Vapor Digest #3 The Trade Publication For The Vapor Products Industry
Issue link: http://vapordigest.epubxp.com/i/504729
00 I don't believe it serves any purpose to stand in front of a political entity and talk about how you quit smoking or show them stats from The Drexel University study – they are numb to that, mostly because they don't under- stand the science and only want to believe what they feel their constituents want. But what they are not numb to is a potential voting block standing in their faces, screaming that what they're doing is Un-American and encroaching on the rights of free citizens. As what our opposition doesn't understand is they are on the wrong side of history. They're grandstanding, expecting to turn around and see a nation of voters applauding them for standing up to The Evil Vaping Man. We need to train politicians to understand otherwise. That, in fact, they are surely nailing the coffin shut on their career if they foolishly decide to oppose us. I recall specifically once when I was addressing The Beverly Hills City Council in their attempt to ban ecig products outright. I stood there with my facts in hand and ripped apart each point of their bias agenda. In the end, I closed with a small bit on how this was an encroachment on my rights as an American Citizen and this would never stand in a truly free and reasonable society. And instead of thanking me and asking me to sit, several council members were firm to interject they had no intention of limiting people's personal rights. Mind you – they mentioned nothing about my long winded scientific statics. I'm not even certain they retained a single word. But I got under their skin by calling them fascists in the kindest way possible. Sud- denly they realized how they looked to the community, and needed to save face. Suddenly, they realized, such language could influence potential voters – this guy's talking about FREEDOM...and he said I was on the wrong side! The council moved forward with a watered-down version on their agenda regardless. It was a small victory, but I left forlorn none-the-less. I was stopped outside the courthouse by an officer with The Beverly Hills Police Department. I thought I was in trouble. "Can I give you some advice?" asked the officer. "Sure," I said. "Skip the science and stick to the freedom." I looked at him in silence for a moment. "Do you know how many of these meetings I come to?" he continued. "All that high-level science you threw at them just goes over their head. It never works. You need to stick to the buzz words – hit them where it hurts. Talk about them limiting your freedom, go more into how they're risking American lives by ruling on things they don't understand. Talk more about your grandmother who died of lung cancer and the vaping could have saved her. That's where you had them." We shook hands and he walked off into the night. But his message stuck with me. And I've used it success- fully ever since when it comes time to address politi- cians. I skip the science and go right for the heart. I believe we need to shore up our message as a whole. Certainly scientific studies and facts will only help cement our cause, but what will truly elevate us is keep- ing on the message of personal liberty. Apple pie, base- ball and vaping – The New American Pastimes. The message repeated over-and-over at these meet- ings must be they have no right to take vaping products away from us. We are reasonable adults who live in a free society, we have chosen to vape, and they have no right to interfere with our inalienable liberties. That paints politicians into a very precarious corner of either saying we don't understand freedom or moving to limit our rights despite our impassioned protest. This is espe- cially important in the face of regulation hungry politi- cians who are merely looking for a feather in their "save the children" caps. As that's a very simple solution. Enforce the laws that all ready exist on no sales to minors. Case closed. The truth is, they don't care about children – they only care about elections. This isn't about children, or flavors, or health issues. It's about trying to control you. It's about trying to limit your free choice. It's about scor- ing political points and nothing more. And what burns me the most is they believe they're going to get away with it. Are you angry yet? Well, you should be. The time has come to show them we simply will not stand for a single negative word cast in our direction. It comes down to this: the vaping industry needs its own Wayne LaPierre & NRA. A single entity with a singular and powerful message: don't tread on me. We have the funds, we have the organization, and we have the numbers. Yet I still sense a very large vacuum when it comes to getting the message on point. The only way more politicians are going to listen is through lobbying and vapers showing up in force at elections, ensuring those who stand against us never see the light of political office again. And I know we can win if only we focus on this message. Now-a-days instead of rattling off stats from studies done by X, Y or Z, I simply leave the council chamber with one simple message: we may appear as a rag-tag group of impassioned vapers, but what you don't understand is this. We are now a billion dollar industry, we are organized, we are funded and we vote. We're making a list and we're checking it twice, and we will not forget or forgive come next November – and you and your ilk will pry our bomb-pop flavored e-liquid from our cold, dead hands. Go and do likewise. 31