Vaping,Vultures and Cars

Please bear with me whilst I do a characteristic waffle,before arriving at the nitty gritty and the real purpose of this post

Starting in reverse order with cars and their power plants, some induce a feeling of pleasure whilst others are nonedescript,functional and bland. PreTurbo era, naturally aspirated cars that I have some knowledge of, include a Honda Accord Type R with a 2.2 litre VTEC, BMW M3 3.2litre, Porsche Boxster 3.4 litre S, all of these have wonderful engines with a delicious exhaust note in my opinion, but how does one quantify a subjective opinion into facts.

We are now in the Turbo era, where naturally aspirated petrol or diesel cars are as rare as hens teeth. From their introduction into F1 and rally cars in the early 80's usually fairly unreliable, and 'peaky' ,turbocharging has improved in leaps and bounds regarding reliability,driveability and efficiency so much so that they are the norm in even the most mundane of vehicle. Just to highlight the staggering evolution, a 4 cylinder 2.0 litre Ford Fiesta of mid 2000's was producing 150 bhp., whereas the latest offering is a 3 cylinder 1.5 litre producing 200 bhp. and is actually more economical. For me though the turbocharger has dulled the sensory pleasure of hearing an engine being 'wrung-out' or extended at 'full chat'.

Continuing my evolutionary story, I must include electric/hydrogen vehicles of which I know little, these are supposedly the future of motoring, speed, zero emissions are among the virtues. High purchase costs even after government assistance, incomplete and patchy charging infrastructure has meant that current sales are modest. My initial impression of these vehicles is that pleasure is even further eroded from the naturally aspirated era, but that is maybe an 'old fogie' with luddite tendencies speaking. The UK Government recently announced that by 2040 all new cars must not include petrol or diesel as their powerplants.........

Now just imagine that was not 2040 but in 6 weeks time, and all existing vehicles must be removed from the road . This is in effect what the latest FDA announcement on #ecigs was implying in a worst case scenario, others have covered this folly in far greater depth than I wish to dwell upon here. It is my contention that Gottleib in cahoots with the likes of the Truth Initiative and Tobacco Free Kids hatched a devious plan probably 12 months ago to knobble ecigs via the commercial success of JUUL. As we know he is proclaiming an epidemic, whilst producing no data, having to act upon public outrage that he and the other organisations have fuelled via a gullible media.This is truly depressing to examine from afar, I can only imagine the despair of US Vapers and the Vape Industry at this ongoing uncertainty. This is where my Vultures could be applied to from the title, but no it's in the next brief paragraph

Very Low Nicotine Containing Content (VLNCC) cigarettes was the other hobbyhorse that FDA head Gottleib was promoting very soon after taking up his post, in conjunction with attempting to move smokers to #ecigs.
I have written about this in a previous blog and I shall now reveal VLCOS (Very Little Chance of Success) is my acronym that for some reason was bastardised into Vultures.

A Few Reflections

My recent blogging attempts have been rather curtailed for a variety of reasons, shoddy internet availability,far more gifted peers,the lack of anything much to contribute. This blog will follow a typical pattern of a scattergun approach, and trust that someone, somewhere, may find it interesting or at least a discussion starting point.

Newish products tried and tested

I am not a reviewer, and typically if happy with something eg my current Vape set up(s) will not stray too far from them, however I was curious enough to see what the fuss about IQOS and JUUL was about, to buy one when they became available. My initial impressions of IQOS were mild disappointment and thus slightly underwhelmed,but with persistence I found I was looking forward to my 'daily treat' of maybe 2-3 Heets, however the cost of these will always be a prohibiting factor for myself. JUUL in the UK of course has a TPD spec limiting it to 20mg/ml,compared to 58mg/ml availability in the US, however, even though lower than 'ideal', my initial experience is positive and can see this as a useful addition, especially for when driving.

These and other similar products are coming thick and fast, despite the regular nonsense in the media and from the withering voices of rogue 'Public Health' renegades, choices for smokers(considering switching) have increased greatly. I shall not get involved in the curious debate amongst some Vapers opposed to stores stocking these products, but simply state that it's entirely up to the store to decide what they wish to sell.

Following on from my last passage, it would be great to see far more co-operative schemes, where a Vape store works in tandem with an enlightened,pragmatic local Stop Smoking Service eg Leicester, Southampton. Generally SSS have seen a reduction in footfall and a reduction in their staff numbers and budgets, this is a natural consequence if seen by the consumer as irrelevant and by cash strapped councils who are not always seeing value for money. It is still very concerning that over 66% of local govt have not adopted an e-cig friendly approach as implicitly advocated by Public Health England, Royal College of Physicians .....etc, the Public Health Minister Steve Brine states it's advisory!

Taxes 

This raises its head either at an EU or UK level, the EU has a 'consultation' that is ongoing, the UK if the SUN newspaper is to be believed is proposing a sin-tax in the November budget to raise £40 million to be used for the NHS. To state the obvious this would be nonsensical when other Departments and Agencies are supposedly in favour of Harm Reduction. I hope this is/was a 'planted' story with no substance, if that is not the case and the Chancellor does indeed announce a 'sin-tax' this UK Government will confirm its ineptitude in no uncertain terms