News from the world of electronic cigarettes that is of interest to ECCA members.
Open Meeting - Tues May 15th 9pm
ECR Chatroom
- create an account and login to the open ECCA room.
You can listen to the meeting, and if you have a headset (or a laptop with cam and mic) you can take part by voice, with video if wanted, otherwise questions can be typed in text input mode.
The FDA | Bisphenol-A | Double standards and possible implications for the e cig industry
Politics and financial back handers not withstanding, (...I don't think we need to preach to the choir do we). It does raise a query I have. Regarding BPA, and it's use in plastics etc... Is it being used in the manufacture of ego tanks or other plastic parts that we use as part of the vaping past-time? Not meant to scare people, I doubt it's a concern but I do find it an interesting aspect of the debate, especially the question of whether or not BPA if present may have tainted the results of the now infamous FDA report that continues to rear it's ulgy and mis-informed head.
Sam M
It's World Vaping Day!
2012-03-22
Find out more on the World Vaping Day website.
Go to a vape meet - introduce a smoker to vaping - join inthe Simulcast on the vaping web TV channels such as VTTV, EcigTV, and VP Live.
no whiffs, no butts - vape today!
Open Meeting - Tues March 13th 9pm
The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 13th March 9pm at ECR:
ECR Chatroom
- create an account and login to the open ECCA room.
You can listen to the meeting, and if you have a headset (or a laptop with cam and mic) you can take part by voice, with video if wanted, otherwise questions can be typed in text input mode.
Main item: World Vaping Day
World Vaping Day Announced
2012-02-25
With one month to go, the World Vaping day has been officially announced today:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/2/prweb9222187.htm
More countries join up every week, and we are also receiving quotes specially for the website from doctors and professors of medicine who support e-cigarettes.
Roly
E-Cigarette explosion in Florida
2012-02-18
This week an e-cigarette was reported as having exploded in the face of a Florida vaper of two year's experience.
These incidents are rare but not unknown, but only affect the XL specials called 'mods', and only metal tube mods that take two batteries in series are involved. No other type of e-cigarette is implicated.
It only happens to large metal tube mods with no safety features and where the user has fitted the wrong batteries.
This issue does not affect any other kind of e-cigarette, certainly not the regular size, known as minis (like the 510 or KR808), or the mid-size units of the eGo, Riva and Tornado type. The only models affected are badly-made large metal tube mods, with two batteries of the wrong type fitted in series.
Well-made mods of this kind have various safety features so they cannot explode even with the wrong batteries fitted by mistake.
Users must ensure they always fit good-quality batteries with a large enough C rating. Fitting cheap, unprotected batteries with too small a rating is unwise.
The most critical feature of any battery is its C Rating: the maximum discharge rate. It must be over 2 amps (2,000mA) otherwise it is not suitable. Don't fit cheap, underrated batteries - and especially don't fit two of them in series.
Roly
More articles like this please!!!
2012-02-17
It's very rare these day's that you find a journalist that knows how to do in depth research and report on the facts and not just pander to the sensationalist angle or tell just one side of the story, this is especially true within the topic of tobacco harm reduction and the electronic cigarette in particular. But this is what Claire McKim has done, I wish there were a lot more like her out in the media.
Sam M
Korea Attacks E-Cigarettes
The Korean Ministry of Health issued a press release on 2012-01-20 alleging that e-cigarettes are heavily contaminated with toxic chemicals from the nuclear industry and synthetic hormones.
Apart from the fact the press release is absolute drivel and the usual rubbish we have seen from bought and paid for lackeys of the pharma industry, the lab report contains all sorts of errors and omissions.
http://www.eccauk.org/index.php/news/korea-attacks-ecigarettes.html
As ECCA Secretary, I was asked to appear on Korean radio on Friday night, to comment on these allegations. I took part in the TBS Primetime show broadcast in Seoul, Korea, and was able to categorically refute the ridiculous allegations and lies in the Korea Ministry of Health press release. The show's host and researchers spoke perfect English, and indeed a lot of the show seemed to be in English.
Speaking with Henry Shinn, the Primetime host, who incidentally is an e-cigarette user, we discussed the incompetence of the laboratory employed on these tests.
