After a couple of years of the major players in the tobacco and pharmaceutical industry doing all they can to beat the electronic cigarette to death they know want a piece of the pie.

Arthur Schopenhauer once said that “All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” We’re coming to the stage where the e cigarette is going to be accepted and promoted by the tobacco industry as the obvious way for all smokers to get their nicotine fix. All the arguments about e cigarette safety will be quickly forgotten in the rush to make as much money as possible.

A couple of years ago when the electric cigarette was introduced to the market it was pretty much ignored by the tobacco companies. They sat back and let small niche companies build up a market for the product and when the device started to become popular they, along with the FDA and the nicotine replacement therapy manufacturers, went to lengths to make sure everyone knew how the product had never been tested and could be dangerous.

Of course those of us who have used the E Cigarette have always known that it was a product ahead of its time which was going to gain main stream approval. If big tobacco does get involved in this then it has its good and bad points.

The good:

1. The cash they will be willing to spend on research and development will mean big advances in the technology which will mean a better vaping experience for us all.
2. Their huge financial clout will ensure that required lobbying and research will take place which get the FDA and all other “health authorities” off our backs.

The bad:

1. Big tobacco will waltz in with their huge cash resources and take most or all of the business off the E Cig companies who have done all the hard work building this product from nothing.
2. The companies who have been lying to and literally killing us for the last 150 years with their deadly products will continue to take our hard earned cash.

I don’t know about you but I much rather give my money to a small e cigarette company that a multinational corporation who are quite happy to kill for money.

At this point no agreement has been reached between the Ruyan Group and Philip Morris but its only a matter of time before the tobacco companies claim their slice of this potentially very lucrative pie.

I’ll keep you posted on how this story develops as I get more information.

Anyway, he’s been tobacco free for over 2 weeks now and is bravely resisting the lure of his favourite smokes. When I spoke to him last night he promised to persevere as long as it takes to beat the ciggies. I’ll let you know how he goes.