My notes on "The rise of the e cigarette" ITV shambles of a program

Chris Choi presented "The Rise of E cigarettes" on ITV last night - the "New nicotine". You can find it on catchup.

Right from the start we heard that toxins in e cigarettes had not been adequately researched, but that e cigarettes might be the "Greatest opportunity to reduce tobacco smoking"

So far so good - I was pretty calm. I was calm until I saw the diagram of what an e cigarette is and then I knew this report was going to be shit! The cartomiser was labelled a battery and the battery, the cartomiser!  Even if no one took note of the diagram, this showed profound ignorance in the team putting the show together ("hurriedly" was Choi's excuse on Vapourtrails TV).

There was a moment in an interview with a Chinese Manufacturer who had seen his sales explode and that recently 10 million e cigs were sold by his factory alone. This means to me that Choi's question "Do they work?" shows they really actually do. People are not idiots buying a consumer product that doesn't work!

On the suggestion that e cigarettes are a smoking revolution for young people, I want to point out that they are a revolution FOR SMOKERS.

The vendor made me cringe! Nuff said.

Chris Choi's interview with Dave Dorn disappeared in a flash, and I found his suggestion that "Can you believe it? - a TELEVISION STATION for vapers !" pretty patronising - especially as he hardly showed it.

My distress level was now on the increase - I can recognise lazily researched "let's find the creepiest examples of something to put on display here" attitude.

But I was absolutely incensed by  the story of "Terry". Terry switched to e cigs - his doctor said it was oil blended with nicotine - he died. He died of Lipoid pneumonia by inhaling oil in his e cig. Terry's wife was adamant.  This should never have appeared in an e cigarette report. It was chosen for its gasp factor - vapers don't inhale oil and it showed what an ignorant idiot his doctor was to even say such a thing. If the doctor mixed the e liquid, that's another matter. Neither propylene glycol nor vegetable glycerin is oil. It's GLYCERIN! It's been inhaled medically for a very long time.  This was an irresponsible unforgivable segment for a report on e cigarettes - no evidence of any kind to back it up, but burned in the brain forever. Shame on you!

So, back to serious questions (again) toxins in e cigarettes haven't been researched and people from Public Health tell us that to shore up the fear factor! Discussion goes onto advertising and that  Big Tobacco are right there regarding e cigarettes - but I have to point out they came in late and are trying to catch up. They are still stuck on 1st generation stuff and vapers have moved on from that. 

The only e cigarettes discussed were 1st generation, though egos, tanks and mods did make a fleeting appearance with no mention of the variety, so the public watching the program will know that an e cigarette consists  of a cartomiser that is called a battery and a battery that is called a cartomiser and it looks like a cigarette!

Having got over Terry, we came to the "Cheeeldren" in the car who's Mum was shocked by them hearing an e cigarette ad on the car radio.  Oh wow!  There is a generation of kids who have never seen smoking. But there is a growing knowledge amongst cheeeldren about e cigarettes. The marketing is targeting the young. And I point out, Chris Choi, that children under 18 can't buy them in UK because they are so regulated!

I was told that Elites are at the CENTRE of the e cig industry in the UK - they are? News to me. I reckon, it was easier to interview them because they are in your face everywhere so it looks that way and the research team doing this program did it the easy way, regurgitation of stuff from Public Health antis and choosing the closest vendor and the most sensation story of possible e cigarette toxins that killed poor old Terry.

Shame on ITV. A more inaccurate and biased program couldn't have been made. I am very sorry that your viewers will believe it to be true!

Professor Robert West  (names mixed up here, can you believe?) threw us a bone in the end - e cigarettes might give the opportunity to end the era of tobacco in his lifetime.

But THAT is not what viewers will remember!

And as a vaper, I found it totally disappointing.