Puritan Island

According to Wikipedia, Australia was first discovered by Europeans thus:

The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, and made landfall on 26 February at the Pennefather River near the modern town of Weipa on Cape York. The Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent “New Holland” " during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688 and again in 1699 on a return trip. In 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. With the loss of its American colonies in 1783, the British Government sent a fleet of ships, the “First Fleet", under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, to establish a new penal colony in New South Wales. A camp was set up and the flag raised at Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, on 26 January 1788, a date which became Australia's national day, Australia Day, although the British Crown Colony of New South Wales was not formally promulgated until 7 February 1788. The first settlement led to the foundation of Sydney, and the exploration and settlement of other regions.

Since that time, Australia has emerged from its roots as a penal colony and developed into a successful nation in its own right, playing a major role in both World Wars of the 20^th Century, becoming one of the main destinations for immigrants all over the world looking to start a new life.

Until World War 2, the majority of the settlers and immigrants came from the United Kingdom, Since then the immigrants arriving in Australia have been far more diverse and it now attracts people from all over the world, probably influenced by the image of a carefree lifestyle and freedom, a warm climate and the sheer size of the country, promoted through various feature films and TV programs. We have probably all seen the stereotypical images of the hardened Australian male (usually in the outback where ironically few Australians actually live) and who doesn't know what Kylie Minogue, Nathalie Imbruglia or Nicole Kidman look like ?

What is not so much known about Australia is how it has become the poster child for prohibition. Australia has gone from being a libertarian society where fun and social responsibility were not mutually exclusive, to a country where Government and Public Health exert an ever tightening grip on practically all minutiae of its citizens everyday life.

An example of how this has affected Australian life is very amply demonstrated in an article entitled Would the last person in Sydney please turn the lights out?.

Australia also has some of the most draconian tobacco control measures on the planet. Not only does the Government inflict eye-watering tax measures on the sale of tobacco (which has led to one of the biggest tobacco black markets on the planet), but they are also proud of the fact that they were the very first country in the world to introduce plain packaging for tobacco products. What Australian Public Health will not tell you however, is that despite all of the above measures, youth tobacco smoking is actually INCREASING, as several recent independent studies have revealed.

Now with all the above measures introduced in a failed attempt to reduce tobacco consumption among its population, you would think Australia would be keen to embrace any innovation that helped them to achieve the ‘ideal society’ of a tobacco-free Australia. Yes ?

Sadly, the answer is No !!

For whilst the rest of the world begins to wake up to, and embrace, the phenomenon of Vaping, the Australian Government is trying its hardest to kill the emerging vape market.

Nicotine is a banned substance in Australia and it is an offence to possess nicotine unless you have a Pharmaceutical licence (or, ironically, unless you buy a heavily-taxed packet of cigarettes). This crazy state of affairs means that Australian smokers wishing to switch to the far less harmful eCigarette have to so with nicotine-free eLiquid (hardly conducive to the success of a heavy smoker trying to quit this way), or by performing an illegal act by importing the eLiquid (or Nicotine liquid itself) from other countries – which is exactly what many Australian vapers do.

To further attempt to keep their hands on the exhorbitant tax-revenue of tobacco, the Australian Authorities are also clamping down of anyone daring to help smokers quitting tobacco in the non-approved way by actively shutting down the Australian eCigarette Vendors. I am sure that most readers will be aware of the plight of Vince Van Heerden, but for those that are not, you can read his story here. If you are in a position to help Vince’s fight, I would strongly encourage you to do so.

But they have not stopped there as can be evidenced by this recent tweet shared by the New Nicotine Alliance Australia

 

To compare how bat-shit crazy the Australian Government (and Public Health) is, compare the advice of the Queensland Government, with the far more informed and scientifically driven advice given out by PublicHealth England, or the Royal College of Physicians.

The latest round of complete and utter madness from ‘down-under’ can be witnessed by the following advice allowing for an ‘amnesty’ for anyone daring to try vaping in an attempt to quit tobacco, released by somebody (presumably in Australian Public Health)

 

Dunno about you, but if I was living in Australia, I would be telling the Authorities to be shoving such advice up their 'alternative orifice' !!

So, basically Australia is admitting that it does not give a damn about the health of Australian citizens and would far rather Australians continue to smoke (and thus keep on swelling the Tobacco Control tax coffers). The sheer ludicrous disregard of Australian officials for the health of the Australian public, let alone their civil liberties, is an absolute joke and disgrace. Despite the overwhelming amount of evidence emerging in favour of eCigarettes, Australian Public Health (and we all know who are the main culprits behind this) are determined to keep their noses in that very deep Australian Tax trough and continue killing Australian citizens.

