Why We Are Here: Harm Reduction

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Why We Are Here Harm Reduction
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Times are changing fast for the vaping industry
and, as a result, transparency and brutal honesty
are required now more than ever. The people here
at Five Pawns think its time we grew up as an
industry and focused less on the circus of
rebellion and more on all of the good we can do
collectively if the world had a better sense of
what vaping means to ex-smokers. We believe we
have to elevate our discourse and behavior to be
taken more seriously. The more seriously we are
taken, the more people will understand the logic
of our position. The more people hear and
understand our position, commitment, and passion,
the more good we can do together. We plan to use
this blog as a forum to report on all of the
relevant discussions occurring in our industry,
both supporting and opposing our core beliefs.
These posts will cover a whole set of topics
relating to harm reduction, responsible vaping,
and the differences between smoking vs. vaping in
general. We also plan to show what life is like
for responsible vapers and to profile stories of
real people who made the switch. Why we are
here To champion the global call for
alternatives to combustible tobacco products. To
advance awareness of the theory of "Harm
Reduction."
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To suggest "Responsible Use Enjoyment" through
improved safety, quality, and flavor standards
for our industry. To promote "Responsible
Operations" in the manufacturing, sale,
packaging, distribution, marketing, and promotion
of vaping products. To call for
better "Community Involvement" to connect our
cause to the betterment of society. To
proactively support "Child Protection Efforts" as
one of our industry's most important
responsibilities. To start the dialogue off on
the right foot, we want to state some our core
beliefs 1. There are major differences between
vaping and smoking, and the public needs to know
about them. Though the byproducts (vapor and
smoke) look very similar, these two substances
could not be more different. Important
distinctions can be made relating to how each
byproduct is created, what those byproducts
contain, and what effects each has on the
environment and our health. The key differences
between vapor and smoke range from fundamental
chemical differences at the molecular level to
the technologies and methods used to produce
these substances.
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We have developed accurate standardized testing
methods that evaluate the concentrations of every
component of our liquids and the vapor they
produce. We've adjusted and improved our
formulations over time to maintain the highest
levels of quality and reliability of our
products. 2. Vaping is not harmless. This
statement may be true, but it is somewhat
meaningless. The same can be said for many of the
things we enjoy every day coffee, vitamins,
sugar, artificial sweeteners, carbohydrates,
sodium, fatty foods, action sports, motorcycle
riding, driving, running, hiking, etc. A better
question worth exploring is How can we enjoy
reasonably risky behaviors in the ways we wish,
as responsibly and safely as possible? The answer
lies within reliable, readily available, and
objective information that can fuel the
conversations and debates in the most
constructive manner possible. 3. No child should
ever smoke, vape, drink coffee, drink alcohol, or
use drugs of any kind to any degree. We will
always ask ourselves what more can we be doing
as a company and as responsible citizens of the
world to safeguard and protect children from
accidental exposure to harmful and addictive
chemicals of any kind? We dont design products
for children. We dont make flavors that appeal
to children.
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We dont market to children. And we take it upon
ourselves to protect our packaging, ordering, and
delivery methods to ensure we are doing
everything possible to eliminate accidental
exposure to children based on all the factors we
can control. We welcome fair regulation and
believe it is the only way to legitimize our
industry and keep it sustainable. 4. We believe
vaping provides a significant Harm Reduction
benefit to smokers, in that vaping has been shown
to be 95 less harmful than smoking by highly
reputable public health agencies. Our opinion is
that every adult who uses combustible tobacco, or
smokeless tobacco such as chewing tobacco or
snuff, should quit these proven-dangerous,
cancer-causing habits immediately or switch to
vaping premium grade vaping liquids from trusted
and established companies. We reached our opinion
based on the preponderance of research to date
and an avalanche of anecdotal evidence from
thousands if not millions of people around the
world who have shared stories of how they
successfully quit these habits with the aid of
vaping. Some of the most credible articles
written in support of harm reduction include
"E-Cigarettes Around 95 Less Harmful than
Tobacco" from the U.K's official government
website on public health, this article from the
BBC titled "E-cigarettes should be offered to
smokers, doctors say", and this article from Vice
titled "Vaping Helped an Estimated 6.1 Million
Smokers Quit, Study Says".
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5. The latest FDA decision to equate all hardware
technology and e-cig products with tobacco is
inaccurate and should be reformed to better
reflect reality. First and foremost, vaping
liquids and the devices used to produce vapor
from those liquids do not contain tobacco. We do
not believe anyone is contesting this fact. As
they are currently written, the FDA and many
state tobacco regulations restrict companies
involved in the vaping industry from telling
truthful facts about vaping products that could
help educate the public and promote alternatives
to smoking. Furthermore, these FDA regulations
force all companies in our industry to equate
components and parts of vaping systems such as
atomizers, batteries, flavors, metal wire, etc.
as tobacco even though these items contain no
tobacco in them whatsoever. Categorizing these
devices and the parts contained within them as
tobacco is like forcing all manufacturers of
mechanical lighters and matches (like the kind
you use to light candles at home) as tobacco,
effectively restricting all sales, marketing, and
distribution of those inorganic tools as if they
were organic tobacco. 6. For adults who cant
quit smoking or wish to continue to enjoy
nicotine products responsibly, we believe vaping
well-regulated, nicotine-infused vapor liquids,
through well-regulated devices, mods, and similar
hardware is one of the most responsible things
you could do for yourself and those around you.
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We want to make this perfectly clear vaping is a
vice. But hundreds of millions of responsible
adults around the world experience real enjoyment
in life through responsible, moderate use of
potentially harmful things like alcohol, coffee,
fatty foods, desserts, energy drinks, and more.
Our position has always been that vaping
high-quality liquids like the ones we produce
through regulated delivery devices is an activity
that can be responsibly enjoyed with acceptable
and responsible levels of risk. 7. Studies and
research has shown if the world gave up smoking
and started vaping, millions of lives could
potentially be saved. We believe in much of the
reasoning presented by recent documentaries such
as A Billion Lives and Vape Wave, and we
encourage everyone who is interested in learning
more about the real pros and cons associated with
vaping to watch thought provoking documentaries
like these and draw your own conclusions. We will
actively support journalists, bloggers, and
filmmakers who dare to tell the hard truth
despite what lobbyists and the media have already
done to misinform the public and threaten the
sustainability of this industry. We believe
history will show that the invention of vaping
will be recognized as one of the most significant
technological advances benefiting world health in
modern times. 
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But before the world sees this technology the
same way we do, we have a lot of work to do to
cut through the negative noise and consistently
tell the truth as best we can. Our promise to our
fans, readers, and followers around the world is
to commit to transparency, truth, and objectivity
in the news and opinions we share on this
important subject. For more details about Five
pawns feel free to visit http//fivepawns.com/blo
g/Five-Pawns-2015-Test-Results/ Article
Resource http//fivepawns.com/blog/Why-We-Are-Her
e-Harm-Reduction/