Letter: Thoreson fronts for Big Tobacco

By: Jay Taylor, Mapleton, N.D., INFORUM
In a recent letter to the editor, Rep. Blair Thoreson, R-Fargo, criticized a Grand Forks physician for not supporting his support for e-cigarettes. Actually, Thoreson’s push was not supported by anyone in the Legislature, but you gotta give him points for keeping at it.
The push today is from those supporting a “Harm Reduction Strategy,” which includes Thoreson. This push kind of sneaks in the door as it’s supported by some of the Big Tobacco folks. Their theory is that we have failed to get everyone in the world to quit using tobacco, so why not try some products that may have less risk. They often recommend the e-cigarette as well as some smokeless tobacco products.
E-cigarettes have not been shown to be safe, and each brand that we look at seems to have different chemicals within. They are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and my guess is that they never will have that approval.
What is approved and what does work is three-fold: attitude, education and medicine. First, want to quit! Then learn why you should and use safe, effective medications in the correct dosage to get the job done. Call the Quit Line: 800-QUIT-NOW and get going.
http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/406052/