Yes, I know we have other (ill-informed) tobacco control puritans over here in the UK and in other parts of the world. However, here in the UK at least, we are slowly turning the battle around and we are winning the hearts and minds. Australia has a much deeper problem.

I am pretty sure that the founding fathers of Australia, when it emerged from its penal colony beginnings, did not expect that the new–found liberty and freedom they would enjoy would be slowly eroded away by a number of self-serving charlatans in both the Australian Government and Australian Public Health just under 230 years later.

Of course, there are voices fighting for the cause of vaping in Australia and those voices are starting to be heard. So, if you are Australian, get out and support the New Nicotine Alliance Australia. NNA Oz (as I prefer to call them) are making inroads. Their persistence and endeavour is starting to pay off. But they have an uphill battle ahead of them and they need the support of Australian Vapers in particular, but also other vapers from across the world (including the UK and USA).

A closing thought based around how I started this post.

Australia started its existence as a Penal Colony. Whilst something like that would (rightly) not be tolerated in the modern world, I do wish we could find another (largely empty) island like Australia where we could put all of the Prohibitionists in tobacco (and alcohol) control from around the world, and just let them get on with persecuting each other, going about their drab puritanical lives and reaching the golden ages they aspire too (probably about 150 years old). Though I strongly suspect they will have died from boredom long before then !!

At least if all the Prohibitionists were isolated in one place, far away from the rest of the world, then the rest of us could get on with enjoying life and having (a word banned from Puritan dictionaries) FUN !!

 

UPDATE:  I have since been corrected that Jennifer Stone does NOT work in Public Health and may actually be a vaper herself. I was unaware of that when I wrote the original post. Apologies to Jennifer for the error.

Understanding Pleasure

There is nothing quite as satisfying after a long day, or after tackling a particularly trying problem, or simply when relaxing with a pint of beer in the pub, as kicking back with a long relaxing vape. In years long past, I would have said the same about having a smoke. It too gave that long lasting relaxing vibe as I attempted to tune out and chill. But five years ago, I discovered vaping and changed my life, quitting the smoke and the couple of hundred chemicals contained therein, for the same relaxing vibe with few of the risks.

Nicotine is a much maligned substance. In large enough quantities, it can be deadly. However, in the quantities found in cigarettes and ecigarettes, it is a rather enjoyable stimulant on a par with the equivalent potency and harm profile found in a typical cup of coffee. In recent years, nicotine has been found to be useful in the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimers. There have also been instances of nicotine being used to treat migraines. The reason for this is that nicotine boosts dopamine signals to the brain and in the case of Parkinson’s and Alzheimers this means that the nerve cells used to communicate with other parts of the brain  can be both protected and boosted.

Of course, for vapers (and smokers), the important part is that dopamine is a neurotransmitter that helps  controls the brain’s reward and pleasure centres. That nicotine boosts the dopamine levels in the brain is what gives them the relaxing pleasure.

Caffeine has a similar affect as, like nicotine, it is also a stimulant. Like nicotine, it speeds bodily functions, brings about temporary feelings of enhanced energy and vitality and boosts the reward and pleasure centres. So anyone who regularly drinks coffee ‘should’ understand what has been dubbed by vapers as ‘The Pleasure Principle’.

Anyone who has attended any Public Health seminars or symposiums will know that such events are usually awash with coffee and tea, which are eagerly consumed by the attendees. But while those in Public Health and Tobacco Control are happily indulging their ‘Pleasure Principal’ with coffee, they will expend all their breath telling us the nicotine is ‘addictive’ and ‘bad’. They are wrong on both counts as recent studies have proven that nicotine on its own is no more addictive or damaging than its caffeine counterpart.

The difference is in the way in which we choose to consume nicotine and caffeine. Caffeine is normally drunk (from tea or coffee), whilst nicotine is inhaled when vaped or smoked – though it is possible to perform both the other way around.

For Tobacco Control and Public Health people, herein lies the problem. Whilst they see nothing wrong with drinking a drug like caffeine, Vaping is far too close in appearance to smoking to make inhaling nicotine in that form acceptable - even without the smoke. They are driven by their hatred of tobacco and as a result cannot get past the similarity between vaping and smoking – even while privately acknowledging that vaping is vastly safer than smoking. It also means that they cannot ‘publically’ acknowledge that vapers and smokers get as much enjoyment from nicotine as they do from caffeine.

So, they must learn to understand the ‘Pleasure Principle’. It is no coincidence that ‘Vape Lounges’ are almost as common on the high street as coffee shops. That’s because both practices are not only pleasurable, but they are also best enjoyed in a communal environment – with friends.

