Letter sent to my MP........

[whipitup]

Dear Mr. %%^&*$£,

I am a vaper. For the uninitiated, that is a person who uses an electronic cigarette (e-cig). I was a smoker for more than 30 years, and tried many times to give up. I tried every type of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) on the market, with the same result - I always went back to the cigarettes.

In March this year I purchased an e-cig with the intention of using it only in those situations where I could not, or did not want to smoke, e.g. in my car, in my house or around non smokers. Within two weeks and with absolutely no effort on my part I had completely stopped smoking and only vaped. I no longer cough, worry about lung cancer or stink.

On 12.6.13 the MHRA announced that it will regulate what it terms as 'nicotine containing products' (NCPs) as medicines and this is, of course, aimed at e-cigs. All manufacturers and vendors of such products will have to be licensed. It is thought that licensing will take at least a year and will cost 10s if not 100s of thousands of pounds per item.

E-cigs work for smokers because they are varied, interesting and innovative. Hardly a day goes by when a new product to try doesn't hit the market. Vapers enjoy the hobby aspect of vaping and there are numerous online communities of us who discuss the latest gadgets, doodads and juice flavours and help each other to find the perfect vape. All of this is a part of what keeps us off the cigarettes (termed as "stinkies" in many quarters).

The intention to regulate these products as medicine is complete overkill, and frankly bizarre since I am not ill and they don't cure anything, nor have the vendors ever claimed that they do. The costs and timescales involved will put most of the traders currently in the market out of business, and the drive to produce new and interesting products will stagnate under the weight of the red tape involved in getting them to the market. We will be left with the sort of dull grey products that have failed us all for years, namely the NRTs. I don't doubt that the only companies who will be able to afford to get their products licensed will be the very companies who have, for years, profited from either killing us in the case of the tobacco companies, or failed to cure us in the case of the pharmaceutical companies and their 90-95% ineffective NRTs.

No one asked us, the people who actually vape, what we thought. The MHRA clearly have no understanding of smokers' needs and if Europe accepts this proposal many of the 1.3 million vapers in this country, and the 5 million in Europe will go back to smoking cigarettes. Others will buy from the inevitable black market, and still others will simply stockpile as much nicotine liquid as we can in the next 3 years and then import all of our gadgets from China.

E-cigs have the potential to save lives, and seriously damage the tobacco market. It is product which should be encouraged and a market which should be understood and supported, not regulated out of existence. Would you kindly let me have your thoughts.


I suspect however that this “regulation” is founded on loss of revenue and not the health of the UK citizens.


Yours sincerely,


£$&^^%& ^((*&^



PS: After writing this letter I have now found out that the MHRA based their decision on data supplied by BAT (British American Tobacco)....absolutely unbelievable.
If you wish to have a personal insight into vaping I would be more than happy to meet with you.

 

[whipitup]

Also sent a slight variation of the above to all my MEP's, lets see if I get a reply.....................

 

[churr bro]

awesome letter... yup they sure are gonna distroy vapeing as it is now... i dont think however that the polly-trickians will care -- pitty cause vapeing is a great alternative to smokeing..

 

[Numpty]

Also sent a slight variation of the above to all my MEP's, lets see if I get a reply.....................

I will be sending a version of this also, just a point I'm not sure on, is using BAT data or input not a conflict of interest ?

Cigs have a huge profit margin, 'interpreting' the facts so as to not damage sales of BAT's primary product makes sense while they also take a nice income from those trying to only 'legal' e-cig product in the hope of quitting.

Is it only illegal if they were paid ?

 

[whipitup]

awesome letter... yup they sure are gonna distroy vapeing as it is now... i dont think however that the polly-trickians will care -- pitty cause vapeing is a great alternative to smokeing..

Thanks, but to be fair, I did steal a huge chunk of it from elsewhere.

 

[Mawsley]

I sent my MP pictures of me naked with the threat that if he doesn't act I'll be sending more.

