Change the Conversation (Part 1)

 

Are we ready to “roll up our sleeves and work together”?

Part 1

Vaping as a form of Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) has been embraced by some and doubted by others. When vapor products were first introduced to the market around 2004, they weren’t produced by the tobacco industry. The tobacco industry entering the market added fuel to the fire of the doubters. An intense battle between opposing sides has grown. 

While the focus has shifted from smoking to nicotine it feels like we’ve forgotten the words of former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop when he reminded us “Don't Forget the Smokers”. In 2015 the worldwide death toll from smoking was 1 person every 6 seconds. By 2019 that rate accelerated to 1 person every 4 seconds. How do we get back on track and focus on the 8000000 deaths caused each year by smoking? 

Long before vaping became popular, the topic of THR was being discussed. Even then, there wasn’t a consensus on the meaning of terms used by both sides or the value of tobacco harm reduction. The 2002 paper “Tobacco harm reduction: conceptual structure and nomenclature for analysis and research” discusses this issue and said “Decisions made about THR are likely to shape tobacco control policy for decades to come, with potentially profound implications for public health. Clarity in analysis and debate is essential if we are to make the right decisions on these weighty questions.” 

Words and their meanings matter. Perhaps before we can take steps to end the nicotine war we need to change how we talk about people who smoke (PWS). With substance abuse disorders (SUD) we no longer use stigmatizing words like “addict” and “junkie”, but when it comes to tobacco use disorder (TUD), or any consumer use of nicotine, we call PWS “smokers”, a term with stigmatizing connotations. We also need to take a look at the use and definition of words like “epidemic”, “addiction”, “dependence”, and “harm reduction”.

While I believe all of us want to reduce the death and disease caused by smoking, we don’t have a consensus on THR as a pathway to get there. Even amongst those of us who think that THR is a viable option, we’ll have to find a way to agree on what THR means and what it would look like. One definition of THR was given as: “Tobacco harm reduction has been defined as minimizing harms and decreasing total mortality and morbidity, without completely eliminating tobacco and nicotine use”

Last year the Truth Initiative took the bold step to release what they envision tobacco harm reduction should look like. I’m excited to see harm reduction becoming a part of the conversation about smoking by one of our largest anti-tobacco NGOs! Their paper acknowledges the division amongst those discussing nicotine. They said “There is a contentious and ongoing debate regarding what role the concept of “harm reduction” should play for smokers who have rejected FDA approved cessation methods, who find those alternatives unattractive, or simply wish to continue using nicotine”. The paper goes on to offer suggestions of what they see the future THR market would look like and how it would be regulated.

What frustrates me about the Truth Initiative statement was their suggestions for regulating THR products make it easier for consumers to continue to smoke than to use THR products. I think that is often an unintended consequence when we lose our balance in the discussion of youth uptake vs helping adults quit smoking. Another area of frustration goes back to agreeing on terminology and what those terms mean. I felt that some of the language used in that paper was negative, stigmatizing, and lacking in compassion. I think their statement provides an example of how hard it is to change the way society views PWS. 

The big challenge is going to be agreeing on our goals and what trade-offs we’re willing to accept to achieve those goals. In 2016 Clive Bates wrote the article “ Who or what is the World Health Organization at war with?” Mr. Bates discusses goals and trade-offs under the 3rd bullet point “The wrong war: the confusion of tobacco policy aims”. My favorite in his list of potential goals is to “reduce disease and premature death”. I believe that’s a goal everyone can agree on.

As the THR debate heated up, the authors of  “Electronic cigarettes: achieving a balanced perspective” said, “we hope that continued discussion about the promise and perils of e-cigarettes is based on a balanced view of the available science, rather than an ideology that opposes harm reduction without consideration of both sides of the issue, including potential public health benefits.” I believe that ideology and choosing sides between youth use of nicotine and adults who smoke has proven to be an issue that continues to harm people instead of helping them. If we fail to start working together, this problem will persist.

Society’s ability to set goals becomes harder to achieve because nicotine use is conflated with smoking. At the Global Forum on Nicotine in 2018, Joe Gitchell discussed the issue surrounding nicotine. Mr. Gitchell points out that much of the discussion over goals and trade-offs relies on “deeply held values and feelings' ' that “dominate much of our thinking”. When the issue was based solely on smoking we didn’t need to look as hard at trade-offs. Now that nicotine (and the tobacco industry’s involvement in THR) has been thrown into the debate, we do. He encourages all of us to “roll up our sleeves and work together”.

Are we making progress in that Call to Action (CTA) to work together? Yes, I believe progress is being made, although not as quickly as it needs to. In 2021 Clifford Douglas, JD, an expert in the field of tobacco control (TC) grabbed the “work together” banner and issued his own CTA. He invites all sides of the nicotine debate to “act with integrity and end the internecine warfare over e-cigarettes”. Mr. Douglas points out that the continued rate of smoking in certain marginalized populations has become a social justice issue. His commentary described things that both sides are getting right and pointed out the weaknesses in our efforts that contribute to the endless war over nicotine. He ends with this thought for everyone to ponder: “People who smoke should not have to die because they do not know they have less harmful sources of nicotine.”