It should be noted carefully that as well as the usual pharma industry influence that can be detected, the Korean government is closely associated with the largest tobacco company. It looks as if Koreans suffer from a double whammy in their attempts to convert to a safer alternative. This is probably why e-cig supplies in Korea are taxed higher than anywhere else in the world.
It would be nice to say that this level of bias and incompetence is rarely seen at government level, but unfortunately this would not be true. A UK government lab used by LACORS was responsible for the factor-10 error in tests that resulted in its widesread condemnation for incompetence. A few months later LACORS was disbanded, so at least their incompetence was recognised.
Many thanks to Tom @ ECITA for the chemistry we needed to know here.
Roly
Open meeting tonight
2012-01-08 7pm
ECR Chatroom
- create an account and login to the open ECCA room.
You can listen to the meeting, and if you have a headset (or a laptop with cam and mic) you can take part by voice, with video if wanted, otherwise questions can be typed in text input mode.
The right to use electronic cigarettes in Holland in peril
2011-12-26
She states that esigs should be considered pharmaceutical and therefore subject to the subsequent law. As a consequence import and wholesale, be it by direct sales or online, is prohibited effectively today.
Stelda is now considering possible steps to be taken to limit the damage.
...following this a debate on ECF has started http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/legislation-news/251533-holland-bans-e-cigarettes.html#post4858174
And so the Battle begins for German Vapers
2011-12-23
Vaping not so "Willkommen".
A statement from the Minister of Health of Nord-Rhein Westfalen (one of the German states) was released Saturday stating that eliquids containing nicotine are to be considered a medical substance and esigs, because they are used to inhale the nicotine, as medical devices.
It also contained warnings about the safety of esigs, the usual suspects like FDA, no research, unknown effects etc...
As a consequence, the sale of both eliquids and esigs is prohibited, or if they are licensed (which is impossible without extensive research) to be sold only by pharmacies. Selling medical substances or medical devices without license is punishable by law with a maximum prison sentence of 1 year.
One can imagine the effect this has on the German e-vapers community and sellers. A couple of brick and mortar shops already quit selling nicotine containing liquids or closed shop completely all together.
The community seems to be more or less in shock and not able to launch effective counter measures. The major sellers have teamed up to produce statements to the contrary, trying to get the decision reversed.
German media is rapidly picking up on the issue, only to copy and paste
the already known incorrect propaganda, like the 2009 FDA report.
Germany is apparently the largest vaping country in the EU with a reported
user base of 1.2 million.
-Sam (with thanks to www.stelda.nl)
World Vaping Day
2011-11-30
A World Vaping Day has been agreed between the reps from several different countries, on Thursday March 22nd 2012.
There will be a National Vaping Day in each of those countries on that date. CASAA will organise in the US, ECCA in the UK, along with vendors who want to take part. We're hoping that many different events can be put on, so that e-cigs get maximum publicity on the day.
The theme of the event is:
E-Cigarettes are the #1 weapon against smoking-related death and disease
Let's get it out there.
The website is up now, we need content and especially gfx (pics, artwork, anything visual).
http://www.world-vaping-day.com
Roly
Scottish Parliament asked to look at e-cigs
2011-11-22
It seems that we need to be aware of pharmaceutical industry funded propagandists trying to influence Scottish law. A question has been asked in the Scottish parliament about e-cigarette regulation.
The Scottish Parliament
BUSINESS BULLETIN No. 144/2011
Tuesday 22 November 2011
[PDF page 23]
S4W-04131 Aileen McLeod: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider regulating the sale of electronic cigarettes and what investigations it has carried out on any potential public health risks arising from these products.
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/BusinessBulletins/bb-11-144w.pdf
Roly
[thanks to Greg @CASAA]
Vapefest UK 2011
2011-10-25
Vapefest at Tamworth was a fabulously successful event: five times larger than last year and absolutely packed.
You will find reports all round the web - http://ukvapefest.com of course but UKV and VTTV are also good places to try. The ECCA AGM which also took place there went well, with some new committee members elected and changes in Forum Reps. See the report in the forum.
It's worrying to think what will happen if next year's is five times the size (which simply reflects the annual growth in UK e-cigarette use after all) - we'll need Earl's Court or the NEC.
