Reply to Rebecca Taylor MEP

[whipitup]

I posted this as a reply to Rebecca Taylor's Blog:

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <wnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> Rebacca, Hi…..I feel I really need to get this off my chest, so:

We vapers started vaping off our own backs because we wanted to stop smoking and having tried all other methods we were, well, desperate.

NRT doesn’t work, it has something like a 90% failure rate, on the other hand, EVERYONE I know who has tried vape to quit smoking has succeeded by vaping.

SO, I tried vaping, and from day one it worked, I haven’t smoked for almost 11 months, and apart from the first week or so, I haven’t felt the need to smoke at all.

A few facts:

1. It doesn’t cost the state anything directly as we fund out “hobby” ourselves.
2. It’s far, far healthier than smoking – 3 fold safer according to a speech in the HoL’s
3. It’s safe for everyone around me, I exhale lass Nicotine than you would receive from eating a tomato. It’s probably more dangerous to breath the air in Manchester city centre than vaping. And in fact Propylene Glycol has a natural anti bacterial effect.

Then the EU gets involved, and adds Ecigs (I hate that name) to the TPD revisions, why I ask?

There is NO evidence that vaping is bad for you, and by evidence I mean real scientific evidence not the lies spouted by the so called “public health” activists.

There is already regulations in place for Ecigs – 17 if I remember correctly, the only other we need would be a ban on sales to minors and maybe better QA on the juice itself.

It would seem the only reason Ecigs are in the TPD is because of lobbying by organisations that have a vested interest – big Pharma and big tobacco – they have a lot to loose.

The MEP’s (in the main) who are deciding the future of vaping do not know enough about the subject, I had to tell Chris Davies that it is impossible to make 20mg juice from 20mg Nic base (you need to add VG and flavours to the PG base therefore lowering the nic content to about 9mg).

Then there is the misrepresentation of scientist’s studies by the EU to justify the so called “light touch” regulation. They bang on about the toxicity of Nicotine to justify smaller atomisers, smaller juice bottles and non leak filling systems and ignore recent studies showing Nicotine is a lot less toxic than they assume.

Tobacco sales have apparently dropped by 8% this year, attributed to Ecigs sales, the revisions to the TPD were only expected to give a 2% drop, yet Ecigs still do not “fit the bill”?

Liberal MEP’s, yourself included are still talking about compromise where there should not be any! Anything less than what we have now WILL be a worse situation for vapers.

I could go on and on………….I, and others have come to the conclusion that the situation we are in is down to money, pure and simple. All governments can see is the loss of revenue due to the rise of Ecigs and the drop in tobacco sales. They really do not care about our health, I will continue to try to stop what is happening, but my faith in government is gone, I wont be voting for any party again as they all seem to be the same,

Regards,

Roger Ball
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[Dan Dan the vaping man]

Good letter to the point and stating the facts in a clear and plain manner and is easy to follow ( I have low attention when reading ) and I read the whole thing lol

Good on ya

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Planet of the Vapes mobile app

 

[Chegs]

I received this back from Arlene McCarthy MEP,despite never having written to her(so I assume the email I sent to my MP is just getting passed around)

Thank you for your recent correspondence on e-cigarettes. At the end of 2013 an agreement was reached between national ministers and Euro MPs on how e-cigarettes should be regulated – this is a small part of a wider law on which will mean big changes in tobacco regulation.

The draft law rejects the initial proposal that all e-cigarettes need a medicines licence. Instead, e-cigarettes will be treated like tobacco products – i.e. they can be sold freely, as long as they meet certain safeguards, such as a limit on nicotine concentration of 20mg/ml, quality and purity standards, a safety mechanism for refill bottles to avoid spilling, and better labelling for consumers on risks and instructions for use. They would also be subject to some of the advertising controls which apply to cigarettes and manufacturers would have to take some liability for sub-standard products. Refillable e-cigarettes would still be allowed on the market, as would all flavourings, although the UK government is free to regulate flavours under UK law. These controls were the minimum that governments would agree to – given the concern that e-cigarettes could develop into a gateway product for children and because nicotine e-liquid is a highly toxic substance.

If companies choose to make a claim that their e-cigarette helps smokers quit, they will have to seek a medicines licence – and then the strength and advertising restrictions would not apply. Some companies are already taking this route, as they would like their products to be recommended by doctors and available on prescription.

The agreement was backed by the UK Government, plus the majority of Euro MP negotiators and it will now be put in front of the whole Parliament for a vote this year.

I hope this clarifies the current situation.

Yours sincerely
Arlene McCarthy

 

[whipitup]

I received this back from Arlene McCarthy MEP,despite never having written to her(so I assume the email I sent to my MP is just getting passed around)

Thank you for your recent correspondence on e-cigarettes. At the end of 2013 an agreement was reached between national ministers and Euro MPs on how e-cigarettes should be regulated – this is a small part of a wider law on which will mean big changes in tobacco regulation.

The draft law rejects the initial proposal that all e-cigarettes need a medicines licence. Instead, e-cigarettes will be treated like tobacco products – i.e. they can be sold freely, as long as they meet certain safeguards, such as a limit on nicotine concentration of 20mg/ml, quality and purity standards, a safety mechanism for refill bottles to avoid spilling, and better labelling for consumers on risks and instructions for use. They would also be subject to some of the advertising controls which apply to cigarettes and manufacturers would have to take some liability for sub-standard products. Refillable e-cigarettes would still be allowed on the market, as would all flavourings, although the UK government is free to regulate flavours under UK law. These controls were the minimum that governments would agree to – given the concern that e-cigarettes could develop into a gateway product for children and because nicotine e-liquid is a highly toxic substance.

If companies choose to make a claim that their e-cigarette helps smokers quit, they will have to seek a medicines licence – and then the strength and advertising restrictions would not apply. Some companies are already taking this route, as they would like their products to be recommended by doctors and available on prescription.

The agreement was backed by the UK Government, plus the majority of Euro MP negotiators and it will now be put in front of the whole Parliament for a vote this year.

I hope this clarifies the current situation.

Yours sincerely
Arlene McCarthy

I got exactly the same thing from her, the only difference being I DID Email her...........waste of time though eh?

 

[Chegs]

I'm tempted to start sending my own version of your email,to every dumb pillock that is in any political group be they Labour or Monster Raving Looney.I might even add all our local councillors too,just to see how long it takes for them to respond properly,not just some electronic auto-generated shite which seems to be the majority type of responses to any Vapour User.

My emails to my MP got no response until AFTER the Dec decision and that was only a "I'm too busy to see you in person,but I've forwarded your email to J (c)Hunt" letter,my letters to the local paper got nowhere,even when directly accusing our MP of ONLY being interested in Nuclear Issues.My posts on the papers own forum were quickly removed despite my choosing my wording carefully & expletive free,my MP didn't even acknowledge direct tweets,preferring instead to retweet accusations at him from some Lord.

I know full well,that emailing every chunt in a government office will achieve sod all but it'll at least give vent to my mounting frustrations!

 

[whipitup]

Good idea, I think I will send it to all my MEP's as well, at the very least it will use up some of their time!

 

[h116]

i have been sending emails to a lot of the national newspapers every couple of weeks in the hope that it may encourage more coverage in the press (after all, the press control the government on a lot of matters these days). we need to get it in to the governments minds that there are a lot of people vaping and they need to listen to us