The war against the TPD is a war for democracy

Queen Medical Centre - one of the hospitals
where the ban is now lifted

A couple of days ago, in my last post, I sent a big thanks across the North Sea to Matt Ridley and the UK House of Lords for joining the pro-vaping forces in the war against the EU and their TPD. Today, I want to send another thank you to the UK, this time to Nottingham. To the bosses of Nottingham University Hospitals NHS trust to be more precise, for giving vaping the green light lifting the ban on e-cigarettes outside their buildings. Dr Stephen Fowlie gave the following reason for lifting the ban:

We have a duty to help our patients and staff make healthy life choices, and can't ignore the potential benefits of electronic cigarettes as a nicotine replacement therapy. We're now allowing e-cigarettes on our grounds to give our patients, staff and visitors more choice in how they quit smoking.

This war is about more than just e-cigarettes and vaping. As the debate in the House of Lords revealed, and what a lot of vapers have suspected and pointed out for quite some time, the TPD "were scripted in Brussels by pharmaceutical companies desperately trying to protect the sales of their widely unloved nicotine replacement therapies" (Matt Ridley). This was confirmed by Martin Callanan and he should know this better than most... he was there when it happened. This makes it a war against a system that allows big wealthy companies or industries to rule Europe, using the European Commision as their sock puppets to regulate markets in a way that will make them even more wealthy at the cost of European lives. In the case of the TPD it is Big Pharma pulling the strings but if we allow this to happen I can see other industries and companies scripting regulations that will effectively leave their markets in the hands of a few big players.

The way I see it, allowing the TPD to happen is a step towards making the EU a toolbox for the already wealthy that they can use to customize their markets for their own benefit. It's a step towards weakening the European democracy, handing the power over to the money. Obviously, for most of us, this is not a step forward but rather a giant gleap backwards.

This is also one of the reasons that not only vapers and smokers should care about this, everyone should open their eyes to what is happening cause eventually we will all be affected by it in one way or another. Allowing the TPD to happen will not only prolong the tobacco epidemic, leaving several generations of our children with the unnecessary risks of tobacco smoking, but it will also open some doors in Brussels allowing those with a lot of money to write the laws as they see fit. I could have written the same things about the FDA and their deeming regulations. Even if you're not a vaper, and never smoked a cigarette in your life, the outcome of this war will affect you. Amber Whalley wrote a post on Steve K's vaping world explaining several reasons why non-vapers should join the fight, and I've mentioned even more reasons above.

Today my big thanks goes to the Nottingham hospital bosses not only because they have saved a lot of lives in Nottingham. It's also because they are showing Big Pharma the finger by lifting this ban, and in this case the fact that they are medical professionals running hospitals makes it a particularly important finger. By lifting the ban they send a message that they will not let Big Pharma and corrupt politicians dictate their policies. It's an example that I hope many medical professionals will follow. As Dr. Fowlie says: It is their duty to help staff and patients to make healthier choices. Thereby it is every medical professionals duty to stand up and tell the public the truth about vaping and add weight to the statements of politicians doing the same.

Medical professionals have great power in this case, maybe even more than they realise. Without their support Big Pharma and the ANTZ are seriously weakened and we're one step closer to winning real democracy back. Thank you!