Electronic Cigarette Association: Helping The Consumer And The E-Cig Industry By Replacing Misinformation With Real Facts
The electronic cigarette industry created the Electronic Cigarette Association to focus on answering questions about e-cigs and providing accurate information about the products. Launched in 2009, the ECA is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and funded by donations and members. The purpose of the ECA is to speak for the e-cig industry as a whole.
The ECA hopes to provide a collective voice for the industry and electronic cigarettes organizations and providers. This mission is pursued by dispensing truthful information and providing tools needed to the media, policy makers and leaders of public opinion throughout the country. This trade association intends to institute industry-wide standards and a code of conduct with the goal of educating the public and reassuring legislators about the use of e-cigs.
Powerful lobbyists of big tobacco and large pharmaceutical firms have attacked e-cigarettes from the time the products were introduced in 2003. Pressure from these highly financed lobbies resulted in the FDA conducting a very limited and unscientific study of e-cigs and issuing a caution about their use.. The Electronic Cigarette Association aims to combat the push to ban the products. Results of the FDA testing found a trace amount of a risky compound but did not compare that result with a similar test for the compound in tobacco products. The big corporations realized in 2003 that the electronic versions could damage their profits and they have been applying pressure for a ban since then.
The ECA states its focus as offering electronic cigarettes as a safe and inexpensive alternative to tobacco products. Users are encourage to share their stories and to make their voices heard by their Congressional representatives.
When new products are introduced, especially if they are innovative, misinformation is to be expected. For generations the health risks of smoking tobacco have been well documented and accepted. Smoking tobacco products was totally acceptable for generations and accomodations (and ashtrays) for smokers were available wherever you looked. The macho Marlboro man died of lung cancer. The feminist Virginia Slims lady is not seen as glamorous by women today.
The full extent of additives and compounds contained in tobacco products is now fully recognized for the health hazards posed to the public. Smoking tobacco is no longer an acceptable habit in public and smokers are often ostracized. Government buildings are non-smoking, business premises have non-smoking signs and those signs are spreading to restaurants, bars, theaters and everywhere else the public gathers for entertainment.
For years the public asked for a safer alternative to smoking tobacco and that is exactly what is provided by electronic cigarettes. Big tobacco stands to lose a lot of money as the popularity of e-cigs continues to grow as they provide an alternate nicotine inhalation system that doesn’t expose the smoker to the additives and burning chemical compounds of tobacco. Pharmaceuticals also stand to lose profits. Unfortunately, these two sectors provide a lot of money to legislators.
It has been forty years since the U.S. Surgeon General publicly declared the health hazards of smoking tobacco. In that 40 years the FDA has never suggested banning tobacco products or even regulating the ingredients until last year. Yet the FDA has been actively looking for ways to ban or regulate electronic cigarettes since their introduction to the market.
Mary Kay Rivers has become an acclaimed expert on all facets of e-cigs. Her articles about the e-cig lifestyle or about the best electronic cigarette are very popular.
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