He's had this attitude since the 'behind closed doors' stitch up meeting that they had.
I emailed him to ask for clarification on the 20mg limit and whether that would cover just off the shelf, complete juices or if it would also mean a limit of 20mg on nic base too. His feeling was that it would cover nicotine base too (which is why I ordered another 3 liters of nic base straight after receiving his reply), which basically hamstrings home mixers too ... unless they want to go down the 'criminal' route.
I reckon you're correct in your assumption that he's given up fighting on our behalf and feels satisfied that he's done enough to get us an acceptable deal.
Granted, he DID put a lot of effort in on our behalf, which is appreciated, but what he deems to be acceptable isn't acceptable in everyone's eyes ... mine included.
I love the bit about higher strengths being put into the medicines bracket.. I got that one wrong, I was expecting them to stipulate low dosages so that medical devices would be ineffective and force people back to their traditional NRT. It would seem 'they' are happy enough to corner the high strength market. Makes sense I suppose... Big Tobacco and Big Pharma have the financial clout to pay for the licensing and Big Government will get a share through licensing fees and prescription charges (remember, prescriptions charge PER ITEM and I can't see some 1st generation modification lasting long).
That then leaves the rest of us who can get by with lower strengths limited in our options but still able to buy 10ml bottles of max 20mg... which is probably why Chris Davies thinks we've gotten off lightly.
I can't see Big Government being happy with just licensing/prescription fees though, that won't cover their growing revenue losses. Expect to see an announcement in the near future that says the government has reluctantly decided to allow devices/liquids outside of medicines regulation, but they will have to be taxed at the same rate as tobacco products to deter youngsters from taking up vaping and following the (bullshit) gateway route.
I've been saying for a few years now that there was a 'done deal' in the pipeline to stitch us up. I've been off the mark with some of the details, but I reckon I was right on the done deal bit.
McAvan, Mean and the rest of those corrupt fuckers must be laughing their tits off at us at the moment.
The one immediate counter I can see to this is to try and spread the word over social media (forgot mainstream media.. they already sold out to BT,BP & BG), telling smokers that if they're thinking of trying vaping, that they need to do it NOW... while they still have the opportunity and the time to arm themselves with both the knowledge and the supplies to last out what are likely to be long, drawn out legal battles.
Of course, that's always assuming that the vaping companies don't just decide that they're happy to operate under the restrictions and take what profits they can get. I've assumed that it would all end in court one way or another, but is that Coresta debacle just the tip of the iceberg? Will the rest of the vaping sector start 'selling out' one by one as they weigh up the potential costs of litigation and what they could actually gain by taking legal action, as opposed to just rolling over and accepting the regulations?
If the vaping sector don't take up the fight, who will? ECITA? Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely grateful to Katherine and her team for doing their best to fight our corner, but when the gloves are off and cash needs laying on the table to fund a legal battle, will ECITA's membership decide to pull the rug from under her feet (financially speaking) and toe the line?
What about ECCA? With the greatest of respect, would they have the financial clout and the available time/necessary expertise to mount a battle?
If not ECITA or ECCA, then who else? Big Tobacco? It seems that they don't really care if their customers use tobacco products or vape, as long as they still get their profit.
I don't know of any multi millionaires that would be happy enough to provide financial backing, so in the end, that would leave just US.
...and do we really care enough to want to dig our hands in our pockets and purses to finance legal action? KMS has set up a 'vapers against the ban' t-shirt campaign to try and raise a few funds and how many of us out of a membership of over 7000 have bothered to support it?
I think that if we REALLY hope to put up an effective fight against these corrupt fuckers, then we need to stop putting our faith in politicians who will only go so far and up our game.. and do it fairly fast before the dominoes start to fall.
like so many politicians start off singing the right song, did he ever know what he was talking about
