I won't invest in smoker phobic rants. I'm out.

Last week I received notification of a "letter handover and photo call" that will take place outside the European Parliament in Brussels tomorrow.

Organised by the Save E-cigs Campaign, it's designed to persuade MEPs to drop plans to over-regulate e-cigarettes via the Tobacco Products Directive.

Tomorrow's press conference will feature a short film entitled 'Smoke without fire: the story of the electronic cigarette'.

We're also promised a "major announcement ... that will have a significant impact on the voting intentions of MEPs on September 10th".

As I've said many times, Forest is firmly in the e-cig camp because we support consumer choice.

Last night however I received another email about tomorrow's event and frankly I'm pretty disgusted.

Judge for yourself:

More than 7 Million Lives at Risk if MEPs Regulate E-Cigarettes Out of Existence

Brussels, Belgium – Over the next few days, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) face a stark choice; to once again support big tobacco, an industry that kills 700,000 people across the EU every year, or to support e-cigarettes, a market-based, consumer-led public health revolution that has the potential to save millions of lives. If MEPs choose the former, and vote for the medicinal regulation of e-cigarettes, they will be condemning Europe’s seven million e-cigarette users to a premature death [my emphasis].

As MEPs prepare to vote on this important issue, several thousand former cigarette smokers from across the EU, their friends, and their families have signed an open letter to MEPs that states, “E-cigarettes for us have been a revelation. Since our friends and family members made the switch to e-cigarettes, it is now a pleasure to be around them. They are healthier, happier people, and we do not have to suffer indirectly as a result of them smoking" [my emphasis] ...

Throughout the EU, e-cigarettes provide a viable alternative to smoking cigarettes. They have enabled millions of people to leave smoking behind, either on a full or part-time basis. But what is often forgotten in this debate are the friends and family of smokers, who also benefit when a smoker switches to e-cigarettes. They are no longer putting their own health at risk through passive smoking and most importantly, they no longer have to worry about their friend or family member dying prematurely [my emphasis].

Strong stuff.

It's fashionable at the moment to jump on board the e-cig bandwagon and embrace anyone who supports the product - even those who have spent years advocating further restrictions against smokers.

I have always been suspicious of zealots and evangelical converts of all persuasions and the e-cig movement seems to be full of them.

Good luck tomorrow but I won't be investing in Save E-cigs' smoker phobic rants. I'm out.