Vapers In Power - the new manifesto

[jessica]

Here's the new manifesto for Vapers In Power - thoughts welcome! 




VAPERS IN POWER NEW MANIFESTO

Vapers In Power exists to uphold the right of ex-smokers to practise Harm Reduction using their various types of ecigs, whether the devices are technically-advanced or those resembling cigarettes.
We are committed to the freedom of choice for current and future smokers in using their preferred type of ecigs and flavoured eliquid.
We call for Article 20 to be removed from the Tobacco Products Directive on the grounds that ecigs are not tobacco products. Furthermore, we reject the provisions of Article 20 because it is based on a misrepresentation of scientific studies, because it will render ecigs ineffectual, and because it gives tobacco products a distinctly unfair advantage over the much less harmful alternative. The TPD limits the nicotine strength in eliquids to an arbitrary and unscientific 20 mg/ml, based on a misreading of a paper by Dr Farsalinos. It limits bottle size to 10ml, based on since discredited 18th Century notions of nicotine toxicity - again the current science was ignored by the EU. It ignores any real concerns of safety that most ecig users would welcome regulation on - e.g. limits on diketones. It applies an advertising ban on a product that has not been shown to harm, and in fact is starting to generate measurable population-level health benefits. It imposes a 6-month notification regime for new ecig products with no justification. It allows member states to ban all non-medical ecigs. It proposes outrageously expensive and largely irrelevant testing procedures. It allows member states to ban flavourings - i.e. to neuter the thing that is keeping smokers off their cigarettes.. The Tobacco Products Directive is designed to give combusted tobacco and ineffective Nicotine Replacement Treatments an unfair advantage over ecigs, the much less harmful alternative.
We support the continuation of general consumer product regulations applying to ecigs and eliquid with certain provisos:
We call for new legislation to regulate the sales of ecigs to minors. We are in favour of appropriate warnings on eliquid bottles that reflect modern scientific understanding regarding the toxicity of nicotine and which comply with any relevant CLP regulations. We are committed to affordable and effective testing for known or potential dangers in flavoured eliquid, and for eliquid manufacturers to be inspected for hygiene under existing legislation. We believe that existing consumer legislation is sufficient for the safety of batteries and chargers. We also want ecig vendors to supply comprehensive guidelines about battery and charger safety with ecig battery products. We do not accept that ecigs should be classified as either tobacco or medicinal products because they are neither; they are a general consumer product.
We will push for action against bogus science and propaganda that endangers life.
We will support the thriving, small ecig businesses which are driving innovation in the ecig sector and boosting local economies by employing local people.
We will support the pub industry by campaigning for ecigs to be permitted in more pubs.
We believe that the maximum taxation for ecigs and eliquid should be at the VAT rate; it would be morally wrong to have a 'sin tax' on this much less harmful alternative to tobacco.
We defend the right of individuals to use ecigs in all outside public spaces.
We defend the right of the individual to decide whether ecig use should be permitted on their property.
We are committed to educating both individuals and corporate bodies with regards to the facts of ecig use and harm reduction.
We call on employers who prohibit the use of ecigs in the workplace to re-assess their policies and at minimum provide separate shelters.
We defend the right of freedom of speech to discuss ecigs in public, and for ecig products to be advertised.

[VapingBad]

Maybe a stronger first line highlighting we only want what we have now because it is good for us

Change
"Vapers In Power exists to uphold the right of ex-smokers to practise Harm Reduction using their various types of ecigs"
to
"Vapers In Power exists to preserve the right of ex-smokers to benefit from Harm Reduction using their various types of ecigs"

I am no word smith and am sure others can do better, but fell the tone is a little dry although the message is great.

Wishing you all the best with this.

[sammy13]

Sounds good to me, not sure about the vaping in pubs bit as to be honest even as a vaper , I still go outside to vape even if it is allowed, and other than specifically going to a meet, I wouldn't want to be sat in a pub on a night/ afternoon out surrounded by others vaping, so I totally understand why non vaping people wouldn't want it happening either. It could also open a whole new argument about vaping anywhere in public indoors, why allow it in a pub yet not in a cinema, or on a bus?
Everything else sounds great though.

