Are e-cigs and tobacco taxes driving MN’s abrupt decline in smoking?

[sofarsogood]

This is the kind of data that can help us the most. We should have much more of it and better quality, more ecig focused. I bet the quit rate of vape shop customers is much higher than the rate reported in the article which probably includes a lot of people who attempted to quit with gas station cigalikes.

Are e-cigs and tobacco taxes driving MN

The article talks about the reletive importance of taxes vs ecigs in the decline in smoking. My take is that the tax didn't discourage much quitting. When it is so hard to quit and there is no substitute the demand for cigarettes is reletively inelastic. But now there is a path out of smoking that is reletively easy and there is a substitute product that is WAY less expensive than cigarettes. Having a substitute makes the demand for cigarettes much more elastic, meaning price sensitive. Adam Smith would be so proud of us, he he.

 

[pianoguy]

It wasn't the taxes that got me to quit - it was fire-safe cigarettes that led me to vaping. I started getting a persistent cough and congestion several months after MN mandated fire-safe cigs back in late 2008. I knew I needed to do something, and once I discovered e-cigs, it didn't take long to leave cigarettes behind. Along with the many other benefits, I'm happy to be paying 10 cents a day for DIY e-liquid instead of $10 for cigarettes.

 

[DrMA]

Considering the source of the study (ClearwayMN who are radical ANTZ) this is a very important development.

 

[sofarsogood]

Considering the source of the study (ClearwayMN who are radical ANTZ) this is a very important development.

It should be possible for the vaping industry to collect compelling evidence about the effectiveness of vaping to replace smoking. I have no doubt there are vape shops in the US who are getting thousands of smokers per year to stop smoking. Why is there no effort to investigate and report on this? Thousands of shops each convertingn thousands of smokders could put a huge dent in the number of smokers and I believe, shop by shop, it's already happening.

 

[philoshop]

It should be possible for the vaping industry to collect compelling evidence about the effectiveness of vaping to replace smoking. I have no doubt there are vape shops in the US who are getting thousands of smokers per year to stop smoking. Why is there no effort to investigate and report on this? Thousands of shops each convertingn thousands of smokders could put a huge dent in the number of smokers and I believe, shop by shop, it's already happening.

The primary reason is that the findings will/would never see the light of day in the MSM or the governmental/bureaucratic back rooms where decisions are made.
It's no longer about what the information is, but rather how the information is used. Additional information has largely become irrelevant, and funding such a search is no longer a wise financial move, sad to say.

 

[DrMA]

The primary reason is that the findings will/would never see the light of day in the MSM or the governmental/bureaucratic back rooms where decisions are made.
It's no longer about what the information is, but rather how the information is used. Additional information has largely become irrelevant, and funding such a search is no longer a wise financial move, sad to say.

Yes
http://www.ecigarette-politics.com/campaign-for-truth-in-public-health.html

 

[philoshop]

It should be possible for the vaping industry to collect compelling evidence about the effectiveness of vaping to replace smoking. I have no doubt there are vape shops in the US who are getting thousands of smokers per year to stop smoking. Why is there no effort to investigate and report on this? Thousands of shops each convertingn thousands of smokders could put a huge dent in the number of smokers and I believe, shop by shop, it's already happening.

The primary reason is that the findings will/would never see the light of day in the MSM or the governmental/bureaucratic back rooms where decisions are made.
It's no longer about what the information is, but rather how the information is used. Additional information has largely become irrelevant, and funding such a search is no longer a wise financial move, sad to say.

On the other hand if such information was to be gathered locally, and spread to your neighbors via the community news outlets...?
Lot's of possibilities come to mind.
Think locally folks. It's a propaganda war and the 'powers that be' have all the heavy artillery. Fighting on 'their' terms is not the solution.