I hate cigarettes, hate cigarette smoke, and wish no one smoked them...

[Prism]

28. E-cigs unmask the puritanical authoritarianism in the anti-tobacco movement

I don't smoke, I understand most indoor restrictions on cigarette smoking. I understand the public health concerns.

What I do not understand is the crusade against e-cigarettes.

Here we have a product without all the carcinogens, without the dreadful second-hand smoke, without the pollution of cigarette butts, without the smell on someone's hair and clothes . . . and the same people crusading against cigarettes are crusading against these. Instead of celebrating a step towards a cleaner environment and better health for those who cannot or will not quit, the reaction to e-cigs has been extreme and almost unbendingly ideological.

I do not like puritans or authoritarians.

We should encourage people to make better choices, but they still should have the choice. I'll never understand why a safer alternative to tobacco smoking is attacked so vigorously by people who claim they're just looking out for the public good.