This appeared in another thread & was in danger of getting `lost`.
In view of the impending ban, it is becoming increasingly important to make ourselves heard, so maybe this is worth `pinning` to the top of the General Forum?.
I have just finished emailling my M.P. (Andrew Lansley) about the proposed ban!
Anyone wishing to do the same can get their Member`s name & send an email by entering their postcode here :
findyourmp.parliament.uk/There is so much factual info. on the forums, that it is quite easy to cobble-up a decent email, by copying/pasting & editing....without being a literary genius!
Nick.
This was the text of my email (with acknowlegement to Foxy for some of the content!).
Dear Mr Andrew Lansley,
As you are no doubt aware, there is a proposal to ban the importation & sale in the U.K. of Electronic Nicotine Inhalators
(commonly known as `Electronic Cigarettes`).
In my opinion, such a proposal requires a full public debate, which allows the users of these devices to have a full say & where fully-informed medical opinion can be sought & taken into consideration, before such a ban is considered.
I understand Petitions to the above effect are currently being prepared & trust that due consideration will be given to these.
Appended below, please find some information on these products, which may be of interest to yourself.
Information Concerning Electronic Nicotine Inhalators.
An 'e-cigarette' is an electronic device that vaporizes a mixture of liquid nicotine (as used in the Nicorette Inhalator), Glycerine (either propylene as used in smoke machines, or vegetable glycerine used in cookery mainly but also in soaps, toothpaste, mouthwash, cosmetic creams and as a delivery system for medication - (essentially it's an humectant) and food grade flavouring.
The e-cigarette/personal vaporizer/electronic nicotine inhalator, consists generally of three elements; a battery, an atomizer and a cartridge containing the liquid. Drawing on the mouthpiece activates a switch in the (automatic) battery that, in turn, activates the atomizer thus producing a vapour rather like that which one sees when breathing on a frosty day, or is produced by smoke machines at concerts, stage shows etc. To date this vapour has not been found to be harmful either to the user or by-standers - unlike the smoke produced by a tobacco cigarette.
The liquid used in e-cigarettes contains no noxious substances and NOTHING is lit or burned. Nicotine in its raw form is, of course, poisonous but that used in the device is highly diluted and is likely no more dangerous (in fact a good deal less so) than household cleaning products such as bleach or caustic drain cleaners.
The e-cigarette is not a 'cheap' option as the hardware needs replacing regularly but from my experience is less than half the cost of cigarettes.
Also from personal experience, the e-cigarette is much less likely to cause a nicotine overdose than smokers such as I who used patches etc., and smoked as well! Not something I'm proud of but that was just one more reason for stopping NRT. I needed to see and feel the smoke or, in the case of the e-cigarette, the vapour. The only difference between the electronic cigarette or EN-I is the atomizer that produces vapour. The NRT device releases a nicotine 'hit' each time the user sucks on the mouthpiece. That is where the comparison ends for me - the NRT inhalator tastes revolting and I was using it constantly during the day, changing cartridge after cartridge and still gaining no satisfaction.
I cannot understand why in the two years or so that the e-cigarette has been available in the UK, there have been no tests done that compare the smoke from a tobacco product with the vapour from an e-cigarette - the results would be interesting! Why do cigarette manufacturers not have to list the ingredients in their product or supply them in kiddy-proof containers. I've read that there is enough nicotine in one packet of twenty cigarettes to kill two adults if ingested in raw form.
Obviously the NHS aren't in a position to recommend a product that seems so disliked by those in power - my own GP however, would like to be able to do so.
Nicotine itself does not cause cancer; it is a combination of the (approximately 4,000) noxious substances in burning tobacco that is a major contributor to this.
`Electronic cigarettes` were developed in China, to eliminate these & thus benefit almost 2 billion tobacco-smokers in that country....which has NO National Health Service to alleviate the damage to public health caused by tobacco consumption!.
Yours sincerely,