A big thank-you to Wayne and the organising committee, plus all the supporting vendors and donaters. Hard to see how such an event can be put on that is entirely free for everybody but somehow they did it.
Roly
AGM: 2pm Saturday 22nd October
Venue: Vapefest UK 2011
See forum for full details.
Has a UK government advisory committee backed e-cigarettes - or not ?
2011-09-15
The media has been full of reports that a government think tank, the Cabinet Office B.I.T. committee (Behavioural Insights Team), has issued a statement strongly backing e-cigarettes.
Unfortunately, on further inspection, this is not the case: they have backed 'new devices that produce a fine mist vapour', and also backed pharmaceutical interventions combined with support - which already exist and are a mainstay of some stop smoking service provision (and of course don't work). The full report does not in fact contain any of the hype we have seen about e-cigarettes - there is no mention at all of them. It looks more like support for the Nicorette inhaler - or even more likely, something similar that is about to come to market.
This committee is known as 'the Nudge unit' as their job is to suggest to government departments an alternative course of action to current policy that may improve results, and nudge them toward adopting it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14927871
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/sep/14/smokeless-nicotine-cigarettes-government
Full report:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/behavioural-insight-team-annual-update
If this were in fact support for e-cigarettes it would be a very positive step forward as it would show that not all government is either stupid or corrupt - but since no terms such as electronic cigarette or e-cigarette were used at all, it is a bit of a stretch to apply this opinion piece to e-cigarettes.
Even if it were about e-cigs, it unfortunately does not mean that anything would be achieved. The nudge team do not have any teeth, unlike the RPC committee who blocked the MHRA's first attempt to license e-cigarettes. No advice offered by the BIT committee has ever been implemented by any government department.
Actual government is carried out by autononous agencies within the framework of wider government - it is not done by MPs or committees. These agencies each have their own agenda and that is what they work to. For example, the Department of Health back the pharma industry because that is where the money comes from, so if the industry wants something, it gets it. The pharma industry want e-cigs killed off in short order, so that is what the the DoH will work toward.
The fact that the government is directly responsible for killing 40,000 people a year by enforcing a corrupt EU directive banning Snus, and by allowing staff within the DoH to plan the elimination of 99.9% of ecigarettes, is not relevant - smokers are a minority who it is legally allowable to discriminate against and even kill. They are the new lepers and any action can be taken against them with impunity.
So, just to recap:
1. No mention of e-cigarettes was made.
2. Backing was given to pharma methods that are proven to fail.
3. The terminology used indicates they are talking about existing or possibly new pharma products.
4. The involvement of the MHRA/DoH is continually mentioned. These agencies have a core agenda of removing free availablity of e-cigarettes from the market, as they hurt pharma income.
The worst possible scenario for e-cigarettes is if the MHRA are involved in any way. They will license one or two products and ban the other 5,000.
And the idea that these products could be made cheaply available in shops if the MHRA are involved is simply farcical.
I have no idea where these rumours and fantasy originate, but they are certainly not part of the report. I suggest you read it and ignore the fairytale reports in the media.
Roly
BBC publishes NHS quit smoking's misrepresentation of the facts
2011-08-18
On Tuesday, August 16th, the BBC published a report on NHS quit smoking statistics for 2010/11 that is best described as a wild fantasy.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14540517
The two most important figures quoted are so far from the actual truth that one interpretation is that this is an attempt to misrepresent or hide the true facts.
1. 'The cost of NHS quit smoking services for 2010 is £84.3 million' - some will see this as an outright lie since the average person would expect by reading it that this is the actual cost of quit smoking services in England.
In fact the cost is at least £150 million as the cost of pharmaceuticals is not included in the figure. As it is a substantial difference, this is not just an omission but quite possibly a calculated attempt to deceive. The cost of pharmaceuticals is given within the detailed report as £66 million.
In addition, since this is a considerable proportionate reduction in the cost of pharmaceuticals over that in previous years, whereas the cost of drugs has certainly increased, we also need to consider whether the NHS has suddenly become much more efficient or the pharmaceutical industry has decided to become philanthropic where the NHS is concerned. Neither of these seem likely, so it might be best to view even the £66 million figure as a 'best possible case'.