So, if Public Health/Tobacco Control cannot understand the ‘Pleasure Principle’ then perhaps they should start looking at how they enjoy consuming caffeine – and get off their high horses. It will certainly help them to understand why vaping is so popular.

Anniversaries

As I sit writing this current blog entry, we are two days away from the 6th June. To most people in the world the 6th June holds a special significance because it is the day that, 72 years ago, thousands of brave Allied Soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy and began the process of freeing Europe from the tyranny of the Nazi jackboot that had dominated the continent for four years. In fact, one of my Grandfathers participated in the invasion. He survived, but many of his comrades-in-arms did not. Like many others of his generation, he never spoke of the horrors he went through or the constant danger he was in. As a matter of fact, it was only some years after he died in the 1990's that I discovered just what he had done when I finally caught sight of the numerous medals of bravery he had received and which I had never known about until after he was no longer with us. So, like many people across the world, I will remember the pain and suffering that day represents, and pause to think about what he and thousands others like him went through to preserve the liberties that we all take for granted.

However, the 6th June also holds another special significance to me.

The 6th June 2011 was the last time I smoked a tobacco cigarette, because that was the day I bought my very first electronic cigarette. I still remember that I had 6 cigarettes on me as I made my way into town on that day. I had heard about e-Cigarettes through the internet and my interest had been piqued. I wanted to give up smoking and so had scratched around until I found somewhere local that stocked them. I was going to give them a try. I had previously tried quitting cold turkey, through nicotine gum, through the spray and also through the ridiculous 'tampon tube' devices. None of them worked. If I am honest, I didn't think an e-cigarette would work either, but I was prepared to give them a try. So, I travelled into Town, smoking the 6 cigarettes I still had, hoping that they would be the last cigarettes I would ever smoke. They were !!

Today, I stand just two days away from the FIFTH anniversary of being smoke-free. What a journey it has been. From the very first moment I vaped on a (menthol) e-cigarette with 24mg of nicotine, feeling the satisfactory throat-hit that all smokers would recognise, I felt for the very first time that this could be the device that would work. This would be the device that would allow me to finally kick an almost 25 year smoking habit.

A lot has happened in the 5 years since I became smoke-free. I still have every single device I have ever owned. I still have every single tank and RDA I have ever bought. Some of them are positively museum pieces now. The way the technology has advanced over those 5 years has been incredible. The advancement of technology is the reason why I now only use eLiquids with just 3mg of nicotine. I'm still convinced I can probably vape nicotine-free eLiquid if I so choose. In fact, I am considering mixing my next eLiquid batch as nicotine-free just to see how I get along with it.

The ANTZ will consider me an anecdote. But I am not. I am living proof of the potential of e-Cigarettes to create a smoke-free Britain. I am not even unique. There are thousands of other vapers all across the length and breadth of the UK (and beyond) who all have a similar story to mine. Some are not as far along in their vaping journey, whilst others are far more experienced vapers than I am. But they are ALL a testament to the enormous benefit that e-Cigarettes provide to society. We Vapers are a rising chorus whose numbers are swelling on a daily basis. We are an irresistable force that is slowly but surely proving all of the doubters wrong.

So what of those doubters ?
It's fair to say that those doubters were far more numerous 5 years ago than they are today. Those doubters are the reason why I have been so active in political circles over the last few years. I have met politicians, health professionals, social scientists, bigots in the pub and the plain ignorant. You name them, I have probably had a debate (or argument in some cases) with them all. A naturally quiet and shy person by nature, I have spent the last 5 years gobbing off to anyone who will listen (and to those that won't) about why they are wrong about e-Cigarettes. Every time that has happened, I have got better and better at presenting my side of the argument. I know the science, I know who to quote. I can turn every single one of the ANTZ arguments around without having to think too hard about it. That's because the evidence in FAVOUR of e-Cigarettes is far more compelling than the arguments against. That's because I have learnt and listened. But most of all, my own personal experience has PROVED that e-Cigarettes are the public health benefit that I loudly proclaim them to be.

So, on Monday 6th June, I will raise a glass in thanks and a prayer of remembrance (even though I am not religious) for those thousands of brave Allied Soldiers who never came home to their loved ones, and for those that did.

But also, on Monday 6th June, I will raise a glass to Hon Lik - the inventor of the modern e-Cigarette - and to vapers of the world everywhere who continue to prove the doubters wrong. Of course, I will also have a nice long vape and chuck out some ridiculously massive clouds in celebration.

I AM FIVE YEARS SMOKE-FREE AND IT IS ALL THANKS TO THE e-CIGARETTE