I tend to agree with the idea I’ve heard expressed that the anti-smoking crusade was never about health, it was a social experiment to see if propaganda and government edict could impact people so significantly they’d even give up a long-ingrained habit. It’s the same sort of thing they’re now trying to do with food. It’s all about control.
E-cigarettes are like a shot across the bow of government control. That sort of thing makes them nervous.
Very well stated Jenny. My company and numerous other hospitals in the area recently enacted a “Tobacco Free” policy where the use of tobacco on our campuses, leased buildings, and annexed parking lots is against policy. This even goes for patients, visitors, and vendors! The outrage has been widespread, but what really irks me is that the hospital systems are willing to pay for (subsidize) smoking cessation products like the patch or gums, but they will NOT subsidize e-cigs and even e-cigs are considered “tobacco products” and thus not permissible for use.
I know a lot of people who’ve quit smoking thanks to e-cigs. Patches, gums, and even Chantix are constantly cited as “long term use” solutions whereas I’ve known people who kicked the habit in less than a month using e-cigs.
This is all about control. I hate that they want to control everything we do, even down to what products we use to control us. It’s 1984 and Animal Farm rolled into a tight little bureaucracy.