On November 11th, IslanderNews.com published an article promoting an event about “The Dangers of Vaping”.
Two of our members came across this article and knew it was something worth attending to stand up for the truth about vaping.
Keith Fairman and Horacio Moreno attended this presentation as FSFA members. There were 20 parents present, which is a surprisingly large number compared to other events public health agencies have attempted to organize. Parents took notes and at the end of the presentation there was a Q&A opportunity. This is when Keith and Horacio were able to address their concerns with information that was being provided to parents.
Keith explained the stance of FSFA and responsible members of the independent vape community. Driving home the fact that confusing our products with what is sold in irresponsible gas stations and convenience stores is a disservice to public health. This prompted parents to ask Keith and Horacio questions and the presenter listened to the answers.
After the presentation, parents continued to ask Keith and Horacio questions as they walked to their vehicle. All in all, a great educational opportunity for everyone that attended.
Thank you, Keith and Horacio, for taking the time out of your schedule to be present at this event as well as keeping an eye out for events that may be spreading false information about the independent vape community and the products we sell.
This is active membership at its finest.
Florida Smoke Free Association is a not-for-profit organization that is made up of 7 board members who work on a volunteer basis, no board member is paid for their services. In fact, all board members who have businesses in the industry pay monthly membership dues to fight for the industry. Money collected from our membership dues pay for our lobbyist’s fees and at points in time pays for some travel expenses for members to travel to the state house. Our lobbyist works directly with our legislators in order to protect our rights as adults to have access to flavored tobacco harm reduction products as well as the rights for businesses to operate without state level regulatory barriers.
With all the fake news and propaganda being spread around about the vape industry we need help from all our members to be able to stay on top of the overwhelming amount of misinformation we are currently dealing with.
Our Call to Action.
As members, we ask that you keep track of your county commissioner meetings and city council meetings, as well as any other events that are vape related in your area, like the one mentioned above, so we can have a presence and representation for the independent vape industry. To do this, you can go to your county or city’s website, find the meeting schedules, which is usually on the same day every month, (e.g. 1st Monday of the month). They will post an agenda for their meetings so you can see what topics they are going to be discussing prior to the meeting. Unfortunately, FSFA doesn’t have the manpower to keep up with everything on a local level, so we need your help. Active membership is going to be an important part of protecting our rights.
If we can create an action network of members keeping everyone updated in our members only Facebook group, we will have a stronger presence at these meetings and will increase the chances of combating knee jerk reactions from local elected officials. As we’ve recently seen in Hillsborough County, this is now more important than ever.
If you ever have questions about FSFA you can reach all of our board members by emailing [email protected].
We’ve come too far, changed too many lives and invested too much to give up now.
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FSFA is a not for profit state advocacy group that is funded solely by membership fees and donations. If you are an industry stakeholder that sells products or operates in the state of Florida, we highly encourage you to sign up for a membership in order to help fund the fight. You can contribute by clicking here.
If you are a consumer and would like to know how you can help the industry in the state of Florida, we suggest that you go to our members page and show your support by supporting the responsible brands that contribute on a monthly bases to our advocacy efforts.
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The information in this article is the sole opinion of its author, Jonathan Risteen.
