SpiralOut
Bluelighter
Ok, so a few months back I finally heard about this new trend where people use electronic cigarettes instead of the real deal. I was intrigued by this and start doing some research and supposedly these "e-cigarettes" are the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Basically, the idea is that you have a battery, an atomizer, and a cartridge full of water, nicotine, and a few other chemicals. When you suck in, a microchip in the device recognizes you're inhaling and sends the liquid through the atomizer which heats it up into vapor, which you then inhale.
I was pretty impressed because you can carry these things around easily, they last awhile, they're easy to recharge, and they come in a variety of flavors including menthol, vanilla, coffee (
), and cherry. Oh yeah, they're also a lot cheaper than a normal cigarette habit and you aren't killing yourself while smoking on these things!
Anyway, recently the FDA and the government have banned the importation of these e-cigarettes, saying they are not FDA approved and could be harmful, toxic, etc. Nevermind that real cigarettes aren't FDA approved, kill hundreds of thousands of Americans a year, and all that jazz yet are still allowed to be sold all over.
Obviously the reason the FDA is stopping the sale of these e-cigarettes is not because of their potentially harmful effects, but because the FDA is a government entity and the government is a pawn of big business. Namely Philip Morris and the tobacco companies.
Can you even imagine how freaked out the executives at the tobacco companies must be? Here's a product that gives you the exact same nicotine high that your cigarettes do yet it doesn't give you cancer, doesn't turn your teeth yellow, doesn't make you stink, and doesn't turn your skin yellow and sickly. And it's cheaper! They have to be flipping out and so it's no surprise the government would step in and try banning these things.
So, this got me to thinking. Eventually the government will have to allow these things to be sold. They can't be any more harmful than cigarettes, so while the government could possibly regulate their sale to 18 and older or something, they can't ban their sale forever. This means that sooner or later, Philip Morris is going to start running out of customers, right? If you have a healthy alternative to cigarettes to get your nicotine fix while still being able to "smoke", why wouldn't you take it? You aren't giving anything up by switching over to e-cigs except all the negative effects.
This got me to thinking that maybe e-cigs would spell doom for the draconian marijuana laws in this country. Philip Morris is going to be desperate to find new customers or a new product to get people hooked on, right? If they can't sell cigarettes to people, they're boned. However, they COULD sell marijuana cigarettes to people. That would be an exciting new product for them to market to the masses, they'd have a monopoly on the marijuana cigarette market (obviously plenty of ways to smoke weed, but in easy travel cigarette form they'd be king), and they'd have a whole new set of customers to replace the ones they're inevitably going to lose to electronic cigarettes.
Taking into account the considerable clout the tobacco companies have in Washington, I think it's certainly possible that they might start pushing for marijuana legalization sometime in the near future. If these e-cigs really take off then it might hasten the downfall of the most bogus, discriminatory, and evil laws our country has.
On a side note, I'm not a smoker. I will occasionally light up a menthol or a cigar when with friends, but I'm not a real smoker. However, from all accounts about these things I've read from hardcore smokers, it has changed their lives. They smoke the e-cigs less than they did normal cigarettes, they can breathe better, they feel better, and it's saving them a ton of green. Also, these e-cigs can actually help you quit smoking altogether. The cartridges which hold the liquid solution come in varying degrees of nicotine content. So you can go from full-flavored ones which have a lot of nicotine in them down to standard, light, ultra-light, and then even cartridges with no nicotine in them at all.
Basically, the idea is that you have a battery, an atomizer, and a cartridge full of water, nicotine, and a few other chemicals. When you suck in, a microchip in the device recognizes you're inhaling and sends the liquid through the atomizer which heats it up into vapor, which you then inhale.
I was pretty impressed because you can carry these things around easily, they last awhile, they're easy to recharge, and they come in a variety of flavors including menthol, vanilla, coffee (
), and cherry. Oh yeah, they're also a lot cheaper than a normal cigarette habit and you aren't killing yourself while smoking on these things!Anyway, recently the FDA and the government have banned the importation of these e-cigarettes, saying they are not FDA approved and could be harmful, toxic, etc. Nevermind that real cigarettes aren't FDA approved, kill hundreds of thousands of Americans a year, and all that jazz yet are still allowed to be sold all over.
Obviously the reason the FDA is stopping the sale of these e-cigarettes is not because of their potentially harmful effects, but because the FDA is a government entity and the government is a pawn of big business. Namely Philip Morris and the tobacco companies.
Can you even imagine how freaked out the executives at the tobacco companies must be? Here's a product that gives you the exact same nicotine high that your cigarettes do yet it doesn't give you cancer, doesn't turn your teeth yellow, doesn't make you stink, and doesn't turn your skin yellow and sickly. And it's cheaper! They have to be flipping out and so it's no surprise the government would step in and try banning these things.
So, this got me to thinking. Eventually the government will have to allow these things to be sold. They can't be any more harmful than cigarettes, so while the government could possibly regulate their sale to 18 and older or something, they can't ban their sale forever. This means that sooner or later, Philip Morris is going to start running out of customers, right? If you have a healthy alternative to cigarettes to get your nicotine fix while still being able to "smoke", why wouldn't you take it? You aren't giving anything up by switching over to e-cigs except all the negative effects.
This got me to thinking that maybe e-cigs would spell doom for the draconian marijuana laws in this country. Philip Morris is going to be desperate to find new customers or a new product to get people hooked on, right? If they can't sell cigarettes to people, they're boned. However, they COULD sell marijuana cigarettes to people. That would be an exciting new product for them to market to the masses, they'd have a monopoly on the marijuana cigarette market (obviously plenty of ways to smoke weed, but in easy travel cigarette form they'd be king), and they'd have a whole new set of customers to replace the ones they're inevitably going to lose to electronic cigarettes.
Taking into account the considerable clout the tobacco companies have in Washington, I think it's certainly possible that they might start pushing for marijuana legalization sometime in the near future. If these e-cigs really take off then it might hasten the downfall of the most bogus, discriminatory, and evil laws our country has.
On a side note, I'm not a smoker. I will occasionally light up a menthol or a cigar when with friends, but I'm not a real smoker. However, from all accounts about these things I've read from hardcore smokers, it has changed their lives. They smoke the e-cigs less than they did normal cigarettes, they can breathe better, they feel better, and it's saving them a ton of green. Also, these e-cigs can actually help you quit smoking altogether. The cartridges which hold the liquid solution come in varying degrees of nicotine content. So you can go from full-flavored ones which have a lot of nicotine in them down to standard, light, ultra-light, and then even cartridges with no nicotine in them at all.
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![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
