I do not seldom write about anti-THR press stories by random writers because (a) the lies are generally the same stupid unsophisticated ones that are not worth debunking every time and (b) there are so many of them that fighting the war of attrition against them is kind of pointless. But if a war of attrition is to be fought, networking is the only way to do it. Thus, I outsource the takedown of the recent Guardian commentary by Tom Riddington to this post by “Gluggler”.
For the record, I do not necessarily endorse every claim and bit of analysis in that post, but I happily note that there are some clever points that I have never thought to make.
Tobacco harm reduction, anti-THR lies, and related topics 
Reblogged this on Nhaler News.
“Not only are these products not tested and regulated like proper medicines”
How often have we seen this kind of fudge?
From ASH (Scotland):
“Mr X says that pubs have been closing because of the smoking ban. The truth is a little different. An additional 5% of alcohol licences have been granted in the hospitality industry in the last 12 months”
It is a favourite trick – not to compare like with like, but to give the impression of doing so.
If a person wishes to stop enjoying tobacco, he can do so by whatever means works for him. He might decide that sucking on a lemon sufficiently distracts his attention. Sucking on a lemon could hardly be described as a medicinal way to stop enjoying tobacco.
It seems to me that the Zealots are hell-bent upon taking the manufacture and distribution of ecigs out of the hands of small producers and putting them into the hands of big producers – such as Big Pharm. Getting them described as ‘medicinal’ will do the trick.
I recall that the USA legislators decided that ecigs could be marketed provided that they were not described as ‘smoking cessation aids’. The Zealots have only now realised that this was a terrible error, and they are trying to use a roundabout way of extracting themselves by pretending that they never thought of ecigs as anything other than ‘medicinal smoking cessation aids’.
“Oh what webs we weave….”