From Rachel

Dear Phil,

Hello from the West of Ireland. Portumna, on the River Shannon, to be
exact. I’m a Californian who got side-tracked while on holidays in 1985
and have been here ever since.

Just wanted to say I love “From the Chair.” I have my son, age 26, who
got me into vaping to talk to (when he’s around) but as I’m the only vaper
in my circle of friends, I haven’t anyone to rant and rave at about the
stupid money grabbing governments who would rather see us die than miss
out on one penny of tax they might be able to squeeze out of the consumer
(your Session 2 – the FDA).

Over here in Ireland cigs are currently running over €10 a pack and going
up again in December. Our government has carefully done their figures
though, and found that even with the cost to the taxpayer and government
(we have socialised medicine here) they actually make money on the smoker
(in spite of the cancer and heart disease rates) because the tax on
cigarettes more than covers smokers’ medical costs). In fact, we rarely
see any stop smoking commercials on the government run stations. All
stations but one are government run in Ireland.

Yet, the European governments are against vaping because it MIGHT damage
our health. I think it’s more likely they just haven’t figured out how to
get their finger in the pie when it comes to taxing us for vaping. And one
more thing … If the government is so concerned about our health and the
dangers of vaping, why can I still buy a pack of cigarettes anywhere in
Europe, when it is PROVEN they will kill us. The hypocritical bastards
can’t even spot the holes in their own greedy logic !!!

Anyway, keep up your wonderful work. I would have been lost without you
when I first started vaping. And keep on ranting from the chair at night.
It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who periodically loses sleep for
lack of someone to rave at in the wee hours!

Kind Regards

Rachel