigarettes in places where smoking is banned have been based on concern there is a potential risk to bystanders, but the study shows there is no concern.

LINK

This is just one article on the subject, if you check out the links I posted in the OP, there are several peer reviewed studies that have come to the same conclusions.

a reply to: Staroth

What about the cases of Exogenous lipoid pneumonia that are starting to show up from users of the e-cig?

There are just two stories that I'm aware of, and one is a bogus story out of Spain. If you check out the facts the guy went to the hospital with "other" and they said he developed exogenous lipoid pneumonia once he was there. No proof of anything related to e-cigs.

1.) It's very rare. 2.) It typically involves a patient either ingesting, injecting, or stuffing an oil based substance somewhere in their body. That includes anything from eating it (taking daily mineral oil to "treat" chronic constipation), sticking it up their nose (using mineral oil to "treat" dry nasal passages) or actually injecting the likes of olive oil. Like here:

LINK

The other alleged case is of a 42-year-old woman who also caught pneumonia from using e-cigarettes.
Out of the millions who have tried e-cigs world wide I don't believe these stories constitute a health risk or prove any health risk.

originally posted by: Khaleesi
a reply to: Cabin

Vaping has actually been around long enough to show that it is a safer alternative. I will need to find several links to studies, but the gist is this. Studies have been done since about 1942 if I recall correctly. An experiment was done in a hospital in 1942, vaporizing PG (Propylene Glycol) in a children's ward. The study lasted several years and the children in that ward had fewer chest infections than the control group that did not receive vapor. The other 'major ingredient' in e'cigs is VG (Vegetable Glycerine). Bothe PG an VG have been used and continue to be used in some breathing treatments in the hospital.

The discussion of nicotine can be considered from several different angles. If you consider any addiction a 'bad thing' then, yes, nicotine addiction is bad. Shift your perspective slightly and look at it this way. Nicotine is the substance that addicts you to tobacco. The OTHER chemicals in tobacco (tar, formaldehyde and several thousand other chemicals) are the real problem, causing cancer and other health problems. The nicotine by itself does not cause cancer or any other health problems (other than addiction).

"We don't have long term studies on the affects of vaping" is really a red herring. We have studies going back more than 70 years. The patent on vaping equipment has been around since some time in the 1960's. I'm not sure of the exact year but that still means evidence of vaping and the lack of medical issues resulting from vaping is 50 years old. I am busy atm but will post the links to several studies asap.

Great post! Do you have any links? I would like to read more about this.
Thanks,

A couple important points for anyone interested in this topic:

1) *Nicotine is NOT highly addictive*
It's not very addictive at all. The only addiction with ecigs is the psychological addiction. So am I concerned about teens (or anyone) becoming slaves to nicotine thanks to ecigs? Nope.

Journal of Neuroscience

2)Everyone pretty much agrees that common sense regulations are a good thing. What we are fighting is the fact that parts of the proposed regulations would be far too expensive for even medium sized ecig businesses. Do you know what happens if all the small guys are put out of business? The only ecig companies that remain will be the ones owned by Big Tobacco. No one wants that. The small cigarette sized models don't work well, and god knows what BT would put in them to actually make them addictive. Very bad for public health.

3) Every ingredient in ecigs but one have been studied for a very long time.

-Propylene Glycol is safe and has been used in too many things to mention. Asthma inhalers, pumped through hospital HVAC units as an anti-bacterial agent, it's in your toothpaste, etc etc.

-Vegetable glycerin is safe

-Nicotine derived from tobacco is not 100% safe for everyone, but it is 99% safer than smoking. As a side note, is caffeine 100% safe?
Nicotine Myths


This is a good non-biased overview:
Electronic Cigarettes

There is overwhelming evidence that e-cigs are 99% safer than smoking. There is only one ingredient that's a big unknown, the inhalation of food flavorings. Most should be safe to inhale, while one has been linked to a serious lung disease. Diacetyl is not used in any e-liquid though. There are also a few flavorings like custards and cinnamon which should really not be used in eliquid but still are. Ask yourself this, why is the FDA not bringing up valid scientific points like this? Why is it that I'm just an uneducated fool, yet I'm personally staying away from flavors with Acetyl propionyl and acetoin? Have you heard the FDA say anything about acetoin, cinnamon, or anything that's ACTUALLY a health concern? No, we just hear about banning flavors to SAVE THE CHILDREN! (because obviously adults prefer bland food and drinks)
Flavors info

Why? It's obvious to anyone who understands this issue. They don't care about health or the children, they care about the almighty dollar. This is a public health nightmare and we can not let them hand over our industry to big tobacco.


Read this to understand why certain "health" and anti-tobacco groups are really attacking safer alternatives to smoking:
It's not about health

Please read this commentary on regulations:
Money>health=Fact

a reply to: stutteringp0et

Thank you for your testimonial
My wife and I have a similar story -that was four years ago, now she vapes zero nicotine and gets a clean bill of health with no signs of the asthma that once burden her.

Thanks everyone for the comments, and I urge more of you to come out and post your success stories!