email to BBC producer.

[djs]

After the Radio program "you and yours" I wrote to one of the presenters and got an email yesterday from someone who works for the BBC (maybe a producer?) in Manchester.

Whilst I don't feel it is right to post his reply to me, I thought I might post my response.

I was frustrated that the program only included the "usual suspects" and wrote about some of the comments. What I will say is that in the reply the BBC refuted that they had bought 4 "supermarket" e-cigs, which they did, they just didn't realise it.

I don't have a degree in English b.t.w. ???


Dear _____ ,

Thank you for your time.
Last week was a desperately sad day for people who have quit tobacco smoking for "vaping" as the E.U. committee did in fact recommend that from 2016 e-cigarettes should be classed as a medicine. What this means for thousands of us we do not know just yet, but concern in the community is that having given up smoking, we will either have to return to tobacco or only the products sold by pharmaceutical companies and tobacco companies. E-cigs have existed in a loophole until now and thanks to a huge online community the growth in people giving up smoking has been dramatic. So, there is a war going on, which with the users and industry united, we hope to win. Time will tell. I do know that things have gone so high in politics now that even some top-ranking politicians of every leaning are now questioning the need to medicalise these products as opposed to general consumer regulation, which we would like and in reality already have.
What is happening in the real world though is that smokers wishing to try e-cigarettes are looking firstly at the "brands" which get 99% of the media coverage. I am trying to encourage media sources to look past the so-called "success" of these types of product, which although maybe a good introduction, are expensive and sell with some arguable claims, about what they can do.
The main vaping forums are openly critical of many of these products on the market....in fact, it would be true to say that totally smoke-free vapers have mostly found success with a different type of product.
It would be good if the media could involve people who have actually stopped smoking by using this revolutionary alternative. There are endless tv, radio and newspaper articles asking questions about these types of e-cigs....and yet there are almost none speaking to people who have completely stopped smoking by using products which are actually more effective and yet, curiously, less expensive. I tried to quit using one of the brands mentioned in the program. You said you'd got them from various sources, but 10 motives, E-Lites and Nicolites are actually THE supermarket leaders. One of them charges almost twice as much as the others, for no good reason, and yet seems to corner the media simply to increase awareness of their product.
I don't know where it is all going, but more people are trying and failing with e-cigs than necessary, and that is down to products trampling over their competitors, aided by media exposure.
Next time, an e-cig article might include a contribution from companies such as Totally Wicked (they are a group of franchised "bricks and mortar" stores), a big online retailer, such as VapeEscape or Safercigs or ecigwizard or liberty flights. THAT would make for a) great listening and b)more public awareness of products that are not simply cigarette-like devices.
I don't want e-cigarettes handed over to the pharmacuetical and big tobacco firms, but all the time the media are "feeling in the dark" about what is actually available and effective, we might be in trouble. Even people advising the MHRA are thinking an e-cig can only be a white plastic stick purchased from a supermarket, or newsagent or similar outlet....but that is far from the end of the story and we, vapers, are running out of time to get the message out there about e-cigarettes.
I'll leave it with you; if you should ever need information or the BBC wants to expand their horizons, there is a wealth of information out there.

David _______-_____ (DJS)

AAEC UK (all about e-cigarettes) UKV (UK vapers) ECF (electronic cigarette forum).

[womble]

Jul 19, 2013 10:31:24 GMT djs said:

Whilst I don't feel it is right to post his reply to me,

Publish and be damned!

[Blownupdolly]

I'm with womble

[Gasper]

Post it in members section

[djs]

There's nothing really to post. He said "thanks" and that they bought a variety of e-cigs from different sources.
He also said that the BBC were very careful with the wording of all programs to do their best to not advertise stuff.

Although I had no wish to labour the point, John Waite DID describe the E-Lites as the strongest tasting of the group...which, given that many people find mini-e-cigs rather "pathetic" was i.m.o. a "nod" of approval.

