Who are you, WHO WHO

Mirror-posted from my forum, Vaporist, and my blog, Synaptic Circus
[new comments in red]

Submitted to World Health Organization

I must protest about the comments made by Douglas Bettcher in an article here:

In it, Bettcher is attributed to the statement that, "The World Health Organization says there is absolutely no scientific evidence that the electronic cigarette is a legitimate nicotine replacement therapy that can help people quit smoking real cigarettes." I know of at least ONE study.

My response would be STUDY ME. This is what I KNOW: I was a tobacco cigarette smoker for 25 years and I tried every other way available to quit, and was unsuccessful. I started using an eCig, and immediately stopped smoking, with NO DISCOMFORT, no JITTERS, no need or desire to buy another cigarette. IT WAS THE EASIEST HEALTH TRANSITION I'VE EVER MADE, AND MOST ASSUREDLY A RESOUNDING SUCCESS. The same is true for my best friend, and many others I know of through eCig forums online (to include a new one, I started myself to help spread the word).

According to this, your statements as an organization, and Bettcher's statements as your representative are erroneous.

The article also states that "also in certain jurisdictions where it is being used as well, it seems to be used to evade the smoking bans in public places and work places." Where are you getting this stance? Is it from WHO??? What's wrong with evading smoking bans by doing something that IS NOT HARMFUL TO ANYONE? isn't that the point?

Also in the article: "The electronic cigarette is not cheap. Bettcher says the whole apparatus in Bulgaria1 costs $100 and the rechargeable nicotine pack costs about $14. He says the product is sold around the world mainly through the Internet. This way he says, manufacturers can evade country regulations and taxes." Bettcher and WHO need to get with the program. Cheap is relative and subjective in this case. I spent $125 per month on cigarettes. I bought my first starter kit for around $107, and after that, it costs me around $40 a month to maintain.2 You can buy pre-prepared juice for around $8, which will last about a month; or you can buy 5 cartridges for around $5, or you can buy blank cartridges and fill them with smoke juice. That's CHEAPER than cigarettes, and it eliminated the 300-500 toxins found in tar....3
Also, Americans get eCigs from other countries because America has not yet realized the overwhelming potential electronic cigarettes not only as an economic boon, but as a way to eliminate one of our most pervasive and damaging health issues. I would think that WHO would be more excited about that, than degrading the technology of electronic cigarettes. Do you have some sort of investment in tobacco companies or stock in cessation-products? I can think of no other reason why you would be spreading such misinformation.

I implore you to please get the facts before you start discouraging new technologies that might help save the lives of millions.

Kelli Jae Baeli
Author, Webmaster, eCig Enthusiast

[ADDENDUM:
1. Bulgaria? Most I know, including me get them from manufacturers in CHINA--the patent is held by a Chinese citizen.
2. now, i mostly use a mini-ecig, which you can buy a kit for at around $40 to $80, and I use ejuice for refills, so now, my costs are even less than when i first wrote this.
3....and furthermore, it's not so much that they are evading paying any taxes or adhering to regulations, it's that the US is LATENT in the embracing this technology, and the socio-political machine, to include the FDA and the FTC, is once again standing in the way of things that would help Americans be healthier. So if these companies have to skirt things in some way, I say LET THEM SKIRT. The result is in saving lives and lowering the cost of health care]


Also note, that the WHO has stated in their report,

Quote:

"Cigarettes kill half of all lifetime users. Half die in middle age – between 35 and 69 years old. No other consumer product is as dangerous, or kills as many people. Tobacco kills more than AIDS, legal drugs, illegal drugs, road accidents, murder, and suicide combined. Tobacco already kills more men in developing countries than in industrialised countries, and it is likely that deaths among women will soon be the same. While 0.1 billion people died from tobacco use in the 20th century, ten times as many will die in the 21st century. Maternal smoking during pregnancy is responsible for many foetal deaths and is also a major cause of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Passive smoking in the home, workplace, or in public places also kills, although in lower numbers. However, those killed do not die from their own habit, but from someone else’s. Children are at particular risk from adults smoking, and even smoking by other adults around a pregnant woman has a harmful effect on a foetus."

And so I wonder why they seem to be so against electronic cigarettes, which eliminate all these issues? Does this make sense to anyone besides the World Health Organization?


Here we go again. Another site quotes comments by the World Health Organizations, and I, once again, posted a comment about it. Here's my comment:

Jae Baeli
posted 2/25/09 @ 3:52 AM EST*

It comes as no surprise to me that there are naysayers out there--what is surprising is that an organization like WHO, with the term "HEALTH" in their name, would seem so determined to spread misinformation about a product that could save the lives of thousands, maybe millions of smokers in this country. I tried to quit for 25 years, and was never successful until I began to use the electronic cigarette. The same is true for my best friend and every other eCig user I have talked to, seen posts on forums from, or heard about elsewhere. It's time the Powers That Be got with the program and started moving us into the modern era--an era free of tobacco products that kill millions. To be anything less than supportive of this new technology is to be an accessory to murder.

Jae Baeli
Former tobacco smoker and now eCig Enthusiast.
http://vaporist.forumotion.net/

ADDENDUM: I am trying to find a source/manufacturer that I can afford to buy from, so that I can sell eCig kits locally. As soon as I do, I'm all over it. I could have already sold about 40 of them here.