This whole thing will be brushed under the carpet by teatime, Wednesday.

 

[Raguri]

Mawsley , our resident nutter.

 

[SouthernVaper]

Ill be sending my letter this weekend and I will get a response as ill be requesting one, and not giving me one will result in another letter and or a visit from me lol

 

[whipitup]

I'm pretty sure if you send a personal letter they have to respond.

 

[SouthernVaper]

stole and edited it here and there, heres mine

Dear *******,

I am what is know as a Vaper. For those who do not know what this is it
is a person that uses an electronic cigarette or e-cig.
I have been a smoker for over 20 years and tried several ways of giving
up,I tried every several types of nicotine replacement therapy's
(NRT)that are on the market but still smoked. I have also attended a
NHS quit smoking service. I gave up for a short while whilst having a
visit to cardiac care but this again didn't last and after the pause I
actually found myself in a worst position of smoking more. All that I
have tried had the same result, a return to smoking.

In March this year I purchased an e-cig with the intention of using it
as a alternative. The day I received my vaporiser (bought via the
internet) I stopped smoking cigarettes and with no effort at all. I no
longer cough or suffer from lack of breath and have had a noticeable
improvement in my long term condition, Crohns Disease.

On 12.6.13 the MHRA announced that it will regulate what it terms as
'nicotine containing products' (NCPs) as medicines and this is, of
course, aimed at e-cigs. All manufacturers and vendors of such products
will have to be licensed. It is thought that licensing will take at
least a year and will cost 10s if not 100s of thousands of pounds per
item.

E-cigs work for smokers because they deliver nicotine at a level which
totally stops the cravings. They are also a diverse interesting and
innovative product that is always changing and moving forward. Hardly a
day goes by where a new product is not brought to market.

Vapers enjoy not only the use but also the hobby aspect of vaping
(using a e-cig and the products). There are various on-line communities
for us to discuss the new products Ejuices (what is put into the
devices) and help each other to find the perfect vape. All of this is a
part of what keeps us off the cigarettes (termed as "stinkies" in many
quarters).

I use a devise that cannot be termed as one that looks like a cigarette
and most of the people of the on-line communities don't either. It is
that we have the freedom to choose a devise that meets our needs in
both looks, battery power, size and amount of juice that it carries

The intention to regulate these products as medicine is a complete
overkill, and frankly bizarre since I am not ill and they don't cure
anything, nor have the vendors ever claimed that they do. The costs and
time-scales involved will put most of the traders currently in the
market out of business, and the drive to produce new and interesting
products will stagnate under the weight of the red tape involved in
getting them to the market. So we will loose our right of choice and we
will be left with the sort of dull grey products that have failed us
all for years, namely the NRTs. I don't doubt that the only companies
who will be able to afford to get their products licensed will be the
very companies who have, for years, profited from either killing us in
the case of the tobacco companies, or failed to cure us in the case of
the pharmaceutical companies and their 90-95% ineffective NRTs.

No one asked us, the people who actually vape, what we thought. The
MHRA clearly have no understanding of Vapers needs and if Europe
accepts this proposal many of the 1.3 million Vapers in this country,
and the 5 million in Europe will go back to smoking cigarettes. Others
will buy from the inevitable black market, and still others will simply
stockpile as much nicotine liquid as we can in the next 3 years and
then import all of our gadgets from China.

Incidently, those who made the decisions namely MHRA is chaired by
people with vested interests in the outcome mainly pharmaceutical
companies. Surely the body to make such a suggestion should be one that
is impartial.

E-cigs have the potential to save lives, and seriously damage the
tobacco market. It is product which should be encouraged and a market
which should be understood and supported, not regulated out of
existence. Would you kindly let me have your thoughts.

I suspect however that this “regulation” is founded on loss of revenue
and not the health of the UK citizens.

I would happily meet you to discuss this further as no doubt my letter
contains information that you are not familiar with.

Yours sincerely,

*********