MEP and MP Letters

[Bryan123456]

It amazes me that these politicos keep wittering on about 'no studies into the long-term effects of vaping'.

a) Vaping has been around for less than 10 years, gained a foothold in the UK in 2006 and has only recently become more than a minority interest. Many studies that have been undertaken are unscientific and unethical - usually through bodies sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry, which wants vaping curtailed stopped or placed under its control as it is more efficacious than their ineffective and expensive NRTs.
b) There never will be a study into the long term effects of vaping if the EU's illogical attempt to ban it takes place. A real healthier alternative to smoking will be removed. The EU has a history of promoting death through smoking related lung cancer. When it banned Snus - Sweden refused to comply: Sweden now has the lowest rate of male lung cancer in the developed world - attributable to the use of snus instead of tobacco.

 

[McAldo]

@Ethelkng, I don't think it's reasonable to compare the nicotine in one cigarette with that in 1 ml of eliquid because you can smoke a cigarette in 5 minutes but I defy anybody to vape 1 ml in the same time.
I compared the nicotine in a pack of 20 regular strength ciggies (20 mg) but didn't allow for the fact that far more nicotine is absorbed through smoking.
That would mean 20mg/ml would be the equivalent. I used to smoke 40 a day and now I use 2 ml of 18 mg most days.
I also saw an estimate that 1 ml of 18 mg juice was equivalent to 12 cigarettes if you took absorption into account.

And one of my MEPs is asking a question about the 'dangerous proppylene glycol in some ecigs"
I want a 'smiley' for 'DOH!!!

In reality, the mg content detailed in cigarettes is not the amount of nicotine contained in a single cigarette, but the amount *estimated* to be absorbed by smoking that cigarette.
In a single cigarette there is much more nicotine, weight wise, but the majority gets destryed in the combustion process.
What we see on the packet is the amount of nicotine supposed to be absorbed by an average individual by smoking a single cigarette.
Interestingly, one way of changing absorbtion rate in cigarettes is to treat tobacco so to make the combustion smoke more or less acidic. Rather than changing the actual nicotine content in the tobacco.

The reason is that the fascinating nicotine molecule, as other drugs, needs to acquire an ion to pass the barriers which insulate us from contaminants, and then loose it in order to actually act on neural receptors.
So, a more acidic smoke increases absorbtion rate without need to somewhat increase nicotine in the actual tobacco.

This goes to say that what matters is the actual absorbtion rate.
Comparing nicotine content is only valuable when comparing between variants of the same delivery system.
I can compare liquids.
I can compare cigarettes.
But the mg figures are really useless when comparing cigarettes and liquids, as they indicate different things Even if in both cases the mg referred to the actual content in tobacco, as it does in liquid, the different nature of the delivery system would make the comparison meaningless. Combustion will destroy part of the actual content, the acidity of the smoke and other factors will determine the absorption rate, the absorption sites in our body are likely to be different.

A blood test or other approaches are more likely to give a reliable estimate of actual absorbtion.

But then, nicotine is kind of a minor concern, as often pointed out. It becomes a concern when the organizations and individuals wanting to dictate our choice of delivery system, or privation thereof, use nicotine absorption as a relevant factor.

For those interested, the California Institute of Technology offers a course 'drugs and the brain', which focusses heavily on nicotine and is free.
Through corsera.org
The main teacher has also investigated the role of nicotine as a preventor to Parkinson, which is another thing we hear about often on vaping forums.

The course is approaching its end, but all content is downloadable for watching at a latter time.

The only drawback is that it's quite heavy on biochemistry, understandably (it's a university course, after all)

 

[Doodlebug]

Hi, all,

Well, I've written to Dr Borg at the Commission, copied it to every UK MEP, several MPs, LOADS of international public health experts, the media, the MHRA, etc., etc., and I'll keep you posted on any responses I receive. The complete letter is fairly huge, since the new Commissioner has clearly not grasped the fundamentals of these issues (since he let the draft go out in the state it did!), but to ease the pressure on those of you who can't take another one of my blog rolls, an abridged version is on the blog as 'Special Report #3 '. (The full version is linked; it's on our website if anyone has the stomach for it?)

Cheers all!

Katherine

 

[Mark]

Thanks Katherine. I'm sure there will be folks reading it!

 

[Doodlebug]

Not you, though, eh Mark?

 

[Doodlebug]

Actually, in terms of some of the information you guys have been discussing in this thread, I did raise some of the key issues surrounding the maths, and the comparisons between smoking and vaping which might (possibly) be of interest to some of you - particularly where you are in correspondence with the MEPs. I'm not sure many of them remain in the abridged version, but I went into some depth in the full monty, which you can get to here: www.ecita.org.uk/documents

You might also find appendix 1 useful, for 'talking heads' quotes from public health experts from all over the place. Pretty high calibre stuff, and mostly driven by Clive Bates (the angel!) having specifically invited some of the top names in tobacco science to comment on his blog.

Hope this is helpful.

Cheers,

Katherine

 

[Mark]

Not you, though, eh Mark?

?

 

[Doodlebug]

You don't read my blog, surely?

 

[Mark]

You don't read my blog, surely?

I have and have been a supporter of your efforts from the beginning so why wouldn't I read this important update? Im quite taken aback. Long awaited and welcome! The responses to the letters to my MEPs has ranged from zilch nada, to quite positive. Good luck with yours.

see this thread for more letters and comments http://www.planetofthevapes.co.uk/f...fective-Ban-on-E-Cigarette-Cartridges-Eliquid

 

[KulrMeStoopid]

Think this is one of those jokes that's got miss read Mark and Doodlebug



The "folks will be reading it" bit made it sound like you didnt