2015

In a rare moment, I came within a hairs breadth of totally losing my shit on social media recently. Not just a minor spat, but full on warp-core style meltdown. Not aimed at anyone, just endless frustrations boiling over.

There has been a lot going on in and around the community recently, mostly centred around diacetyl and AP in liquids. Well respected names are being called out in a public display of shaming. Yes it is disappointing that diacetyl and AP are still being used, and even more so that juice makers are either hiding or lying about their test results, but that’s not the main reason for the almost melt-down.

All of the posts on this blog contain an opinion, mostly my opinion which usually differs greatly from the article or study that I’m picking apart. This post is no different except in this case, my opinion likely differs from everybody elses’ opinion too.

Everybody has opinions them and I am thankful that many of you regularly stop by to read my opinions. Whether you take them to heart or not is entirely up to you.

I’ve been meaning to get out to and about for ages now, but I am naturally shy so big crowds are a bit of an issue. Thanks to bad timing I missed out on VapeJam last month, but I was going to make sure I went to at least one show on e-cigarettes this year.

When I heard about the E-Cigarette Expo (ECE) I thought to myself, why not? So I did.

We all know that reading scientific research can actually be a bit of a bore, long phrases and technical jargon litters the vast majority of studies. Heck, they even have their own terminology; as if doing that makes the research they produce not for us mere mortals.

You will of course remember two articles from Vox all those months ago which caused all sorts of twittery shenanigans (refresh your memory here, here and here) with the author of the original article coming under a lot of fire from us advocates. Quite rightly too, the first article was, in a word atrocious. Ill-balanced, poorly written and had some serious bias issues.

Let me introduce the players for this rumble. In the angry red corner we have, British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco, Altria and Japan Tobacco International. The four major players on a global scale in the tobacco industry.

In the cowardly yellow corner we have, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), California Department of Public Health, Faculty of Public Health, Cancer Council Australia, American Lung Foundation, American Heart Foundation, Tobacco Free Kids, British Medical Association and so on. Far too many to list out here.

First off, a tiny bit of background to my thinking here. We should all be aware of the complete insanity portrayed by the BMA in the media recently, where the enlightened representatives spoke with calm authority on e-cigarettes and how harmful they were. Now of course, I’m pretty clued up on the topic as well I should be, but what about those that are considering the switch to vaping?

Before I sat and watched the England Lionesses scare their fans and viewers witless last night with their blessed 2-1 victory over Norway, I found myself perusing some relatively old, but still incredibly pertinent videos from the E-Cigarette Summit 2014. One video in particular caught my attention more than the others, and in light of today’s blog post from Clive Bates; along with some other discussions that took place on social media, I got to thinking.

The next few days are going to be more than a little interesting. In case you weren’t aware, the BMA are holding their annual representatives meeting (ARM) at the BT Convention Centre in Liverpool. Should we be worried? Of course we should, the BMA aren’t exactly known for their openness or positivity to e-cigarettes.

There are six motions in the ARM agenda, five of which according to the full agenda document are unlikely to be reached. That then excludes motions 233-235, 239 and 240. That leaves motion 289, proposed by Waltham Forest. But, in all likelihood at least one of the shaded motions will be debated; after all the topic of e-cigarettes is such a contentious issue and we know full well the stance of some of the upper echelons of the BMA when it comes to e-cigarettes and vaping.

We all know how badly the state wants to control our lives, from deciding what we can and cannot eat to where we can and where we can’t light up a ciggie or vape.

Of course, they always make some ridiculous claim about it being for “public health” or to “protect the kiddies” as if saying that makes their state sponsored intervention into our private lives makes it alright. I got news for you, stay the hell out of my private life. It is mine to do with as I please and not the property of the State for you to control.

Habit, dependence, addiction, compulsion, craving, fixation, ritual. Each one of these words has a similar underlying meaning and are often used to describe the continuing act of smoking or vaping, and by extension an “addiction”. But what does it mean exactly?

As my brain slowly clears from the almost overwhelming amount of research publications, conferences and media stories nagging questions come to the fore. This one in particular has bothered me ever since my smoking days. What exactly is a habit and are habits the basis of addiction?

There is a heck of a lot of things rattling around in my head regarding the ongoing saga in the media about vapour products/e-cigarettes, whatever you wish to call them. Having recently reached a pretty handy milestone in being off combustible tobacco for a year, I’ve had a look back over the general thread of my vaping life and my participation in activism and advocacy, and I’m trying to understand a few things. Maybe this post will give my brain the help it needs. The question is, where to begin?