The Future of e-cigs... get your predictions in now!!!

I feel like even though e-cigs have been around for a few years, we are still in the beginnig stages of this experience, the cusp of what I HOPE is more than a passing trend. I would be interested in hearing where my fellow vapers think this is going. Will more and more smokes catch on? Will it affect life expectancy for more adults? How will that affect state and government tax revenue (losing all the tax money generated from analog sales)? will we see a backlash as local governments catch hold of this and try to milk our e-juice for more and more tax dollars? Can vaping cure cancer? ........ or will we find out in 20 that IT TOO causes it (but then again, what nowadays doesnt'? )
What do you guys think?

CavillDesign wrote:I feel like even though e-cigs have been around for a few years, we are still in the beginnig stages of this experience, the cusp of what I HOPE is more than a passing trend. I would be interested in hearing where my fellow vapers think this is going. Will more and more smokes catch on? Will it affect life expectancy for more adults? How will that affect state and government tax revenue (losing all the tax money generated from analog sales)? will we see a backlash as local governments catch hold of this and try to milk our e-juice for more and more tax dollars? Can vaping cure cancer? ........ or will we find out in 20 that IT TOO causes it (but then again, what nowadays doesnt'? )
What do you guys think?

I feel this is more than just a passing trend, although all great things are subject to scrutiny by both civilian and government, there's no stopping the snowball effect. every once in a while a product comes along that simply can't be stopped, this will be one of those products. There may be an occasional stumbling block along the way but it will prevail. As for the medical issues, there is no doubt this is the lesser of two evils. Scott

[quote="nowayinorout wrote"
every once in a while a product comes along that simply can't be stopped Scott [/quote]

I couldn't agree more!
No doubt, e cigarettes are an awesome alternative to smoking, and will save many lives. I think "lesser of two evils" is an uderstatement.
I am concerned, however, that if e-cigarettes are being (publicly) used as a "replacement" for smoking, and enough people (say... 4 out of every 5 smokers) make the switch, it does beg the question, what will the "consequences" be?
There is a part of me that believes that while is it appropriate to acknowledge the similarities between a PVS and a cigarette to convince smokers to give them a chance, those same comparisons might open the product up for some undue criticism and possible legislature... guilt by association.
There are no rules that say I can't vape in a theater, but if we put it in everyones mind that these are "just like" cigarettes, then no one wants us vaping in the theater.. and all the arguements about a lack of second (or first) hand smoke and so on are lost to the listener.. all they hear is "just like a cigarette".
I am not saying this is a bad thing, nor a good thing.... but I think it is smart to consider these things so that when asked to defend our new found joy, we can see both sides of the coin.
Equally important is the question of whether or not at some point our respective states might begin levying a "tobacco" tax on these products. Being from Michigan, our beloved governor (Granholm) would tax these in a heartbeat if given the slightest opportunity, probably to the tune of $2/ml--- no joke. Cigarette tax is a huge thing for her, and I have a sneaking suspicion that if tax revenue suddenly went down from cigarettes, some law makers would be going "where is all our money?" and when some genius points towards everyone who quit and went to e-cigs, there will be MUCH lobbying for a tax on this--- just my feeling though. As much as big government pretends that they want people to quit smoking, they dont... the tax money on that particular product it TOO great! Take that away and there will be hell to pay.
As much as I love my new-found vaping habit, I think when the time comes to defend this thing (and it will) most of us should have considered these things already, and picked a side of the fence to stand at.

CavillDesign wrote:I feel like even though e-cigs have been around for a few years, we are still in the beginnig stages of this experience, the cusp of what I HOPE is more than a passing trend. I would be interested in hearing where my fellow vapers think this is going. Will more and more smokes catch on? Will it affect life expectancy for more adults? How will that affect state and government tax revenue (losing all the tax money generated from analog sales)? will we see a backlash as local governments catch hold of this and try to milk our e-juice for more and more tax dollars? Can vaping cure cancer? ........ or will we find out in 20 that IT TOO causes it (but then again, what nowadays doesnt'? )
What do you guys think?

I can say one thing, the tobacco companies are sure going to try their best to stop these things! For every one smoker that stops using tobacco cigs, they lose thousands of dollars turning into millions and then billions! You can expect them to have the FDA wrapped around their fingers($$$ hint hint ) to say the ejuice is dangerous even though it is mostly food grade ingredients.
Liz

@ Liz. Since the FDA lost their court battle to control ecigs last month, I anticipate the Big Tobacco companies trying to join the ecig market. Not sure WHAT effect that will have. The government sponsor's SO many commercials against smoking and 2nd hand smoke. If everyone quit analogs tomorrow, half the states (not to mention the fed govt) would be sliding towards bankruptcy even faster than they are today.