Shortly after the commentary by Cliff Douglas, 15 past presidents of the Society for Research on Nicotine & Tobacco released a paper in the AJPH. They point out that the “use of nicotine-containing electronic- or e-cigarettes has divided the tobacco control community along a spectrum from fervent opponents to enthusiastic supporters”. They have added their voices with a CTA “to encourage more balanced consideration of vaping within public health and in the media and policy circles”. 

In 2022 the AJPH published a paper by 13 experts in the tobacco control field. Their CTA challenged “the public health and scientific community to move away from characterizing scientists as “opponents” or “supporters” of e-cigarettes”. They pointed out that “the “opponents/supporters” terminology highlights division rather than the many areas in which there is agreement”. Some view this paper as an olive branch showing where the 2 sides of the debate are finally reaching common ground.

Is it possible for a group of people to get together and discuss the future of nicotine? Of course, it is! Somebody needs to get the ball rolling. Policy recommendations are made all the time. We need to look at long-term goals. Talking about a comprehensive long-term nicotine policy has been going on for years. Back in 2009, there was a Strategic Dialogue on Tobacco Harm Reduction Group. I found the list of funders and participants interesting. I would guess some of those conversations were challenging, and yet the group was able to come to a consensus on several points and made recommendations for the path forward.

No conversation on how we change the conversation from a nicotine war to working together to end the potential morbidity of some forms of nicotine use is complete without looking at the challenges and divisions faced by those who research, make policy recommendations, and teach our future scientists. The 2020 authors of “Polarization Within the Field of Tobacco and Nicotine Science and its Potential Impact on Trainees” put out a call to action to the scientific community. They said “Divisive, dominant perspectives on e-cigarettes move the field of nicotine and tobacco science away from scientifically rigorous discourse on this important public health topic, which involves millions of lives at stake. If norms do not change, the polarized climate may pressure trainees to choose or inherit an allegiance towards an uncompromising, one-sided stance. That allegiance can then restrict career development, undermine the credibility of research, and hinder public health progress. There is an urgent need to act to avoid negatively affecting the next generation of nicotine and tobacco research scientists…we are calling for reflection among everyone in the field and particularly among those with influence and power.”

The final elephant in the room is the power and influence of those financing portions of the nicotine war. Why would anyone invest so much money in a cause and refuse an invite to discuss the issue they’re so passionate about? They could lead by example if they’d agree to participate in an opportunity to change the conversation and work with others to save more lives.

As we try to move past our emotional war over nicotine and discover ways to change the conversation, I suggest we remember the words of Jonathan Haidt: “Morality binds and blinds. It binds us into ideological teams that fight each other as though the fate of the world depended on our side winning each battle. It blinds us to the fact that each team is composed of good people who have something important to say.” 

Are we ready to roll up our sleeves, get to work, and figure out How to Think—Not Feel—about Tobacco Harm Reduction? How many more lives could we save if we stopped fighting a war, changed the conversation to a solutions-orientated one, and included everyone with an interest in or a concern about nicotine?  

Update: Change the Conversation Part 2 (as requested)

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Thank you to all who have been urging everyone from consumers, regulators, media, public health, and scientists to “change the conversation”. There were too many of you to list in this commentary. 

To learn more about ending the nicotine war and changing the conversation to a solutions-orientated one, please check out the links on this Safer Nicotine Wiki page. 

Thank you Joe Gitchell for helping me with edits!

Dear Tobacco Control

 

I've been called a smoker.

I've been told I stink.

I've been shamed for failing to quit.

I've been looked down on for not only failing to quit, but for being a repeat failure. 

I've been judged for polluting your air and turning your walls yellow.

I've been accused of being weak and lazy. 

I've been hated and found to be disgusting.

I've been treated like I'm not as good as you.

I've been told I have to quit smoking.

I've been told how to quit smoking.

I've been led to believe I'll never be good enough.

I've been treated like I'm damaged and broken until I ended up in believing that was my identity, and my name was smoker.

When I finally quit smoking, but didn't do it the way you wanted me to, you continued to judge me. You told me I didn't really quit. You started calling me an addict. I was still scum to you.

When I volunteered (that means I didn't get paid) to help a company owned by someone who used to smoke, develop products they hoped would help other people quit smoking you labeled us as evil. You accused us of marketing to kids because the products were flavored. You never asked why we created those products. You call us Big Tobacco when we have nothing to do with those large companies.

