And one more time - Go for it Vapoteurs in the UK - pretty please!

Oh dear  have been having a really hectic time with sick grandchildren so I haven't blogged for over a week! But I got myself into gear at the request of Chris Davies, MEP and I just produced another letter to my MEP's  (I'm so tired of it) but I hope this sounds fresh?

Dear Ms Mccarthy, and Mr Simpson, copy sent to Linda MacAvan

I am writing about something that the Labour Party is making an error on. Linda MacAvan (Labour) is the Rapporteur for the Tobacco Directive which meets to vote on October the 8th in the EU. She has been determined to make electronic cigarettes "medical devices" and it is the Labour Vote on that point that will turn what is now the one great opportunity to cut back on the habit of smoking tobacco worldwide, to the biggest error, by effectively banning electronic cigarettes as they are now, legislating that they are "medical devices". Electronic cigarettes are not medical devices. They are a safer alternative to smoking! If Labour meddles with them, as they, the only party in the UK, is trying to do, they show themselves up to be quite out of step with the thinking of others, vapers, academia and doctors alike.

 

Electronic cigarettes, as they are now, are THE best anti smoking tool to be given to the anti tobacco industry in history. Each vaper that vapes, uses a different setup to do so. We pay for our equipment ourselves. We choose how we combine our equipment to provide us with the best experience so that each one personally stays off tobacco. None of this is of any cost to any Government. And electronic cigarettes have been invented and spread worldwide without any impetus from Anti Tobacco

 

Electronic cigarettes are not a tobacco product.

Electronic cigarettes are not a medical product.

Electronic cigarettes are not a Nicotine Replacement Therapy.

Electronic cigarettes are a consumer product.

Electronic cigarettes are already quite tightly regulated in the UK.

Electronic cigarettes are a substitute for tobacco for smokers.

For me, they have been miraculous. I gave up a fifty year smoking habit accidentally and with no intention of stopping smoking by switching to vaping. I am just one of millions of us in the European Union. The fact that science has not kept up with recording how efficient electronic devices are at stopping people smoking, is the fault of science, not the fact that these consumer devices are brilliantly successful.

 

An election will be upon us next year for MEP's and in 2015 for a General Election. One and a half million tobacco users are now vaping in the UK. Many, like me, are not smoking at all. Making electronic cigarettes medical devices will morph what we use now into useless "look a likee" cigarettes manufactured by medical companies, or compliant wealthy electronic cigarette companies, to standards set by legislators who think anti tobacco rather than anti harm. The result of the vote on the 8th in Brussels will have the most important outcome for millions of vapers in the EU. Making them "medical devices" is against current, modern thought. And will be a Labour Party policy error of extreme stupidity, going against the flow of learnt wisdom.

Please do not do it.

 

Yours sincerely

 

My Chris Davies letter request is here below with all the email addresses you need! Go for it vapoteurs!

 

E-cigs - I need your help

Dear Friend,

The European Parliament will vote on October 8 to determine its position as to whether to classify e-cigarettes as medicines, potentially restricting their availability, adding cost and forcing some manufacturers out of business.

I believe that e-cigarettes could be a game changer in helping people to get off tobacco and live healthier lives.  My impression is that there is growing momentum behind this view but we are still some way off winning the vote.  We need a positive and decisive result to ensure that e-cigs remain at least as available as tobacco products in order to send a strong message to those who will be negotiating a final agreement between MEPs and EU governments.

This is why I need your help.

Obviously we need support from MEPs in 28 different countries but Parliament's rapporteur (team leader if you like) is British Labour MEP Linda McAvan.  Until now she has supported the medicines regulatory approach, and so have all her British Labour colleagues.  If they can be persuaded to move it could make all the difference.  We can already count on the support of my Liberal Democrat colleagues, together with British Conservatives.  On this issue even UKIP MEPs may cast a vote, and if they do it will be along the lines we wish.

I have attached the email addresses of Labour MEPs to the bottom of this email. 

The most effective way of persuading them is NOT to send identical e-mails to all.  I would encourage you to write only to the MEPs for the region in which you live, and tell your personal story about why e-cigs have made a difference to you.

With regards


Chris Davies MEP
Liberal Democrat spokesman on the environment and public health committee

Labour MEPs

Glenis Willmott MEP - East Midlands - office@gleniswillmott.org.uk

Arlene McCarthy MEP - North West - arlene.mccarthy@easynet.co.uk

Derek Vaughan MEP - Wales - contact@derekvaughanmep.org.uk

Richard Howitt MEP - Eastern - richard@richardhowittmep.com

Mary Honeyball MEP - London - mary@maryhoneyball.net

Claude Moraes MEP - London - office@claudemoraes.com

Stephen Hughes MEP - North East - stephen-hughes@btconnect.com

Brian Simpson MEP - North West - briansimpson.labour@virgin.net

David Martin MEP - Scotland - david@martinmep.com

Catherine Stihler MEP - Scotland - cstihlermep@btconnect.com

Peter Skinner MEP - South East - southeast@peterskinnermep.eu

Michael Cashman MEP - West Midlands - michaelcashman@phonecoop.coop

Linda McAvan MEP - Yorkshire and the Humber - linda@lindamcavanmep.org.uk