[sleedale]

Reads ok to me..........who is this for?

I do feel that anyone with a cafe, pub, other indoor place, especially for recreation, should be allowed to decide if they wish to allow vaping. That way, local people would have a say whether they object or don't object to people vaping in that establishment. My local pub has happily allowed me to vape, which for me is a big plus. I try not to offend other pub goers, don't blow massive vapour clouds, and limit my own usage, but it's so good to have the choice.

[jessica]

VapingBad This manifesto has been worked over by quite a few people already - and now it's out on 3 forums so is getting another good going over. You are right - it definitely needs the attentions of a competent writer, once all the ideas have been agreed on.

sammy13 I agree with you to some extent - and ideas about where vaping should be allowed are very individual ( I don't think we will get a consensus on that for this manifesto). However, we are a party which is representing vapers interests so I think we need to protect freedoms and not restrict them - we've seen that others can be relied on to do that.

sleedale Vapers In Power is a registered political party, established to protect freedom of speech around vaping. Here's the website: www.vapersinpower.co.uk. We want to write a manifesto which is as representative of the vaping community as possible, and we hope that this manifesto will be more widely read once we attract attention as a vaping pressure group. We intend to put two candidates forward at the UK Parliamentary election next May.

Thank you for your comments - please keep them coming.

[sammy13]

Hi jessica I was just think broadly really, and how trade offs happen, so perhaps whomever would say ok we will allow pubs to decide if vaping is allowed, but forget your idea of tax, maybe thinking a bit too deep lol.

[VapingBad]

jessica when I wrote "I am no word smith and am sure others can do better, but fell the tone is a little dry although the message is great." I was really thinking that others can do better than me with the tweaking and not criticising what was already done, which proves my point that written communication is not my forte lol.

[jessica]

Oct 31, 2014 9:45:03 GMT VapingBad said:

jessica when I wrote "I am no word smith and am sure others can do better, but fell the tone is a little dry although the message is great." I was really thinking that others can do better than me with the tweaking and not criticising what was already done, which proves my point that written communication is not my forte lol.

Thank you - but it's fine to criticise what has already been done  

This manifesto has now been added to by so many different people it reads like a game of consequences. 

The key thing is the get the ideas right first and then work on the tone and the grammar. 

All your comments are very appreciated.

[jessica]

Here's the latest version of the manifesto. Thank you to everyone who commented last time.

The pub sentence has come out

I've just seen your comment about the opening sentence again VapingBad - it still needs one - can anyone suggest one?

It also needs better references - if anyone knows of any studies, statistics etc which could help to back it up please suggest them - or suggest search terms for them so I can find them.

I've found 2 references to support this (but I'm sure there's something better out there) " It’s important to realise that ecigs have not been shown to harm - they are actually starting to generate measurable population-level health benefits"

It would also be good to find some estimates of how much the NRT market is worth, and even the market for drugs for treating smoking related diseases -if such an estimate exists.

Thank you in advance to anyone who can spare the time to read this. Comments are welcome




Vapers In Power Manifesto


Vapers In Power exists to uphold the right of smokers and ex-smokers to practise harm reduction using all types of ecigs including technically-advanced devices and generation one “cig-a-likes”.

Ecigs and The Tobacco Products Directive (Article 20)

Ecigs are a powerful harm reduction tool because users can tailor their vaping experience to suit their individual tastes and needs (1). To satisfy this need the ecig market offers a wide selection of devices - and an even wider choice of eliquid flavours and strengths. Vapers In Power rejects Article 20 of The Tobacco Products Directive (compliance for the EU member states from May 2016) because it imposes heavy-handed and inappropriate regulations which will outlaw effective ecigs and eliquids. Article 20 limits the nicotine strength in eliquids to an arbitrary and unscientific 20mg/ml, based on the misreading and misinterpretation of a scientific paper that was submitted in good faith by Dr Konstantinos Farsalinos and Dr Lynne Dawkins at the request of the European Commission (2). This limit will prevent heavy smokers from switching from tobacco to ecigs and will cost lives. The legislators have also ignored modern scientific knowledge of the toxicity of nicotine (3) and impose a limit on eliquid bottle capacity to 10mls, thereby creating an increased choking hazard (4). Article 20 imposes a six-month notification regime for new ecig products with no justification. Member states will be allowed to ban all non-medical ecigs and eliquid flavourings. Article 20 proposes outrageously expensive and largely irrelevant testing procedures yet fails to address the real safety concerns which most vapers would welcome regulation on – limits on diketones, for example. It also applies an advertising ban on ecigs, which will reduce the number of new users moving from smoking to vaping.