2. A quote is made to the effect that 'fewer than half succeed'. This is so far from the real truth that it beggars belief, as it is impossible that more than 10% succeed at the standard 20-month mark for final judgement of success - and the likely figure is even lower than this.
Somewhere between 35% and 45% of quitters probably report success at 4 weeks, but by 6 or 12 months this figure has dropped to 15%. The figure was given in previous years but is now carefully concealed and very hard indeed to locate; obviously it is not available for 12 months or more after the year named, but even the results from past years have now been removed from easy public location.
The NHS will never publish the real success rate: the percentage who actually cease smoking and are measured at the 20-month mark as having done so. Multiple clinical research trials put this figure at a best-case 7%, and even as low as 2%.
Smoking is still at 21% of the population, according to the NHS's own figures, so the reduction of 0.4% per year seen in other developed countries - a fairly pathetic result by any standards - is not even being seen in England. According to experts, this reduction is mainly effected by tax rises and advertising restrictions in any case, not official quit-smoking treatment of any kind.
So what it boils down to is that the NHS is not even responsible for reduction of the smoking numbers in England by 0.1%, that the cost of this utter failure is astronomical, and that they then misrepresent the results.
Sweden
If you would like to see a country where they have actually achieved something, then look at Sweden. The death rate from smoking-related disease is the lowest in the developed world by a wide margin, with a smoking prevalence of about 15%. How did they achieve that? Simple: by having consumer harm reduction products widely available.
The most favoured alternative to smoking in Sweden is called Snus, and is a specially-treated smokeless tobacco product that is supplied in miniature pouches placed in the mouth. It is not chewing tobacco and no spitting is caused. Almost all carcinogens are removed by the special processing, and the amount remaining is the same as in nicotine skin patches. Sweden has the lowest death rate from cancer in Europe, and this includes from oral cancer. A Snus user has virtually the same risk as a non-smoker, confirmed by the 25 years of data that prove it.
Snus is banned throughout the EU as it severely impacts the sales of quit-smoking drugs. The pharmaceutical industry has a powerful lobby and unlimited funds to apply to problems of this nature.
Snus + e-cigarettes
Now consider a situation where both Snus and e-cigarettes are freely available as consumer products, widely promoted, and used as the official basis for NHS stop smoking services. E-cigarettes are even more popular than Snus with smokers looking for an alternative. It is highly likely that smoking prevalence would fall below 15%, that the death rate from cancer would halve, and the death rate from smoking related diseases would also halve. A 50% improvement in every statistic, in fact - and that includes the cost.
In total the NHS quit smoking services produces appallingly bad results at an incredible cost. The results show utter incompetence as tens of thousands of lives are lost each year as a direct result of the NHS's policies. Any other interpretation of the facts is pure fantasy.
We also need to take into account that elements within the NHS are attempting to ban electronic cigarettes, which, with Snus, are the only way out of this deep hole. This action would increase the number of deaths due entirely to NHS policies, and coincidentally remove the only other threat to pharma income.
Roly
New Etter Survey
2011-08-08
JF Etter of Geneva is conducting a new survey, this time on smoking / smoking cessation and sexual function. You are invited to participate:
http://www.stop-tabac.ch/fr_hon/fume_se/
His recent survey on e-cigarette use, with 3,500 respondents, was the largest to have taken place and provides useful data, especially with regard to the efficacy of e-cigarettes for smoking replacement.
Roly
NICE - Call for evidence on Tobacco - harm-reduction approaches to smoking
2011-08-04
We received this notice, as a Stakeholder, and will wish to contribute references to studies that validate consumer products as a successful, or as the most successful, approach to the saving of life.
We need community suggestions for suitable references, please.
