mbsiegel

You are correct that we seem to have completely lost sight of the fact that smoking is still the #1 cause of preventable death in the United States. Frankly, we have completely abandoned smokers. No one seems to care that they continue to smoke and that they are on the road to disease and premature death. The success rate of NRT is only 10%, yet we are perfectly satisfied with that dismal percentage.

I am not satisfied. We need to have something to offer to the other 90% who are NOT going to quit using the standard "FDA-approved" methods. E-cigarettes are just that alternative! And so what are we doing? Trying to take this option away from smokers. It makes no sense.

So how can we explain this? Frankly, I think what's going on is that in 2019, the population that still smokes tends to be people with less political power - lower socioeconomic status individuals. They have been stigmatized and are viewed as having a moral failure, not just a health problem. We don't treat people with other vices this way because those vices (like drinking and smoking pot) affect upper socioeconomic classes as well.

The bottom line is that because of their social class and lack of political power, smokers have been thrown under the bus. And because politicians can now get an easy political victory from banning e-cigarette flavors, they are jumping on the bandwagon to do this regardless of the terrible effects of such a policy for smokers and ex-smokers.

Your situation is exactly why I (and many others) are fighting so hard to try to keep e-cigarettes on the market rather than to have them banned. This is not a decision that you should have to make. You've succeeded using e-cigarettes and there is no reason why they should be taken off the market and you should have to look for an alternative option, such as the black market, in order to avoid going back to smoking. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

Hi Everyone! Thanks for joining me!

I want to start with two overall comments:

1. First, I want to thank all the vapers out there for your support. It means a lot to me. As you know, I think that quitting smoking is one of the most difficult things to do and I congratulate and admire the 2.5 million vapers who have successfully quit smoking by switching to electronic cigarettes. And many of you have shared your experiences with others by going into the business of trying to make the same thing possible for thousands of others. I admire and applaud you!

2. Second, I think the primary purpose of any outbreak investigation should be, first, to prevent future cases. I don't think that the CDC has done a good job in this area because they have been so obsessed with the idea of finding a single product to explain the outbreak that they have lost sight of the overall purpose of the investigation. No outbreak investigation ever finds 100% of the cases share a common exposure. The fact is that 90% of the cases appear to be linked to THC vaping. The priority now should be to warn the public, especially youth, to avoid vaping THC. This should not be undermined by telling people: "However, not every case has reported exposure to a single product." We know enough right now to curtail this outbreak. But we are not communicating the right message.

I think vapers need to contact their legislators and share their experiences. There are millions out there. That is a lot of voices.

I don't think it is a result of compromise because of financial incentives; I think it is more of an ideological bias against smokers and against the idea that someone could be addicted to nicotine yet derive pleasure from it. We accept that concept for alcohol. We accept that concept for cannabis. We accept that concept for poor diets and lack of physical activity. But we don't accept it for smoking. Ultimately, that is what I think is clouding the CDC's response.