One of my local vape shops was in the lower income part of town. They kept their prices low to help the disadvantaged have an option for something safer than smoking. I know you know that lower income people smoke at a higher rate than upper income people, but you ignore that fact and say the prices are low so kids can afford them. In your eyes, when I took over that shop I was something even dirtier than smokers, I was a vape shop owner. It doesn't matter that the previous owner or I have never failed a compliance check, you take a joyous pleasure in accusing us of being part of the supply chain shoving JUUL down the throats of the youth of America. Funny thing is, we've never sold JUUL products. You never asked us why we owned a vape shop. You never asked what we sell or to whom.

You were the judge and jury and you passed a sentence without ever hearing our testimony.

Today, I'm sharing my testimony on how I ended up smoking and how I feel about my experiences...

I come from a long line of people who smoked. They weren't smokers, they were people. Most of them were really good people. The exception to that rule was my Dad. He had an anger in him that burned to the depths of his soul. He had a need to be in control and for everything around him to be perfect. Problem is, life isn't perfect.

Dad didn't want kids. When my Mom became pregnant with me, he wasn't thrilled. He isolated her and kept her from medical treatment. She got very ill. A neighbor found Mom collapsed in the yard and got her help. Once it became apparent that even ill, Mom was going to remain pregnant, Dad decided that was OK, as long as it was a boy. I was born with the wrong body parts and I paid for it my whole childhood.

Most of my childhood memories of my Dad revolve around punishment. To this day, I struggle to feel I'm good enough, because I was never considered good enough when I was little. My bedroom had to be spotless. After cleaning my room, my Dad would inspect it. If anything was wrong, I paid for it. Something out of place or a gum wrapper that missed the garbage warranted a beating on a bare behind with a leather belt, along with being grounded to my room for 2 weeks. I could only come out to eat, use the bathroom, or go to school. I couldn't talk out my window to the neighbor kids, I couldn't watch TV, and I couldn't use the phone. If I objected to the punishment or took too long to go to the bathroom and return to my room, I'd get another beating and sometimes got locked in my closet for a couple of hours to help me learn to be where I'm supposed to be. 

I was shy as a kid and didn't like to talk to people I didn't know. I could talk to people when I had something to talk about, but found small talk to feel awkward. Dad took this behavior as being rude and if it embarrassed him, I'd get another beating. Sometimes around people I knew, I'd get excited and talk too much. Thoughts would race so fast and fly out my mouth. That was just as bad as not talking at all and also worthy of a beating. It was important to my Dad that I learn to speak well, in a proper manner at a proper time. It became even more important to me.

I didn't like certain foods as a kid. Macaroni and cheese, liver and onions, and Brussel sprouts were the worst. I didn't like the taste, smell, or texture of these foods. My Dad believed you eat what's on your plate and you better be grateful for it. I remember trying to eat these foods and gagging on them. I'd have to sit at the table for an hour or two after everyone was done eating until I ate that cold, nasty food. If I didn't manage to eat it, I'd get it with the belt again and my plate went in the fridge and would be served cold to me the next meal. This would be repeated until I ate it.

I couldn't stand sox and shoes. Once I took them off in church and somebody laughed. My Dad was so mad at me, he didn't even wait until we got home. I got my beating in the back seat of the Chevy in the church parking lot. He didn't like me crying and on the way home told me to shut up or he'd pull over and give me another licking. I learned to cry without making a sound. I'm still good at that skill.

Sometimes I just had to move. I liked to rock. I'd rock my body while sitting in a chair. Sometimes, my hands would just randomly flop or flap. Sometimes I talked too much with my hands. The rocking and flapping my Dad found socially unacceptable and irritating. I got warned to not do that and if I did, you know by now what happened next. I wonder how many belts he wore out on my behind? Due to the talking with my hands and too many glasses of milk going flying at the dinner table, I was banned from talking during meals and wasn't allowed a drink until we were done eating. Sometimes my Dad would make me sit on my hands for hours to teach me that hands are not for flopping, flapping, and waving about.

There are many more examples I could give, but I think that's enough personal details to paint the picture of what life was like for the unwanted daughter of my dad. Now imagine that was you. Do you think it might have had an effect on your mental health?

My Grandpa C was the exact opposite of my Dad. I was his favorite of all the grands and he didn't care who knew it. His eyes glowed every time he looked at me. The best days of my childhood is when my brother and I went to spend a couple of weeks at the farm with my Grandparents. No Dad meant no beatings. I rode on the tractor with my Grandpa and I helped in the barn. I spent time with the animals. We did lots of fishing and hunting together. In my eyes, he was one of the most amazing people on earth.

My Grandpa smoked heavily. The first cigarette I ever smoked was taken from my Grandpa's pack of smokes. I was 10 and smoked it behind the barn with a couple of kids from the neighboring farm. I know we coughed, but I don't remember that 1st cigarette being awful. I remember it making me feel closer to my Grandpa. After being so imperfect in Dad's eyes, it felt good to be like someone who was perfect in my eyes and smoking like Grandpa smoked made me feel like I was more like him.

