DEMOCRAT ATTORNEY GENERAL FIGHTS FOR E-CIGS VS. TOBACCO CIGARETTES
“It is clear beyond reasonable doubt that vapor products present lower risks to nicotine users than smoking.”
That is one quote of many in favor of vaporizing at the E-Cigarette Summit in London last year. It was stated by the Attorney General of Iowa, Tom Miller, who happens to be a huge anti-tobacco advocate. Safe to say, the speech resulted in national attention and spread across the globe. Serving his ninth four-year term as Attorney General for Iowa, Tom Miller has been a well-known opponent to the tobacco industry. In the past, Miller sued big tobacco companies that resulted in cigarette manufacturers being forced to pay billions of dollars. However, in 2016 he switched gears when he took the stage during the luncheon, resulting in a speech that became a huge shock to the world.
In his speech in London last year, Miller spoke out against the anti-tobacco groups and government agencies that he has worked with in the past. One of his major complaints was regarding the deceitful advertisements and messages that have been relentlessly perpetuated to the public. Among the most criticized was the Center of Disease Control ad that Miller argued to be misleading.
However, the speech in London wasn’t his first step into the pro-vaping community. In 2015, Tom Miller began to gain his footing in his newly found stance by making a bold move. During the time he was a national chairman of the Truth Initiative, Miller said, “About 13 million Americans are smokers who believe they're equally harmful. If they thought there was a difference in harm and switch to e-cigarettes they would save their lives". When the statement was made the website of the Truth Initiative stated that e-cigs, “present a new and very worrisome challenge.” As of now, when exploring the Truth website, Tom Miller is labeled as an “Immediate Past Chair” on the Board of Directors page.
So what is the general up to now in the year of 2017? Miller is currently educating public health professionals and policy makers about how the use of vapor products can be beneficial. Not only that, but he’s nudged regulators towards an approach that would encourage those who can’t stop smoking or won’t quit smoking to switch to e-cigs. Miller is a firm believer that his stance on e-cigarettes is one of the major health concerns in the world today. He’s also stated:
“There are 40 million adult smokers in America today. If every one of them switch to an e-cig, we would save 10-15 million lives of the 20 million lives that would be lost.” — Tom Miller
During his speech at the Food and Drug Law Institute, Tom Miller indicated that the American public isn’t aware that e-cigarettes are less harmful. Miller pushed further by communicating his concerns of the misconceptions, which he stated to be “extremely troublesome.” What has also come to light as of late, is a letter Miller authored and sent to FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb to immediately reconsider and improve the regulatory framework for vapor products. However, Miller isn’t the only one that he authored the letter—he was also backed by twelve other US and world public health leaders.
Vaping is still new to the world and confusing to some. Unfortunately, when it was introduced a lot of major fallacies were stated and false studies were released. However, thanks to Iowa’s Attorney General, Tom Miller, a lot of these misconstrued arguments against e-cigarettes are now being addressed. At Ruthless Vapor, we are proud to have someone like Tom Miller speaking up for the vape industry! The benefits of vaping e-juice instead of smoking tobacco products are far and wide, and it is interesting to see it come to light in the eyes of the public.
