A Billion Lives - it's on!
Friday, October 14, 2016 at 10:04 Well, that's weird.
Having been thwarted in my attempt to host a central London screening of the pro-vaping documentary A Billion Lives, I booked tickets for the 'Scottish premiere' in Glasgow on October 26 (as I explained here on Tuesday).
At that stage only 17 tickets had been reserved, 50 short of the number required for the screening to take place.
Yesterday I got an email to say 67 tickets have now been sold (with 33 remaining) and the screening is going ahead.
How did that happen? I've no idea. I'd like to take credit - Tuesday's post did after all invite people to join me - but I'm guessing one or more vape stores have purchased blocks of tickets and are giving them away. I'll find out when I meet organiser Andy Morrison who is keeping his cards close to his chest.
Anyway it seems I chose wisely when I selected Glasgow because the other UK screenings scheduled for October 26 are still struggling. Seven tickets have been reserved in Manchester, three in Preston.
Of the 12 screenings currently scheduled in the UK (Belfast has just been added) only one (Glasgow) has been confirmed. The others look doomed although I thought the same about Glasgow three days ago so what do I know?
I still find it extraordinary that a central London screening hasn't been arranged. The E-Cigarette Summit on November 17 is at the Royal Society, a short walk from the Odeon Panton Street. Just a suggestion.
Meanwhile credit to Andy Morrison. His screening of A Billion Lives is going ahead and I'll be there. Hooray!
Reader Comments (1)
Vapers using anti-smoking propaganda are making a serious error. They presumably believe that by throwing smokers under the bus, they'll be left alone.
What they fail to understand is that the $15 billion dollar a year, global anti-smoking industry has spent vast sums of money over decades in order to demonise smokers and the pleasure they derive from smoking tobacco. The anti-smokers will not allow a 'Johnny come lately' to make use of this resource unless it is strictly on their terms and under their control.
They don't need any help with attacking smokers. The only thing that would interest them is being given another target group to demonise. Vapers fit the bill very nicely and can be kept on ice for later consumption. Rather like the way spiders cocoon captured flies to keep them fresh.
Claiming that e-cigs could 'save a billion lives' is idiocy of the first order and falls straight into the trap.
I can very easily make a strong and convincing case for e-cigarettes being more dangerous than tobacco ones. It's just a matter of using a little inventive numerology (aka epidemiology) and bolstering that with some spin. I don't want to help the banstubaters by making the case here but I promise I really can make a strong case. Certainly enough to persuade gullible politicians (and we have plenty of them unfortunately) that it is the most important health issue in the world.