Note: as we have already stated, this process is unscientific and not targeted toward the saving of life in the first place: it is targeted toward maintaining pharma income and current levels of employment within the health industry, since (a) the NICE definition of 'harm reduction' at clause 2.e. of the 55527.pdf is an invented definition that does not accord with any recognised definition, which would be based around a statement such as 'the substitution of less-harmful materials' or similar ('quitting smoking' as advised in their version of 'harm reduction' is not part of any HR process); and (b) they have already excluded the only harm reduction method or product ever proven to actually work: Snus - which incidentally has a far safer record than some of the pharma products such as Chantix that are used but don't work (for a sufficient percentage of users over a sufficient period of time to qualify as having 'worked' in the normal meaning of the term), which in US reports is suggested to cause a heart attack for one in thirty patients, apart from the suicides and murders; whereas a Snus user is proven by innumerable studies (inadmissible here, naturally) to have the same risk as a non-smoker.
It appears that e-cigarettes will receive the seal of approval, since one or more models will shortly be receiving an MHRA license. We should note carefully that this by definition means that their intention is to remove the other 99.99% of products from the market. One or two models of e-cigarette would only be available as licensed medicines or treatments on prescription, or OTC at pharmacies etc if that is how they are classified.
This means we should provide references for e-cigarettes but not Snus.
In order to do our duty (as distinct from actually believing that we can help in any way to reduce the loss of life by participating in this process), we will wish to supply references and answer the questions in the documents. On first glance the questions in the two documents appear to be different. It may be that we should be answering the EvidenceConsultation questions and not those in the PDF.
Roly
---------------------------------------
Dear Stakeholder,
Call for evidence on: Tobacco - harm-reduction approaches to smoking
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has been asked by the Department of Health (DH) to develop public health guidance on Tobacco - harm-reduction approaches to smoking. A series of evidence reviews and an economic analysis are being conducted to address the key questions that are set out in the scope. The final scope can be found here
http://guidance.nice.org.uk/PHG/Wave23/23/Scope/pdf/English
The details and documents for this call for evidence can be found on the NICE website here:
http://guidance.nice.org.uk/PHG/Wave23/23/EvidenceConsultation
We are interested in a broad range of different types of evidence. It may be quantitative or qualitative research, published or unpublished. The studies may be published in journals, texts or monographs.
This call of evidence will take place between Thursday 4th August – Tuesday 30th August.
Please note that the following material is not eligible for consideration:
- Promotional material.
- Undocumented assertions of effectiveness.
- Opinion pieces.
- Forms with attachments of published material, or hard copy of published material.
Centre for Public Health Excellence
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
EU Press Release: Tobacco Products - 2011-07-27
2011-07-28
A commentary on the EU Tobacco Products press release.
We include the all the material related to Snus and e-cigarettes.
THR.org (Profs. Phillips, Bergen, Rodu) have also published TobaccoHarmReduction.org's responses to the Consultation. As these responses are accurate and science-based, as opposed to hysteria-based and income stream maintenance-based, we can expect that such responses will be ignored in the final outcome.
Roly
Stony Stratford
2011-07-22
Today I've been thinking about the wider ramifications of the Stony Stratford total public smoking ban proposal. Thankfully the by-law has not been put into force yet thanks in no small part to those that attended the protest on Saturday the 16th of July.
A little History Lesson
"On July 19th, Councillor Paul Bartlett will petition Stony Stratford Council to ban smoking anywhere in the town."
How this may affect Vapers
The Stony Stratford issue has got me thinking about how much power local councils hold, regardless of the findings of the MHRA.
If this ban does come into effect it will set a shocking precedent that will give any local council, YOUR local council, the ability to instigate a total public ban on the use of Vapourised Nicotine Devices if they should so choose to.
The result of which may mean that ECCA may need to take a more active role politically than any of us intended.
Much like in the States where CASAA have their "Call To Action" section. ECCA may have to do something very similar.
Please share your thoughts on this on the Forum
posted by Sam Munro at: 16:15:55
Pharma sockpuppets at it again
2011-07-21
In an opinion piece published in NEJM yesterday [1], some pharma industry funded academics, obviously worried about the inroads e-cigarettes are making on NRT sales, trot out the same old absurd arguments and carefully-managed misinformation about electronic cigarettes and how they might damage your health - 'might' being the operative word.
It is hard to work out how anyone with a responsibility to save lives can keep repeating these tired old non-truths and do it with a straight face.
Apparently it does not matter that:
...the number of smokers is more or less constant, declining very slowly in the West, except in countries where proven successful reduced-harm alternatives are widely promoted and available, like Sweden.
