California Attacks Smoking Alternatives

But if you want the real thing you can go down to your local market and buy as much as you want.

At least Arnold Schwarzenegger is good for something. He has time and again refused to sign a bill that would grant drivers licenses to illegal aliens, and he has once again shown a shred of common sense by refusing to sign SB400, a bill that would have banned the sales of electronic cigarettes in California. For those not familiar with e-cigarettes, they’re basically a nicotine delivery device. Most are manufactured to look like a conventional cigarette, but that’s where the similarity ends.

The typical e-cig consists of a battery (shaped to look like the tobacco containing section of a cigarette), a filter which contains the nicotine, and an atomizer inside, that vaporizes the nicotine when heated. The heat is generated by puffing. The result is a fairly realistic smoking experience. The difference is that the smoke is not smoke at all; it’s water vapor that carries the nicotine to its destination. I have one myself, and although not the real thing, a heck of an alternative, especially for those that are trying to quit (such as myself). You get the nicotine, the sensation of smoking, and maybe just as importantly, you engage in the physical act of smoking. The fact is, that the average smoker may take 100-200 puffs a day off a cigarette. Hand to mouth, hand to mouth. Gums and patches do not address this habit that in most cases has been going on for years. E-cigarettes addresses this very effectively. Great idea, right? A breakthrough in smoking technology, wouldn’t you agree?

Not the California legislature. They want to ban this new technology, and wipe it out while still in its infancy. Now the word is that California Attorney General Gerry Moonbeam Brown is going fangs out after e-cigarette manufacturers and attempting to force them to prove that the devices are safe before they can sell them in California. You heard that right, while real cigarettes continue to be sold at every corner store in the state, Moonbeam is trying to break the back of what consists of mostly small companies trying to get a foothold in the smoking game. Entrepeneurship at its best, and California once again is looking to stifle it. This is the last thing that California government, or any government for that matter wants. The tax revenue from tobacco is tremendous, and if they should lose that, all of us (and that includes non-smokers) would feel the pain. If that tax revenue dried up, they would come after everyone to make up the difference. All they would get with e-cigs is sales tax. If the devices weren’t manufactured in California, they might not even get that. This would be a fiscal disaster for California to see these things take off. It wouldn’t have to be, but with the corruption and ineptitude in government, they would make it a crisis. They need this gravy train to continue.

Hey, if they want to regulate these things, then fine. In fact, I would rather they did regulate them just to make sure that nicotine cartridges that come from places such as China are safe. I’m all for it. They don’t want to regulate though. They want it to disappear. It has nothing to do with safety. It has to do with money.

Just a disclaimer. This is not a sales pitch. I only linked to an e-cig website because that’s where I found the picture. I don’t know who that company is or how good their product is. I have some other brand. FYI.