I became a person who smokes with that very first cigarette. I took many cigarettes from my Grandparents, parents, aunts, and uncles. Back then, if the store clerks knew your parents and knew you, you could ride your bike to the store and pick up smokes for them. At 10, I was already babysitting the neighbor kids and had money, so I'd go to the store and ask for a pack for my Mom or Dad and buy my own smokes.

There was something very strange about smoking. I felt better when I smoked. It brought me a calmness, a slowing of my racing mind. I liked how I felt after having a cigarette.

The trauma I experienced as a child continued on into adult hood. I was raped when I was 19. I ended up in an abusive relationship and had to flee my home and move to another town in 1980. My boyfriend beat me in the stomach with a dining room chair and I miscarried. I was 5 months pregnant. I went to my Grandparents, who had retired to the family cabin. I remained hidden there for several months, not telling any of my friends back home where I went or why. I had to start my life over. I never moved back to the land of so many kinds of abuse, and feel safer up here living my rural life in the woods. Bears and coyotes are nothing compared to the danger of angry men.

I smoked from 1969 until 2015. Over the years, I tried to quit smoking several times. I joke that I became a professional at failing to quit smoking. The joking was to hide the embarrassment over failing to quit, over not being perfect, of not being good enough to achieve this one small task.

In 2014 I tried vapor products to use when I couldn't smoke. Four months later, in 2015, I suddenly realized I had quit smoking. I haven't smoked since. I continue to vape and there are some of you out there who continue to judge me for my intake of nicotine.

I tried to stop using nicotine in 2020. That was probably not a good idea in the midst of isolation due to COVID. I ended up depressed and I ended up needing help. That help led to a diagnosis of Late Life Depression, ADD/ADHD and Autism. My therapist wanted me to see someone about medications. I didn't like some of the options. I have a tendency to be very sensitive to medications and often find side effects worse than what the meds are supposed to treat. I talked to my therapist about nicotine. She wasn't too excited about that option and wanted me to stop vaping because she felt it would be making my problems worse, not helping me.

I sent her the links to several studies and via my computer, we watched the film "You Don't Know Nicotine" together. She was shocked. She agrees that I am probably one of the people who are helped on a therapeutic level with nicotine. She now supports my using nicotine for my mental health, as long as I use a delivery method that doesn't involve smoking tobacco.

I'm telling the world much more than I wanted them to know, but I think that people in tobacco control need to stop and think about what they're doing. Stop calling people like me "smokers". We are people. We have feelings, hopes, and dreams just like you do. Stop calling us "addicts". Even those of us who are dependent on nicotine don't deserve your stigmatization. We deserve your compassion.

If you really care about us, and you want to end the death and disease from smoking, you need to stop talking at us. You need to listen to us. Ask some questions, show you care. I don't need anyone else judging me. My Dad did enough of that and now that he's not in my life, I do it daily to myself. Help people like me to finally feel like we're good enough.

How do you do that? Do something about what causes people to smoke in the first place. Do something about poverty, child abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse. Do something about the poor mental health services in this country. Do something about discrimination and stigmatization. Do something about our schools with low academic achievement and the bigger populations of high risk youth. Volunteer with kids, be a mentor and a positive influence in their lives.

You can waste your time fighting for taxes, bans and restrictions all you want. There may be less people who smoke from those efforts, but the problem isn't going to go away until we kill the root. The root is the social ills that makes a person seek something to make them feel better, who feel their only option is to smoke. The world is full of people not realizing they are self medicating.

The next time you meet someone who smokes, remember, they are a person. Show you care, ask to hear their story, ask what you can do to help. Support them when they are ready to quit, and please, no judgements on how they quit. How doesn't matter, success is what will save their life. You don't need to fear the nicotine. Nicotine helps people like me. All we need to fear is the smoke.

I am tired of feeling like I'm not good enough. I'm tired of feeling like I'm broken or damaged. I'm tired of having to fight to be able to use something that's safer than smoking and keeps me from going back to smoking. I'm tired of being judged. 

I'm ready to be told I'm a welcomed member of society. 

I'm ready to feel accepted and that I belong.

I'm ready to hear I'm good enough. 

I'm trying to believe I'm not worthless and to give myself credit for being a survivor.

I'm ready to meet other people who smoke on their turf and help them quit on their terms. 

Are you ready to go on this journey with me?

We are people. We don't need to be controlled. There's something wrong with the whole effort when it's called "tobacco control". We have a voice, give us your ear and listen. Work with us. We could save so many lives if we'd just give people a better life, a promising future, options and a voice. Let's close the rule books and the play books. Let's open our minds and hearts. It's time to roll up our sleeves and do great things together. It's time to stop the stigma and end the war between you and people who smoke or used to smoke.

Sincerely,

A seeker of reason, compassion, and co-operation.

