Keep On Lighting Up:

The Campaign to Kill the Electronic Cigarette

Intro:

Mash-up

Letterman and Rachel Ray first

Then move to news clips--- but organize them with multiple on screen emphasizing the chaos of the news coverage

Also possibly use ones that emphasize danger and uncertainty---- foreshadowing

Section Headings

Cigarette Burning time lapse

As the cig burns---- a new title for each section subheading

Scene 1: Meet a Believer

Introduces a protagonist

This will be an ex-smoker who has quit or drastically cut back by switching to e-cigs

(someone from Jerome’s store)

If I cannot find someone I will be the stand in

Scene 2: Meet a Vendor

Introduce Jerome: (my own narration)

Foreground him, his local business

Have him discuss how he got into the industry

For the satisfaction and the fact that he believes in the product

Here’s Jerome!

Scene 3: Inciting Incident

FDA sends warning letters to e-cig distributors---- first talk of heavily regulating or even banning the products

Highlight (using after effects) specific meaningful portions of that specific letter (attached)

Also, use after effects to enlarge text

Protagonist fears that a ban on e-cigs woud force a return to smoking---- and all the horrible health effects

Are these products really safe?

Meet a Doctor

Interview a Doctor at Florida Hospital’s Thoracic Cancer Clinic

Have not shot this yet---- hopefully will be able to

Show that doctors while maybe not fully endorsing the e-cig, definitely prefer it to their patients smoking traditional cigarettes

Medical Studies

Polosa, et al. 2011 study in Italy---

Pilot study concluded e-cig effective as cessation tool

FDA, however, finds trace amounts of “toxic chemicals”----

Claims chemical found in anti-freeze

--- they don’t mention that these quantities are far too small to do harm to humans (Tierney NYT)

---John Tierney NY Times article questions these findings

Scene 4: About the FDA

What is the FDA?

Family Prevention and Control Act (2009) This gave FDA authority to regulate tobacco

products

Talk about their efforts to curb smoking

Workplace bans, bans of “lights,” bans of flavors

FDA Decisions

Stossel article--- “The FDA Kills”

Article– “Does the FDA Secretly Want to Keep You Smoking”

Officials resigning

General controversy within the FDA

Medical devices issue and others

Lobbying

Influential people in the FDA leave for jobs in big tobacco and big pharma---- whats the term again?– FIND IT

Graphs of the lobbying spending by relevant groups

Lobbying $ Graphs

Harm Reduction Debate

Abstinence vs. Harm Reduction

Drug addiction, teen pregnancy --- methadone, contraception

Applied to cigarette smoking--- we must allow the e-cig

We must acknowledge that nicotine has benefits

Interview an anti-smoking advocate

Explain why even anti-smoking groups are against the e-cigarette

“Hospitals Helping Patients Quit” memo

Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline

Connect it back to myself

Explain that I, myself am an e-cig user and former smoker

Also connect back to the protagonist introduced in act 1

project's goal is to raise awareness about the product, its potential, and the effort to destroy it

Why isn't more being invested in this to save lives?