Who would you believe? Doctors or politicians…

Two news items today…the first is the news release Physicians Urge FDA to Justify Condemnation of E-Cigarettes.

The letter specifically targets the new tobacco legislation that passed through Congress this summer which gives the FDA power to regulate tobacco products in the United States and notes that the success rate of current smokers who attempt to quit by using pharmaceutical aids is as low as 5%. Making smokers more aware of less harmful alternatives, snus and e-cigarettes included, could significantly reduce the amount of smokers who die due to tobacco-related illnesses.

This doctor group is advocating the availability of healthier alternatives for smokers but these politicians while condoning the continued supply of a proven dangerous product are taking steps to ban a safer alternative. (The video is laughably nonsensical being based on obviously scripted children saying they are being sick of being targetted by tobacco companies).

It would be easy to suggest this has something to do with coming from Utah but the fact is that the story is all too common even in supposedly liberal and compassionate jurisdictions. Castigate smokers for smoking and then make sure that if they won’t quit that they do not have access to safer products.

When it comes to health I will look to my doctor and not my political representatives.