Sometimes the road can get a bit rough

 

A few days ago, I had a really bad day. I don't know if what I was going through has a name, so I'm calling it a brain storm. I described it to someone that it was like a machine gun in my head. The bullets were bad thoughts and emotions. FEAR, ANGER, SADNESS. It was like someone was pulling the trigger and wouldn't let go. Bam, Bam, Bam, Bam, it was an endless assault. When my head got too full it started coming out of my eyes. I couldn't stop crying. I shed tears for hours. I'd sort of calm and then it would start all over again. I was a hot mess. 

I felt out of control. I went through episodes of my heart pounding, my hands shaking, and breaking out in a sweat. I'd start feeling short of breath and dizzy. I tried to relax and it would get a little better and then BOOM another wave of it came over me. This went on for several hours. I felt very needy. I was alone and didn't want to be.

I've never experienced this before and I hope I never do again. It was unpleasant and overwhelming. I'm starting to think this might have been stress related. The day before had been a long, hard day, because my husband had issues with his COPD. He struggled to breathe all day. I left work and went home to be with him because he started to panic and it made his breathing worse. I spent the day trying not to look or act worried so he'd relax. It isn't fun to watch someone you love struggle to breathe! While this was going on, my adult son (who has an "unspecified social disorder" which is now believed to be autism) had a meltdown. His girlfriend had never experienced one of those and so, I was on the phone helping them through that. My son, who's already had 2 heart attacks started having chest pains in the middle of everything going on...

The good news is my son wasn't having a heart attack, his meltdown ended, and by evening my husband was breathing better. We had survived another day of health issues, many smoking related. We're a family of people who used to smoke. 

The health issues of my loved ones is nothing new. We've dealt with them for years. I don't know if them happening on the same day was the trigger for my bad day, but I'm starting to think it was. The only thing that was different that day is that once I went home in the morning, I didn't vape again until I left home the next day, the day I woke up with the storm already raging in my head. 

As I tried to work through my bad day, I vaped constantly. I found it helpful to try to verbalize to a couple of people that I wasn't OK (Thanks Charles and Cami!) which was like opening a faucet and just letting the ick pour out. Later that day a switch flipped and suddenly all the weird thoughts and feeling were gone. The storm was over.

Maybe the depression I've battled this past year made me more prone to the brain storm. Maybe I self medicate with nicotine more than I thought. Maybe my autism put me in some kind of weird sensory overload. I don't know. What ever was going on that day, I'm grateful I've reached a point in my life where I finally feel safe to tell people I'm not OK. I hope that part of this sinks in for you, it's OK to tell someone you're not OK. Don't be afraid.

Those of you who are accepting and safe to talk to are a life line to people like me. Thank-you for being there.

Photo from: Celebrating neurodiversity

P.S. Many years ago, I was really good at being young and stupid. I liked to party and I did too much of it. How I came out of my youth and escaped becoming addicted to alcohol or drugs is beyond me. One day, I just decided not to do those things and walked away from them. Didn't touch either for over 20 years. Now, I might drink 1 or 2 beers a year, and that's enough for me. 

Smoking cigarettes are a different story. It was a struggle for many years to stop smoking. I tried every method known to man. I became a professional at failing to quit smoking. I finally quit trying to quit. When I started vaping in 2014 it was because I could do it in places that I couldn't smoke. 4 months later, I realized I had accidently quit smoking. I remain smoke free to this day.

But, I miss smoking and there are still times in my life where I want to smoke. Stressful and emotional times are the worst for having an urge to smoke. It amazes me that when I had that really bad day, it never once crossed my mind to have a cigarette! 6 years smoke free, and the first time I had a bad day and didn't want a smoke! 

Many think that people who vape to quit smoking should also strive to quit vaping. For people who want to do that, I fully support that goal. I think people like me have a need for the nicotine, both in their brains and to prevent relapse to smoking. I wish more people would understand and support that. I function better with nicotine in my system. I also function better with coffee in my system. 

Some people have a glass of wine or a beer everyday, and society doesn't have an issue with people using that drug of choice. I hope someday, society will also accept the use of safer forms of nicotine. People like me could use the world judging us on one less thing. 

River of Tears

February is Heart Month

One family’s heartbreaking story about smoking

I started my Valentine's Day with a moment of silence. A quiet reflection about the 1,300 families who will be crying tears of sorrow today as they lose a loved one to death by smoking. This happens every day in America, the need to plan 1300 more funerals. A heartbreaking reality on Valentine's Day.

Twice, I've cried tears of fear followed by tears of gratitude when the Grim Reaper could have taken my son, but passed him by. 

Behind the sunglasses is my son when he was 14. He's in his Jr. Dragster participating in a youth racing program. He's practicing harm reduction by wearing sunglasses, helmet, neck brace, fire suit, and arm restraints. He's tucked safely in a roll cage, with a quick release steering wheel, and a strong chromoly chassis.