...that nothing being done currently will change this situation, least of all the pharma solutions.
...that Sweden has the lowest rate of smoking-related mortality in the world, entirely due to their use of Snus.
...that all the medical experts who have researched e-cigarettes say that a similar risk profile to Snus is likely.
...that e-cigarettes are orders of magnitude more successful than NRTs.
...that the failure rate for NRTs is about 98%.
...that harm reduction is proven to save a vast number more lives.
...that expert colleagues completely disagree with them, and refer to such people in terms that could be interpreted as meaning - given the professional limits placed on them - liars and crooks [2].
...that e-cigarettes have already started to save thousands of lives if colleagues' research is to be believed [3].
...that pharma products for the treatment of smoking addiction are proven so worthless that telling people to use them when far better alternatives exist is very close to negligence.
Anyone who shows such continued bankruptcy of moral responsibility should be forced to take Chantix and given a nice length of strong rope with a noose (while their family and co-workers are taken to a place of safety, just in case). We might hope they take the right and proper way out.
Roly
-----------------------
Notes
[1] http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1105249
We do have the full transcript but it cannot be published here.
Also see:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/media-general-news/206855-legacy-campaigns-cobb-abrams-nejm-e-cig-user-should-switch-bp-products.html
http://www.casaa.org/news/article.asp?articleID=183&l=a&p
[2] Read (almost any) papers and opinions by Professors Siegel, Philips, Rodu, Bergen and others.
[3] Public health measures to reduce smoking prevalence in the UK: how many lives could be saved?
Lewis, Arnott, Godfrey, Britton, 2005
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16046688
"Reducing the prevalence of smoking by 1 percentage point each year for 10 years would prevent 69 049 deaths.....[in the UK]".
E-cigarettes now have about 3% of the market in both the UK and US. If the figures given in this paper are to be believed, this means that hundreds of thousands of lives are already in the process of being saved in the US.
EU Tobacco Control Policy Update
2011-07-14
John Dalli - Successful tobacco control is a joint effort
[with whom?? we might ask]
John DALLI Member of the European Commission, responsible for Health and Consumer Policy.
Successful tobacco control is a joint effort: event at the European Parliament "Social and Health Effects of the new Tobacco Product Directive" European Parliament, Brussels, 12 July 2011.
read it here: http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/11/519&format=HTML&language=en
I do not envy Dalli. His position is a complicated one, Dalli must be seen in the eyes of the public to have his concern with public health being paramount but behind the scenes he must make sure that the tax revenue from tobacco is not lost. If he does, as he says, have the health of the European nations in mind as he helps to formulate the policies regarding tobacco control, we hope sense will come to him and he advocates the use of Electronic Cigarettes and Snus as obvious choices with regards to saving of life and Tobacco Harm Reduction.
Sam M.
New Zealand to classify e-cigarettes as a tobacco product
"I would like to see smokers have more access to things like this, alternatives that are safer," Dr Marewa Glover, Director of Auckland University's Centre for Tobacco Control Research, said.
As a result of the fact that NZ researchers have carried out a large amount of research on e-cigarettes, government there is better informed as to how to classify them.
The NZ Ministry of Health is making recommendations on the Smoke-free Environments (Controls and Enforcement) Amendment Bill, including a proposal that e-cigarettes containing nicotine be legislated as a tobacco-related product. The ministry says e-cigarettes are far safer than normal cigarettes.
NZ to classify e-cigarettes as a safer tobacco product
Roly
Another US County attempts to ban e-cigarettes
Electronic Cigarettes a hot topic at Tacoma Pierce County Health Department meeting -
blog.thenewstribune.com/politics/2011/05...ing-at-6-p-m-monday/
Washington State, US: E-cig users to oppose a law that would ban the use of e-cigarettes in places where smoking is prohibited. Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy believes they're too much like real cigarettes to allow their use in public spaces.
More on the same story -
www.komonews.com/news/local/121963999.html
"We're looking at this as a freedom issue," said Pierce County Councilman Dick Muri, who agrees with the local e-cig store the Vaporium's owner, that e-cigs shouldn't be sold to minors or allowed on school grounds, but opposes a full ban.
