Corporate Ecigs- Big Brother Finally Comes Knocking

Blu, the leading e-cigarette in the USA today has been bought by Lorillard.

From the standpoint of the research and presence of this brand in the hands of a corporate giant that is well versed in dealing with the ramifications of FDA think speak, this is a potential ally in the making.  I heard many things positive, neutral and negative diatribes about this on various talk shows and in the halls of FB:

• This is a potential boon to the THR movement and will look to do the research to help prove once and for all that there is a significant Harm Reduction with e-cigarettes.
• The market to cigarette users will expand and there could be more people vaping than there will be smoking.
• From a humanitarian standpoint and THR, this is a potential vector to help combustible nicotine users change to vaping.

There was also the neutrals who expressed the usual vaping as usual rhetoric:

• They are just another player, there should be no fear.
• We will just DIY and get our juices and nicotine from China.
• We are a small part of the market, why should they care.
• It won't happen for 3-5 years anyway.

Well let us read the Lorillard take on this experience:

"blu ecigs is the best-selling e-cigarette brand, with the look and feel of traditional cigarettes – without the tobacco
smoke, ash, or smell. blu ecigs is the market leader in providing innovative technology for an improved consumer
experience that enhances the enjoyment and social aspect of e-cigarettes. blu ecigs will be a separate operating
company of Lorillard and it is Lorillard’s intention to retain blu ecigs’ current management team and its
headquarters in Charlotte, NC."

“blu ecigs are the perfect adjacency for us to participate in the smokeless market, but in a Lorillard way. That is, e-cigarettes offer many of the benefits of other smokeless products but do so in a way that is familiar and enjoyed by current adult cigarette consumers,” said Murray Kessler. “We believe that blu will benefit from Lorillard Tobacco Company's regulatory experience and sales infrastructure which are needed for it, and the category, to reach its potential in a responsible manner." (http://www.lorillard.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Q1-2012-Earnings-Release_FINAL.pdf, page 3).

Well Lorillard benefited:

Then there was the other faction:

• Squeeze out of the market, through price or regulation, our current venders.
• One company is in bed with BT, so now we all are there.
• It will draw people who don't get the satisfaction from Blu to the mod and juice venders
• We as vapers are officially associated with BT and as such are linked with the terrorism, lies, underhanded behaviors and become a link in the timeline of corruption.

And then there are the benefactors of smoking:

• Antz and their causes, what will this do to their activity.
• If the population becomes healthier, what will happen to the ALA and other lung and cancer research groups.
• Big Pharma won't have the clout it once had in cessation.
• Tax revenues from analog cigs will drop and if this is a Harm Reduction agent the taxation on them should decrease to make them more attractive.

More importantly there is a real possibility that there will be a complete paradigm shift in the perception of THR.  Vaping becomes the means to a decline in health risk (speculative and as of yet not FDA approved) with more public awareness- the Medium is the Message.

So what is this marriage- blissful and invigorating or another strike against vaping freedom?

Only time will tell.

Personally, I have my doubts and feel the time for all vapers to unite as a force to continue to show that there is a place for the individual. 

Every person grab your mods and ready them, two if by land and one if by sea, the corporations are coming and we need to be organized for our rights.