When he was 18, he made the deadly choice to start smoking. He now has heart disease and will be on medications for the rest of his life. 

He had his first heart attack when he was 29. He's had 2 heart attacks in his young life and has 3 stents in his heart. I watched in horror as he coded right in front of me in the ER. The doctor said if he continued to smoke, he would die. When he couldn't quit smoking, he tried vapor products and quit smoking in a few days!  

Vaping is not smoking. It's a form of harm reduction. 

It is safer than smoking. If my son had vaped instead of smoked, his little girl, Jessica, wouldn't have experienced the trauma she's gone through. 

Jessica is grateful to still have a Daddy. It was terrifying for a 5 year old to watch her Dad have a heart attack. Her tear stained face as she waved to the helicopter flying over us with her Daddy in it was a heartbreaking sight I will never forget. 

"Good-bye Daddy, I love you" she sobbed. "Please don't die. Please come home". 

A five year old should have days full of giggles. A life stuffed with more hugs than she can count. She should be surrounded with books that sets her imagination free. This little sweetheart shouldn't have any worries bigger than needing to decide what color popsicle to have on a warm summer's day. Her greatest concern should have been if she was going to dress up as a princess or an astronaut today.

But this little girl had to learn that parents can die. She had to learn what a bottle of nitro pills are and where they're kept. She had to learn how to stuff one in her Daddy's mouth if she was home alone with him and he was in trouble. A little girl had to learn how to save a grownup's life!

In most families, a parent will get up during the night to check on a sleeping child. After her Daddy's heart attack, this little girl would get up in the middle of the night and check on her Dad. She was caught blowing him kisses in the dark, with a tear running down her cheek. 

Sometimes, life just isn't fair. Jessica will live with the fear of finding her Dad on the floor having another heart attack. My heart pounds every time my phone rings, afraid my son is having more heart problems.

We have a war going on in this country over vaping products. There are some that would like to ban the flavors that help people like this little girl's Dad stop smoking. Some would like to tax them until low income people (the largest group of folks who smoke) can't afford them. After facing losing my son not once, but twice, I struggle to comprehend why anyone with a heart would try to eliminate this life saving technology.

The issue at hand? Kids will be kids. No matter what we do, what we tell them, and how many laws we pass, some kids are going to experiment or rebel. Even good kids will make the choice to break the law and try things they aren't supposed to try. Some like the thrill of rule breaking or risk taking, believing nothing bad will happen to them. 

Some kids will continue that behavior of risk taking into adulthood. If you do things like drive over the speed limit or use your cell phone while driving, you have not yet grown out of that risk taking / rule breaking cycle of life.

When teenagers use vapor products, we as a society have failed. We've failed to teach them to make good choices. We've failed to convince them to choose right over wrong. We've failed to enforce our laws which make it illegal to sell or give these products to anyone under the age of 21. If we are already failing at enforcement, will more laws solve the problem? Will it prevent a black market where people sell to others and don't care about their age and don't care about the quality of what they're selling?

I understand the instinct to protect our youth. 

Before you make a decision to ban flavored products or tax vapor technology to try to stop the youth who are breaking the law, I want you to look into the eyes of this little girl who has a Dad that no longer smokes. 

This little girl didn't break any laws. What are we going to do for her?

Does she deserve protection from a childhood without a parent? 

Does she deserve to grow up in a smoke free home?

Does she deserve a Dad to kiss her boo-boo's, hug her when a boy breaks her heart, and ground her when she makes a bad choice?

When you ban and tax the things that help smoking parents stop smoking, you're telling little angels like this one that her life and her family aren't important. 

I think it's time to get back on track with our original mission. Do everything we can to end the death and disease caused by smoking. We can start by enforcing the laws we already have. We can make progress faster by leaving life saving technology readily available to our smoking adults. Let's fill our nation with healthy, smoke-free parents and grandparents ready to play hide and seek with little girls.

My granddaughter, Jessica, and I are asking you to not ban flavored vaping products or increase the taxes on these products. She doesn't want to risk her Dad going back to smoking. She has her heart set on him still being here when she graduates from school, when she falls in love and gets married, and when she blesses him with his first grandchild. I have my heart set on never having to plan my son's funeral because he went back to smoking.

You have the power to help make that happen.

#HeartMonth2021

Tobacco Harm Reduction Takes a Hit in Minnesota

We've all heard the heartbreaking news that over 480,000 Americans die from smoking related causes every year. We've also heard the projections that a BILLION people around the world will die from smoking this century. Heartbreaking to think of so many early deaths, so many families grieving for loved ones. So much money spent on the health effects of smoking. 

Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) is a proven strategy in countries like the UK and Sweden, and if America had any brains at all, we would follow the lead of these countries and embrace THR ourselves. These products help smokers switch to a safer alternative, and don't pose a risk to people who are around smokers.

