Sunday 28 June 2015

"The days of the traditional cigarette are numbered" - but only if we let vaping succeed

****

The e-cig - vaping - is a game changer. Here's the the senior tobacco analyst at Euromonitor:

“Up until now there has been no direct competition for cigarettes in a meaningful sense, and nicotine replacement therapies were certainly not providing that,” said Mr MacGuill. “The days of the traditional cigarette are numbered – the only question is how long that process will take – and e-cigarettes have the potential to drastically shorten the shelf life of traditional tobacco products.”

See that statement - the end of the cigarette is coming and not because of traditional tobacco control and prohibition tactics but because someone's created an effective, safe and pleasant way to get a hit of nicotine.

And it's no surprise that those whose livelihoods depend on the cigarette - the public health industry, academics in assorted centres for tobacco research as such like, plus Big Tobacco itself - are bothered. Vaping has pushed aside the ineffective (and unpleasant - I speak from experience here) nicotine replacement products like gum, spray and patches.

Let's hope that those dumb politicians don't let the pharmaceutical industry and its lackeys - keen to protect their lucrative market - don't prevent vaping achieving what it promises: the death of the cigarette.
....

5 comments:

Junican said...

Included with 'vaping', you ought to consider 'heat not burn' products. There is a device called 'Ploom' which is similar to an ecig but does just that. The tobacco comes in a little sachet which is placed inside the ecig-type tube and heated. The 'smoke' produced is like tobacco smoke but without all those nasty nitrosamines, etc, due to the fact that temperatures are considerably lower than combusted tobacco leaf. Snus also should be considered.
But it is unlikely that the free-loaders in tobacco control will get their comeuppance until tobacco and alcohol duty is abolished and the tax spread more fairly over the whole population.

Anonymous said...

Ah freedom through adiction, i love the smell of fag ash in the morning!

Mark Landers said...

The issue with "heat not burn" is that it's still tobacco, with all connected health issues. Furthermore, they call it "heat-not-burn", but it would be better to call it "heat-and-burn". Just check one you tried it: the first studies are already saying that there's combustion inside there!

Junican said...

@ Anon.
If people want to risk addiction, that's their business and not yours. If they are addicted and want to remain addicted, that's their business and not yours.
Tobacco ash does not smell.

Junican said...

@ Mark Landers. The first studies? There have been dozens of studies! The word is 'heated' and not 'ignited'.