E-Cigarettes: Public Outraged At Special Interest Groups Attacks On New Alternative

Anti-e-cigarette soldiers belonging to special interest groups are on the march, but citizens are meeting them mid-field with protests. A quick glance at the comments sections of news articles concerning e-cigarettes around the web shows exactly what the public thinks of the products, because everyone knows at least one smoker who has failed at quitting.

“My dad’s tried everything to quit,” says Robin Durand, an e-cigarette user from Tennessee. “I gave him his kit and he went from smoking 2 packs a day to using 9 cigarettes in 2 days… he saw on TV a night or two later that they’re trying to outlaw them and I can’t even repeat what his words (and mine) were. He doesn’t yell often because he’s had throat cancer twice and wasn’t able to stop smoking cigarettes by any other means, but he yelled over that. The e cigarette I gave him literally helped give him his voice back… he doesn’t lose it as often now and we’re extremely upset they want to take that away from him.”

The concerns that citizens have are numerous and varied, from mentioning that the new legislation that gives the FDA jurisdiction of tobacco products specifically prohibits cigarettes from being outlawed to the fact that there are thousands of other dangerous products that are not subject to any sort of “sin tax”.

Other comments give scathing criticism of the government’s stance on the products and accuse it of worrying more about cigarette tax revenue than the health of the people. At this point, could it be political suicide to go against a smoking alternative that has gained such fervent support?

“If you find one comment out of twenty that supports completely pulling e-cigarettes off the market, you’re doing good,” says Judy, Robin’s mother. “People are upset and they’re not falling for any bureaucratic fear-mongering that tries to convince them these products are dangerous. There is absolutely no evidence to prove that they are. None. People know these are safer than tobacco cigarettes; they’re not as stupid as these high paid drug lobbyists think they are.”