When it comes to THR, the United States has taken a more cautious approach. As a matter of fact, we've gotten way off track here in America. We forgot the war was on smoking, and have switched our focus to nicotine, which is a stimulant much like caffeine is. Because we've forgotten about the war on smoking and changed our strategy to a war on nicotine, we are going to see more needless deaths than we should be seeing.

Minnesota is a prime example. We have gone down the path of restricting adults access to THR products which are legal in MN. We are doing that one city and county at a time. From banning adults from being able to purchase a flavored THR product anywhere they can buy a cigarette, to banning some adults from purchasing any THR products, to restricting where some people can buy THR products, we're a mixed bag of regression and oppression here in Minnesota.

Just this week the city of Brooklyn Center passed an ordinance that restricts the purchase of some THR products to adult only stores, while leaving it legal to buy a pack of cigarettes at the corner gas station, the local grocery store, and the neighborhood pharmacy. It will now be easier in Brooklyn Center to purchase the cigarettes that can kill you, than it will be to buy things like vapor technology that can help people quit smoking and save lives.

Also this week Ottertail County, MN decided to circumvent the jurisdiction of cities to pass ordinances over THR products (THR is lumped in with tobacco in MN) and ban young adults from purchasing THR products by calling their new ordinance a "Public Health" ordinance instead of a "Tobacco" ordinance. The county has now decided to tell all cities in it's borders that young adults can not buy products that can help them quit smoking for reasons of "Public Health". What is healthy about that?

I'm not sure what the lawmakers in MN are thinking (or smoking?), or if there is something weird in our water, but it breaks my heart to see our leaders making it hard or illegal for adults to purchase the products that can help them switch from smoking to a safer alternative. Are we telling our citizens that even though we say they should quit smoking, secretly we hope they never will?

What happened to the war on smoking?

There was a time everyone believed smoking was safe. Then along came the Royal College of 
Physicians proclamation that it wasn’t and the war on smoking was born. What happened to the war 
on smoking and why aren’t the declining numbers of smokers being celebrated?

Between government funded (taxpayer) health departments and nonprofit health / tobacco control 
organizations, it is mind boggling the millions of dollars that are spent on tobacco control in this 
country. Where does the money come from? Some states use a small portion of the Master 
Settlement Agreement (MSA) payments.

Nonprofits also receive donations from citizens and corporations. The pharmaceutical industry often 
donates to health orientated organizations. This includes companies who manufacture everything from 
nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products, to quit smoking medications, to cancer treatments. Is
this a conflict of interest? If you make products that are supposed to help people quit smoking or 
survive cancer, what happens if everyone quits smoking?

I’m starting to wonder when fingers are going to be pointed at the pharmaceutical industry, the 
anti-tobacco groups, and our government? Why is it that NRT products and medications have such a 
low rate of success in helping smokers quit? People are told if they fail to quit smoking to keep trying 
even if it takes them 30 tries to quit.

What a merry go round of job security this makes! Pharma companies have a few success stories to 
brag about, most smokers will fail to quit and have to buy smoking cessation products many times, 
while pharma companies look like the good guys for donating to organizations that want to prevent 
people from smoking. These organizations have worked for decades to solve the problem of smoking 
related death and disease, and even though we have less smokers, we haven’t solved the problem.

There’s a new kid on the block that's helping people to quit smoking. It’s called vapor technology. A 
product that is not made by the pharmaceutical industry. This is a product that has a much higher 
success rate of helping smokers quit than traditional NRT products and cessation medications. Vaping 
is not FDA approved for quitting smoking, and even though there is no tobacco in vapor products, the 
FDA deemed it a tobacco product. 

NRT Product vs. Vapor Product

As more people quit smoking and make the switch to 95% safer vaping, tobacco companies are 
making less money. States are bringing in less tobacco taxes, and there is less money handed out in 
MSA payments. Less people are using NRTs and prescriptions to quit smoking, so the pharmaceutical 
companies are making less money. As more people quit smoking (or never start) the whole health care
industry will make less money as fewer and fewer people get smoking related illnesses or cancer. 
Fewer people with cancer means less surgeries and hospitalizations, less chemo and radiation and 
less medications - which brings us right back to the pharmaceutical industry.

Why do the nonprofits who waged war on smoking (which kills people) now wage war on nicotine 
(which doesn’t kill people)? Do they want everyone to quit smoking or just enough people to look like 
they are accomplishing something? Why is the nicotine in vapor products the focus of attention? It is 
the same nicotine that is in NRT products. Why are these organizations screaming about the dangers 
of nicotine in vapor products when the FDA says the nicotine in NRT products is safe to use for an 
unlimited amount of time? What happens to these nonprofit groups and political campaign funds if the 
pharmaceutical companies stop donating?

Maybe we need to start paying closer attention to Big Government and Big Pharma. The pharma 
industry has touted their products for years to help people quit smoking and too many smokers have 
failed to quit. Vaping is not a pharmaceutical product. Vaping is the CONSUMER solution to the 
tobacco problem. People like it and it works.

