Vaping in the tobacco pigeon-hole

For some reason many elements of regulatory bodies and public health are determined to bundle electronic cigarettes up with tobacco rulings.  Of course, they claim it is all in the name of public health, denormalising smoking, protecting the children, or some other inane reason.

Most of those reasons are of course, founded in ideology rather than actual facts but they are determined to put vaping in the same pigeon-hole as tobacco and smoking.

We are of course painfully aware of the ludicrous antics of the Greens Jezza Buckslimer and his draconian stance on e-cigs in general.

Remember the small victory in the Houses of Parliament where MPs could vape inside?

Those poor overpaid, overdressed, underworked folk. Now they have to go outside with the normal smokers to vape. Trouble is, this kind of attitude towards vaping is significantly prevalent everywhere.

We know the US FDA are looking to regulate e-cigs as tobacco products, along with the God-forsaken EU. Turns out, Fiji has already deemed e-cigs as tobacco, alongside those that have already adopted the TPD2.

What is even more disturbing about this Amended Decree is the fact that folk are being jailed for offences under the decree. So far none of those sentences have been related to e-cigarettes or vaping. Yet.

Ontario has introduced Bill 45 which goes by the oh so cute name Making Healthier Choices Act where flavours, advertising, and even holding a vapour product is deemed illegal, liable to some pretty substantial fines.

Oregon has joined in this insanity by passing House Bill 2546, which bans sale to minors (which we are mostly OK with), vaping in cars in the presence of children (insane), and adding vapour products to the Indoor Clean Air Act.

The one thing that really gets me with these places seeking to deem vapour products as tobacco is the substantial lack of evidence that is used to justify this stance. But then again, what exactly is a vapour product?

Is it a _cessation _product? No. Never has been and should never be classified as such. True it does have the positive side effect of people ceasing tobacco use, but the vast majority of vapers did not switch to vaping to quit tobacco.

Is it a _tobacco _product? Hell no. Well, not exactly. If anything it is an anti-tobacco product, nicotine is an extract from the tobacco plant, but that is as far as it goes. True you can get tobacco flavoured juices, not my particular cup of tea but many vapers like them. Pretty much all traditional tobacco products contain the actual processed leaf. Unless I’m being completely delusional, there isn’t any leaf in my juices.

Is it a _medical _product? Nope. I needn’t say more there.

Is it a consumer product? Mostly, yes. Many vapers use vapour products in a recreational way. To enjoy something. That is mostly harmless, or at the very least it is enjoyed as a calculated risk.

Already many public places have voluntarily banned vaping, and those that haven’t are probably going to be in full support of any future bans. Of course, we’ll probably see more ludicrous claims and junk science to support the inclusion of vapour products in with existing or amended tobacco laws.

So what is the problem with these regulatory bodies? I think we all know the answer to that.