"The reason we ban cigarettes in public places is because of second hand smoke, but we have no credible evidence that 2nd hand vapors have detrimental effects on anybody else," Muri said.
Oh God not him Department
Charlie Sheen is the new face of e-cig marketing, by the look of it:
Hospital patients banned from smoking indoors or out
A psychiatric facility attempts to block patient's normal rights by preventing smoking indoors, outdoors, or even when outside the premises of the facility. Come back Stalin, all is forgiven.
A strange decision in any case since nicotine self-dosing is well recognised as beneficial to many persons in this category. No doubt political re-education will be the next step. Smokers are the new lepers, it's OK to hate them and take any action you like against them, even if those actions would see you jailed immediately if you tried it with any other minority.
Stalinist hospitals are now OK in the UK
Roly
BUSPH study shows e-cigarette success rate
A six-month success rate for switching to an e-cig or totally stopping of 31% is reported by Prof M. Siegel of Boston.
As this is a survey of the buyers of one brand of cigarette clone type models, who were unmentored, we can reasonably assume this is a worst-case scenario. People who are mentored and have access to a wider range of products are anecdotally reported as being far more successful, a 75% success rate being spoken of within the community.
E-cigs in Eastenders
A nice bit of product placement by E-Lites - e-cigs get exposure in a major soap:
Aussies go nuts
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia: officials seize 'dangerous' e-cigarettes. Tobacco cigs are left alone - they may kill hundreds of thousands more people, but there's more tax in them and they don't hurt Big Pharma or Big Tobacco...
Blucigs - a social networking e-cig
Blu announce a new concept: a 'social networking' electronic cigarette that alerts you if another Blucig is within a certain range.
More information about the RFID tagging device that Blu have used:
RFID tags
Meeting Report, April 27th
The meeting went smoothly and all business was conducted successfully. A detailed report will be available when the minutes are completed.
General Meeting - Wednesday 27th April 2011, 9:30pm
A meeting open to all ECCA members will be held next Wednesday.
To take part you will need two things: membership of ECCA and loudspeakers for your PC, or a headset. This will be an online conference meeting on the GoToWebinar system that we trialled a week ago. It will be an audio (spoken) meeting, not video, and not text. You need some way to hear the conversation, so PC speakers or a headset are needed.
The meeting is via your browser, by going to a specified URL and entering your access code.
Only ECCA members are eligible to attend, so please join up by registering on this website - it's free and you automatically become a member. In order to hear what goes on you need some sort of speakers or a headset.
If you wish to speak then you will need a mic as well, so a headset with mic and phones is a good solution. There will be no video at this meeting.
Voting
We trialled the integral voting system at the last meeting and it was entirely satisfactory. Votes are anonymous, and you get a view of the votes coming in for each candidate or option being voted on.
Voting is online and integral with the conference 'machinery' - it is nothing to do with the ECCA website. The meeting software is a paid-for solution and will handle up to 1,000 delegates.
How to join
You should arrange your ECCA membership well in advance. Get a headset if that is your preference - or simply check that your PC or laptop sound is working. Then go to the URL below and get your 'ticket'. You can do this at any time, and it is best done well in advance.
https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/992384854
Firefox is a good browser to use - the meeting takes place via your browser, not in skype or a chatroom. You need a valid email to receive your access code and any updates.
ECCA Membership
To become a member of ECCA UK you just need to register on this website.
Once you get an account, you can post in the forum just to check your account is valid. You will need to be a member in order to vote at meetings from now onward.
Committee vacancies
The application form for committee officers is up now, please fill and return it so that we can list your name as proposed for that post.
Nominations for committee officers [link removed]
GoToWebinar test report
An excellent time was had by all. A slow start developed into a heated debate on what could or could not be attempted before formally establishing a committee, with the first speakers strongly suggesting that nothing at all should be done until a committee was elected. Then others replied that, in that case, nothing would be done for some time, which conflicted with the problem that there was much that could and should be done as soon as possible.
A compromise was reached in which it was decided that a good idea would be to hold a full general meeting in two week's time on Wednesday 27th. Because this meet had not been announced as a meeting, it was only right that matters should be fully discussed and decided at a later date. Therefore the following items would be decided on the 27th:
1. Assuming that work needed to be commenced immediately, does the meeting agree that a steering committee should be elected who will carry out the Association's business until a full election can be held approximately one month later.