It’s starting to feel like most of you should keep smoking, because somebody needs the money. If you 
die in the process, you are just a casualty of war. And it’s not the war on smoking, it’s the war on what 
money is in whose pocket.

If you end up to be one of those casualties, may you rest in peace. I'm sorry money was more 
important than your life.

Adopt / Sponsor a Smoker

It's nice to see this message being spread across facebook and that is to sponsor or adopt a smoker. Momma Vape likes the thought so much, she is stealing the idea and making it today's project. Find someone who smokes and offer to be their cheerleader / coach and help them quit. Tell them about vaping. Give them some vape gear or help them pick out their first purchase. Help them pick the right nic level. Make sure they know how to safely operate and fill their equipment. Keep in touch, offer encouragement over the next few days or weeks. Be their mentor. HELP SAVE A LIFE!!!

I'm proud of all of you!!!!
~ Momma Vape

Let's Talk About Addiction

I grew up thinking you had to have a drink in your hand to have fun. That's how you relaxed. That is how my family lived. The work day was over when it was martini time. I started smoking at 10. By 14 I was drinking. By 16 I was experimenting with things I shouldn't have. My Uncle and his son both died of liver disease, too many years of sucking on the bottle took them both away too young. I have watched so many friends fight the fight to get on the road to recovery. Many of them made it and lead wonderful lives, too many did not. Some of them who didn't make it lead lives they are not proud of, some of them are 6 foot under and we will forever wonder why they couldn't save themselves and why we were powerless to help them.

Life is all about choices. Choosing to overcome an addiction, ANY addiction means that every day we choose NOT to do what we are addicted to. It might be alcohol, or drugs, or electronics, or sex, or even food. Some days that choice is an easy one and other days, it is a struggle to stick to that choice. Hopefully, those of us who choose to live our lives free of what we are addicted to give ourselves the tools that are needed to help us succeed. That means support and taking care of ourselves and doing what ever it takes.

As a smoker or ex-smoker, does it make you angry to read things that call you an addict? Are you one? How many times did you try to quit? How many times DID you quit, only to start smoking again down the road? I'm not even going to touch the whole scientific part of a smoking addiction, whether it is the nicotine or the chemicals, is a physical or emotional addiction. I'm just going to stop being in denial right now and admit, I am addicted to smoking.

I know this because of the choices I made as a smoker. I knew smoking was bad for me and I smoked anyways. I watched my loved ones die from heart disease and cancer and I kept smoking. I knew second had smoke was bad and I smoked around my children and grandchildren and the children of others. I knew that smoking turned everything around me yellow and yet I smoked and ruined my walls and my furniture and made my house and vehicles reek. I knew smoking was expensive and yet I smoked when that money should have been used to take care of my family. I remember how agitated I would get when I needed a smoke and couldn't have one. And yet, for 46 years, I smoked. Most days were 2 packs a day.

This morning, I read Gabby's Story (please click here). That story reached out and slapped me in the face. It has nothing to do with smoking or vaping, but has everything to do with addiction and how we treat addicts. It has a message that cries out loud and clear, people who are addicted to something need HELP. They don't need to be locked up, ignored, or forgotten. Yes, part of the journey on the road of recovery they must do on their own, but if you look at any type of recovery program for any type of addiction, you will see that no one conquers their addiction alone. We are social animals and we need the love and support of others.

Momma Vape asks you to think about addiction today. Your own and those around you. It is a great thing to tell a smoker about vaping, it is amazingly kind of you to give somebody the equipment to get started vaping, BUT helping them does not stop there! Be a mentor, a cheerleader, an ass kicker if needed, but be there for people who are working to stop their addictive behavior and change their lives. Be it drugs, booze, or smoking BE THERE. Be an ear, a voice, a shoulder. Be aware of helpful resources, be a guide. Lead by example. Sponsor them, give the hope, give them courage, have faith in there, if they fall help them stand back up. BE THERE!!!!!

Fighting to protect the right to vape is a great thing, it will save lives. Let's remember that we are fighting for those who have not yet started on the road to recovery. They need us the most.

My name is Skip, and I am an addict. Until I read Gabby's story I never accepted the fact that throughout my life I have abused many things and have become addicted to many things. Today my heart is full of hope and gratitude. Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

Love to you all!
~ Momma Vape

Dedicated to my Mom. Yesterday would have been her 76th Birthday... Smoking related diseases and mental illness took her away from us years ago. But I can close my eyes and remember the Mom of my youth, my hero, my world. In her day, the good years, she was an amazing woman. A survivor. A really cool Mom. May I always hold onto the goodness that she had in her, may I nurture it and grow it, may I plant the seeds of the goodness everywhere I go and spread that goodness to share with others. She was always proud of my goodness. Today I hold on to that.