This inappropriate and heavy-handed regulation will squander the current and future public health gains from ecigs. Ecigs are not tobacco products and should never have been included in this Directive. The TPD protects the interests of the pharmaceutical companies which produce ineffective nicotine replacement therapies and drugs to treat smoking related illnesses (5). Article 20 also perversely gives an advantage to the tobacco companies as cigarettes will be more widely available than ecigs.

It’s important to realise that ecigs have not been shown to harm - they are actually starting to generate measurable population-level health benefits (6) (7)





Appropriate Regulation for Ecigs

What is appropriate regulation for ecigs? Vapers In Power supports the continuation of general consumer product regulations applying to ecigs and eliquid with certain provisos:

• We call for new legislation to regulate the sales of ecigs to minors.
• We want appropriate warnings on eliquid bottles to reflect the actual toxicity of nicotine and to comply with any relevant CLP regulations.
• We are committed to affordable and effective testing for known or potential dangers in flavoured eliquids and for eliquid manufacturers to be inspected for hygiene under existing legislation.
• We believe that existing consumer legislation is sufficient for the safety of batteries and chargers. Ecig vendors should supply comprehensive guidelines about battery and charger safety with ecig battery products. We will also push to end the dangerous situation whereby 5V chargers and 4.2V chargers can be used interchangeably.
• We demand regulations to ensure that ecig devices are adequately vented, where appropriate

We do not accept that ecigs should be classified as either tobacco or medicinal products because they do not fall into either category: ecigs should be regulated as a general consumer product.

Vaping and society

Vaping needs wide public acceptance if it is to continue saving lives.

• We will push for action against bogus science and propaganda that endangers life. Journalists and scientists who misrepresent research should be held to account – their actions have fatal consequences.

• We will support the thriving small ecig businesses which are driving innovation in the ecig sector and boosting local economies by employing local people.

• We call for the maximum taxation for ecigs and eliquid to be levied at the minimum VAT level - as Nicotine Replacement Therapies are. It would be morally wrong to sin tax this infinitely less harmful tobacco alternative
• We will defend the right of individuals to use ecigs in all outside public spaces.

We will defend the right of the individual to decide whether ecig use should be permitted on their property.

• We shall provide publicly accessible establishments with up-to-date guidelines on vaping in public
• We are committed to educating both individuals and corporate bodies with regards to the facts of ecig use and harm reduction.
• We call on employers who prohibit the use of ecigs in the workplace to re-assess their policies and at minimum to provide separate shelters.
• We defend the right to promote ecigs in public


Footnotes

1 Impact of Flavour Variability on Electronic Cigarette Use Experience www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/10/12/7272

2 Letter from Dr Farsalinos, Dr Lynne Dawkins and other key scientists sent to the EU to complain about the misrepresentation of the science www.ecigarette-research.com/web/i...tpd-errors

3 Study on the toxicity of nicotine www.ecita.org.uk/blog/index.php/h...-e-liquid/

4 www.uel.ac.uk/wwwmedia/schools/ps...d-MEPs.pdf

5 NEEDS STATS FOR DRUG COMPANY PROFITS
ASH UK report which includes how much the UK government spends on NRT www.ash.org.uk/files/documents/ASH_121.pdf

6 NEEDS STUDY TO SHOW MEASURABLE HEALTH BENEFITS, Effectiveness of electronic cigarettes (Flemish study) www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/11/11/11220

7 Ecigs estimated to save 6,000 lives a year in the UK www.theguardian.com/society/2014/...ives-in-uk
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[VapingBad]

jessica you could take some quotes from "Electronic cigarettes have a potential for huge public health benefit" by Prof Peter Hajek link. There is also always good stuff on Clive Bates blog.