2. If that motion is passed, then those persons who have put their names forward for election as temporary committee members will be eligible for election if proposed and seconded.
3. On the resulting steering committee there should be one representative from each of the UK forums plus sufficient persons to fill all the required positions for officers. These officers would be elected as part of the committee, and persons who put their names forward would state which position they were applying for, and state their reasons for applying on a page of the ECCA website specifically for that purpose. The committee would ideally number about eight persons plus the Chair, but that would depend on the number of job positions that needed to be filled.
This arrangement fulfills several requirements:
1. It means that nothing of any substantial nature would be decided before a temporary committee is elected.
2. It will remove any argument that the Thursday meeting was not the proper time or place to decide matters.
3. It provides a reasonable time (two weeks) to arrange anything that needs to be resolved.
4. It means that the true work of the Association can begin fairly soon.
Ireland
There was also a great deal of discussion on the question of the involvement of Ireland: an Irish representative asked why ECCA could not also include Ireland. In response, several things were pointed out:
1. By definition, the UK does not include Ireland as it is a separate country.
2. The inclusion of Ireland without some sort of formal request, and with the Association name indicating that the UK included Ireland, could well be seen as an insult by Irish community members.
3. Therefore a formal request would need to be received on behalf of the Irish contingent. This could be presented at the Wednesday 27th general meeting.
4. If this meant that Ireland then joined, the name of the Association would most likely need to be changed as a result, to something like ECCA UKI, the E-Cigarette Consumer Association of the UK and Ireland, or similar.
A similar discussion arose as to the position of American members present - and indeed those from all other countries. There were conflicting requirements: ECCA clearly needed all the assistance it could get - but it was demonstrably a UK (or UK & Ireland) consumer group and might be seen as non-representative if a proportion of members were from abroad. Broadly, the assistance given by American members was welcomed, but there were worries about exactly how to constitute the membership. Overseas Membership with non-voting rights was mentioned. This matter needs much further discussion.
GTW
Several features of the GoToWebinar application were found eminently satisfactory, one of them being the voting system, which was excellent. There was a two-level text chat facility, and the meeting's technical host had full control of who spoke and when. The GTW system received a full vote of confidence and it was decided to use it for all full meetings where possible.
The type of materials to be placed on the ECCA site pages, regarding committee membership, was discussed. It was stated as desirable that the ECCA site should now start registering members as soon as this could be enabled. Only members would be eligible to vote at future meetings.
Thanks
Our thanks go to Scott (Igetcha), Dave K (THV) and Dave D (Hifistud) for arranging and hosting this and the previous meeting.
Once again: a full meeting will be held on Wednesday 27th 9.30pm, and all being well this will be on GTW as per the Thurs. meeting reported on here. The main business of the meeting will be to decide on the desirability of and elections to a steering committee. Access details will be posted on the forums.
Thursday 14th - GoToWebinar trial 9pm
You need to have a headset/mic, or a laptop with mic.
You browse to the web address and plug in your headset. Or you can phone in. It will be interesting to see how this works out. We need as many as possible, to try and see what the limitations are. Most likely it has no video, but on the other hand you can have a large number of speakers.
Video meetings @ ECR
Scott's meeting facility at ECR looks good, as he can get 50 video streams up if required, with full audio and text. There is only one limitation, a maximum of 10 speakers (mics / cams). However that should cover most meetings anyway.
We are going to try out GoToWebinar as this was arranged before we did the ECR meeting - it can handle 100 people but has no video (as far as we know). See next item.
Tuesday meet
Tuesday April12th's general meeting on Skype / VTTV didn't succeed due to issues both on Skype and Ustream at that time. Some of the important work was done, the meeting then adjourned as it was decided to carry on in the ECR video/audio chatroom the following evening.
Wednesday 13th's meeting at Scott's went very well although due to the absence of both the acting chair and others, some items could not be discussed. Progress reports were given, and various matters were discussed. In particular how some tasks would be carried out was debated, and there were volunteers for some of the jobs such as Newsletter Editor and Site Promotion.