The trouble with all this stuff is that it's like the blind leading the blind. I'd rather vape something that tastes OK and provides enough nicotine whereas something that tastes "strong" and can never, ever = 2 packs of cigarettes from one 24mg cartomizer.

It's time for the media to stop messing around "trying things out" and writing articles which question whether an e-cig really works. An e-cig does work, but I for one was unable to put a dent in my smoking habit with a plastic stick that is scientifically proven to be

not effective at raising blood plasma nicotine levels in e-cigarette naive subjects

...

In other words, give certain brands of cig-a-likes to a beginner vaper and they will categorically NOT get enough nicotine, ergo some cig-a-likes are placebos.

[womble]

The media don't understand ecigs. Not the kind we use anyway and they seem to be struggling to understand the lookalikes as well.

Lets face it, we must be the poor cousins, as most of the market is dominated by lookalikes apparently. We're the fringe, the adaptors, the experimenters.

[djs]

Jul 19, 2013 19:15:45 GMT womble said:

The media don't understand ecigs. Not the kind we use anyway and they seem to be struggling to understand the lookalikes as well.

Lets face it, we must be the poor cousins, as most of the market is dominated by lookalikes apparently. We're the fringe, the adaptors, the experimenters.

Yes. I feel you're right.

What can we do?

Maybe we need a London or Manchester mega-meet and invite the media to meet us?

[Deleted]

A person from the Beeb went to an LSE meet..... allaboute-cigarettes.proboards.com/thread/23228/4th-lse-vapers-meet-15?page=10
Was her bit not included in that programme?

[Blownupdolly]

Jul 19, 2013 20:28:35 GMT jess said:

A person from the Beeb went to an LSE meet..... allaboute-cigarettes.proboards.com/thread/23228/4th-lse-vapers-meet-15?page=10
Was her bit not included in that programme?

No Jess. I was there. She was from BBC radio. Myself and quite a lot of others were interviewed by her but they only used Alan's input as the segment ended up being a lot shorter than she originally thought.

As for the media in general, I don't know why Petrie Hosken the LBC presenter who vapes the same as us hasn't been approached or got involved. She did a whole hour long part of her programme dedicated to proper vaping and admitted she is a user of the devices we use and not the cigalikes

[Deleted]

Cheers, Blownupdolly, yes, I just wondered if it was used in the programme that djs mentioned, as it was a radio programme too. And seeing as she spoke to real vapers, not those that use a cig-a-like from Tesco. Shame it wasn't!

[djs]

Jul 19, 2013 21:21:06 GMT Blownupdolly said:

As for the media in general, I don't know why Petrie Hosken the LBC presenter who vapes the same as us hasn't been approached or got involved. She did a whole hour long part of her programme dedicated to proper vaping and admitted she is a user of the devices we use and not the cigalikes

This is good (well, not the bit about her not being approached). The media need to start asking more and doing what we expect of them, journalism of a real nature, not just scratching the surface all the time.

UKV is hosted (is that the word) in my county and I think it's about time the local press got involved.

Before I attend to that, I still have to work out how to pitch things to Ed Milliband about why his party are towing the line on this, when actually his voters are the one's most likely to benefit from switching to e-cigs without making them a medical product.

[alanfinal]

I know exactly what your saying djs,we might as well live on another planet despite what's happening,jess is correct we did open up the eyes of one BBC reporter,unfortunately she could probably never fully write exactly waht she wanted too,I have also offered to assist Dave Dorn any way I can as he brings his Black balloons to the London houses of parliament and informed said BBC reporter.

[djs]

Jul 19, 2013 21:40:28 GMT alanfinal said:

I have also offered to assist Dave Dorn any way I can as he brings his Black balloons to the London houses of parliament and informed said BBC reporter.

Are there plans?

[alanfinal]

plans are basically in the planning stage atm,the Germans and French are doing their own demos on the 31st August,so it was said on VTTV that we should do something too,on UKV a thread is going link and some have pointed out it may be better on a different weekend 7-8th Sept,no doubt a decision will be made soon