E-cigs - I'm no expert but ...
I was on LBC last night talking about the EU's Tobacco Products Directive.
We discussed the ban on menthol cigarettes and ten packs and how this was an attack on consumer choice.
I pointed out that these products were being outlawed yet there had never been a debate in the UK parliament.
I also queried the need for plain packaging since the health warnings must in future cover 65 per cent of the front and back of the pack leaving little room for branding.
Then the issue of e-cigarettes came up.
"I'm not an expert," I said, "but ..."
And I burbled on about that for half a minute.
As it happens, I had just read Chris Snowdon's post about Martin McKee's sudden interest in e-cigarettes.
According to Chris, McKee showed little or no interest in e-cigs until last year. Now he's portrayed as an 'expert' (who wants to regulate them into oblivion, apparently).
Now I happily admit I'm no expert but in the wake of Chris's post I did a quick search of this blog to see when I first mentioned e-cigs.
The answer was January 20, 2010 when I wrote a post entitled 'Wanted: Comments on e-cigarettes'.
Apart my obvious ignorance, the most interesting thing about that post was the response - 111 comments.
Since then I have written (and been interviewed) about e-cigarettes on numerous occasions. For example:
A touch of the vapers (September 7, 2010)
Their own worst enemy (November 7, 2010)
The arguments against e-cigarettes (December 8, 2011)
Why I hate (some) e-cigarette retailers (March 7, 2012)
E-cigs and a crafty fag – join the conversation (November 5, 2012)
Will e-cigarettes take centre stage in 2013? (January 1, 2013)
More on e-cigarettes (January 8, 2013)
Wanted: a consumer champion for e-cigarettes who is not anti-smoking (February 17, 2013)
I won't invest in smoker phobic rants, I'm out (September 2, 2013)
Forest, e-cigarettes and the BMA's "self-serving politically correct agenda" (October 21, 2013)
And of course I've written several more posts about e-cigs in the past few months.
The problem is, while I say all the 'right' things about consumer choice and do my best to support e-cigarettes, I find it hard to empathise with vapers in the way I empathise with smokers.
The reason is simple. I hate the quasi religious zeal of some vapers and the refusal/reluctance of many to support smokers in their struggle against oppressive regulations that will affect vapers just as much as smokers.
I understand why vaping organisations and spokesmen have stood apart from smokers. Culturally and politically, however, we are in the same boat. If the vaping community didn't understand that before, yesterday's vote by MEPs may have brought some of them to their senses.
Like it not not, smokers and vapers are cut from the same cloth. The common bond is nicotine. The only difference is the delivery system.
I recommend therefore that you read this article, Time for vapers and smokers to unite, published on Monday by Forest's Free Society website.
Via Twitter we encouraged vapers – and smokers – to retweet the link. Hardly anyone did.
That said it all, really.
The Advertising Standards Authority has reacted quickly to complaints about an "overly sexual" e-cigarette ad:
"I want you to get it out. I want to see it. Feel it. Hold it. Put it in my mouth. I want to see how great it tastes."
Full story: 'Overly sexual’ VIP e-cigarette ads attract 1,156 complaints (Marketing Week)
Meanwhile it's almost 14 months since Forest complained about a government ad that was equally explicit (15 cigarettes can cause a mutation that leads to cancerous tumours) and we are still waiting for the ASA to publish its final adjudication.