According to my tracker, I've now avoided 9,485 cigarettes since going to E-Cigs. I've said it over and over, one of the greatest things I've ever done.
According to my calculations, I have avoided paying $773.00 in taxes to the state and feds. Tennessee $294.00, Federal $479.00. Multiply that by the millions of people who have quit smoking and taken up E- Cigs and you can see why all the fuss.
Seems every day there's another story in the news about how bad E-Cigs are and they're just not true. Government regulators, and other industries are in overdrive trying to stop the E-Cig explosion. Lot of people are losing a lot of money as more and more folks are kicking the habit.
Below is one such example.
Also, the Nicotrol Inhaler is losing market share to new generation electronic cigarettes and Pfizer is scrambling to reclaim that lost market. One method has been to publicly scrutinize electronic cigarettes due to “safety concerns”, which is ironic, considering that their Nicotrol Inhaler is nearly identical in form and function:
Additionally, one well known group, the American Lung Association, has been especially active in this continued debate over electronic cigarettes and has taken a hardline stance against these harm reduction products for all sorts of different reasons – regardless of relevance or scientific evidence.
We wanted to find out why, exactly, the American Lung Association was so active in this fight, considering that e-cigarettes are accomplishing what the ALA has been attempting to accomplish for decades – getting people to quit smoking.
We didn’t have to look too hard to find the motivation:
The American Lung Association is lobbying on behalf of Pfizer (aka, “Big Pharma”), which is one of the ALA’s biggest grantors.
I truly believe that this brings into question the American Lung Association’s morals and ethics. For them to turn their backs on a product that is saving peoples lives, simply because they’re receiving checks for $900,000 from a huge drug company, is disgusting.
Additionally, the fact that the American Lung Association is also urging people to consume Chantix, instead of using e-cigarettes, when Chantix has been SHOWN to cause people to commit suicide, has me baffled. They question the safety of electronic cigarettes, yet urge people to take a cessation drug that has a side effect of, well, death. Really?
I mean, I suppose if you’re dead, you’re not smoking.
But, seriously. Can we honestly trust the opinion and input from an organization that cares about the checks that they’re receiving more than people’s lives?
I can and I would urge lawmakers to question it as well.