# Some urgent messages...



## Alex (16/9/14)

*Some urgent messages from the department of shooting yourself in the foot.*

Sep 05 2014
Filed In: ANTZ, e-cigs
You may remember that a short time ago we discussed how Big Pharma is running scared from e-cigarettes. With this in mind it may come as no surprise to find that Nicorette’s licensee, that’s GSK in the US, has produced a nifty infographic which appears to be aimed at calming fears over nicotine in support of its product. Ah, infographics. It just wouldn’t be 2010 without one. Oh… wait… it isn’t 2010 is it. No matter. Would you like to see what GSK has to say about nicotine? Of course you would. So let’s do that. Immediately.
*1: It’s regulated. I feel safer already.*



Excellent news. The nicotine used in GSK’s range of NRT products is pharmaceutical grade. Exactly like the nicotine used in e-cigarettes, coincidentally.
*2: Tough on yellow. Tough on the causes of yellow.*



Phew. Those tell tale yellow stains on teeth and fingers aren’t down to nicotine after all. If I hadn’t known this for maybe 14 years I would be pretty relieved right now, I can tell you. As for nicotine not being a proven carcinogen… well, if I hadn’t known this for maybe 14 years…
Coincidentally, again, as e-cigarette nicotine is identical to the nicotine GSK puts in its range of NRT products the same must be true of those also. You’re doing a bang-up job of marketing e-cigarettes here, GSK. Well done, you.
*3: It grows naturally. From the ground. Just like a little green flower (see diagram, right)*



This is where it starts to get confusing. GSK’s nicotine comes from tobacco plants. Note, however, that its NRT is not a tobacco product and is therefore exempt from tobacco control inspired regulation. Which really does beg the question: why are e-cigarettes, which use the self same nicotine found in GSK’s products, bound up with tobacco and forced through regulatory hurdles every chance somebody gets to do so? Baffling. Truly, baffling.​*4: Grab a pack today and laugh in the face of addictive nature.*



Quite why this point is illustrated with what appears to be a slice of fruit cake is, I have to confess, utterly beyond me. Maybe they did this to distract attention from the elephant in the room here. The elephant in question being the notion of lower dosages of nicotine one receives from e-cigarettes compared to cigarette smoking. It’s worth mentioning that the same is true of the NRT sold by GSK. Did I get that the right way round? I think so. It doesn’t matter. The principle holds just as true for e-cigarettes as it does for NRT. One in the eye for the ANTZ, there, courtesy of one of their major benefactors. Take that.​*5: Because there’s no smoke, it’s indescribably safer.*



This is clearly aimed at anybody who has either been living under a rock for 20 years, or who is affiliated with tobacco control. It’s the smoke that does the harm, not the nicotine. And just as NRT, when used correctly, produces no smoke… neither do e-cigarettes. It’s worth mentioning at this point that if your NRT patch or e-cigarette begin emitting smoke, you can be sure of two things. Firstly, you did something wrong. Secondly, this isn’t going to turn out particularly well for you.
Before anybody waves the finger at “formaldehyde” there saying that e-cigarette vapor contains this, let’s remember that this was found in a study that basically tested atomizers beyond their point of destruction. Let’s also remember that formaldehyde exists in normal human exhalations. And let’s further remember that whilst Nicorette QuickMist does not contain sulfuric acid, it certainly does contain hydrochloric acid. Ouch.​*Unintended consequences.*
All in all, in a desperate attempt to big-up their range of NRT products, GSK have in fact provided us with an excellent resource to counter the ill informed claims of the anti nicotine brigade. Well done GSK, take the rest of the day off. Not even the most lunatic, the most desperate and fanatical opponent of nicotine can now finger wag at vapers and even hope to get away with it.
*Well, ok. Maybe one desperate fanatical lunatic slipped through the net there.*
You know I really hate having to repeatedly mention the Clownmaster General. Really I do. But when he spotted a study that was so deeply flawed in everything from its conception up to and including its publication that I won’t even bother to link to it here, he saw fit to publicize it.



Exactly the kind of behavior we have come to expect from a man so morally and intellectually bankrupt that he exploited the murderous actions of Anders Breivik in the name of anti nicotine propaganda with his infamous “nicotine bullets for terrorists” article. Classy move, McKee. For my part, if somebody is shooting at me, a little nicotine on their ammunition is not going to be especially close to the top of page one of my list of immediate concerns. Like I said, morally and intellectually bankrupt.
One has to wonder if, having gone to all the trouble of producing a pro nicotine infographic, GSK will be engaging McKee in conversation at some point during the coming weeks. GSK did, after all, fund his employer to the tune of £250,000 in 2012. Just throwing that out there.​

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