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E-Cigarettes are are excellent litmus test for the prohibitionist brigade - it shows clearly that it's not about safety or health, it's about control and some m

E-Cigarettes are are excellent litmus test for the prohibitionist brigade - it shows clearly that it's not about safety or health, it's about control and some misguided puritan ideal.

javert 14y ago
> misguided puritan ideal misguided progressive ideal. (Ironic they choose that label for themselves, no?)
- illuminate 14y ago
  "Nanny staters" are bipartisan, always and ever.
hristov 14y ago
How do you know that it is not about safety or health? Do you have any study that says they are safe? It is amazing how many delusions a little marketing can create.
- monkeyspaw 14y ago
  I agree with you. But the reason cigarettes are banned is because they affect other people. American rules/regulations aren't built around the concept of proving something is safe. Tobacco is different from the norm because of how much evidence exists to prove its harm
- MortenK 14y ago
  And it's amazing how much fear a little innovation can create.
- Zigurd 14y ago
  We do know e-cigs are much less harmful than cigarettes. We have a range of outcomes of studies regarding second-hand smoke. We have very good reasons to think stray e-cig vapor is much less harmful than second hand smoke. It is at least plausible that the risks of e-cig users around you is negligible, especially compared to your dry-cleaned suit, the air quality of the airplane you flew on, the radon in your house, etc. In that context, don't you find it curious that the negative reaction is so strong against the idea that people who enjoy a nicotene buzz can have their cake and eat it, too? To me it doesn't look like caution. It looks like a bluenose impulse to control people for what is likely to be no good reason, and is well below the threshold for regulating access to other psychoactive substances. Now if people really are motivated only by protecting other people from a significant new source of risk, then I'm sorry. But, man, it sure looks like e-cigs are a touchstone for revealing prohibitionists.
mistercow 14y ago
It is a fallacy to assume that everyone who disagrees with you on a position is part of a unified front. All that the e-cig situation proves is that some people who are anti-tobacco are irrational. Not exactly shocking news, considering how few people are rational in general.

E-Cigarettes are are excellent litmus test for the prohibitionist brigade - it shows clearly that it's not about safety or health, it's about control and some misguided puritan ideal.

javert 14y ago

> misguided puritan ideal misguided progressive ideal. (Ironic they choose that label for themselves, no?)

illuminate 14y ago
"Nanny staters" are bipartisan, always and ever.

hristov 14y ago

How do you know that it is not about safety or health? Do you have any study that says they are safe? It is amazing how many delusions a little marketing can create.

monkeyspaw 14y ago
I agree with you. But the reason cigarettes are banned is because they affect other people. American rules/regulations aren't built around the concept of proving something is safe. Tobacco is different from the norm because of how much evidence exists to prove its harm
MortenK 14y ago
And it's amazing how much fear a little innovation can create.
Zigurd 14y ago
We do know e-cigs are much less harmful than cigarettes. We have a range of outcomes of studies regarding second-hand smoke. We have very good reasons to think stray e-cig vapor is much less harmful than second hand smoke. It is at least plausible that the risks of e-cig users around you is negligible, especially compared to your dry-cleaned suit, the air quality of the airplane you flew on, the radon in your house, etc. In that context, don't you find it curious that the negative reaction is so strong against the idea that people who enjoy a nicotene buzz can have their cake and eat it, too? To me it doesn't look like caution. It looks like a bluenose impulse to control people for what is likely to be no good reason, and is well below the threshold for regulating access to other psychoactive substances. Now if people really are motivated only by protecting other people from a significant new source of risk, then I'm sorry. But, man, it sure looks like e-cigs are a touchstone for revealing prohibitionists.

mistercow 14y ago

It is a fallacy to assume that everyone who disagrees with you on a position is part of a unified front. All that the e-cig situation proves is that some people who are anti-tobacco are irrational. Not exactly shocking news, considering how few people are rational in general.