Vapouround magazine Special Issue 03 | Page 115

EVENTS
David realised from the outset he that the tobacco industry was not concerned about the health of its customers . David told how his first ever Winston Man photo shoot was in 1981 in Mount Evans , Colorado . He recalls : “ It really is not good to be a smoker at 12,000ft . The air is thin and if you are smoking you can ’ t breathe very well at all . Half the time I was on oxygen with a cup on my face and the other half I was hanging off the mountain being photographed . “ The funny thing was that I asked the tobacco executives on the shoot ‘ How come you guy ’ s don ’ t smoke ?’
EVENTS
“ They had been laughing me because I was on oxygen and their reply was : ‘ We don ’ t smoke this shit , we just sell it ’.
David Goerlitz at the ‘ World Series of Vaping- Miami ’ Oct 2016
“ I later testified to the accuracy of that quote in Congress . It was a damning indictment of exactly what these guys thought about their own product . “ No-one had ever said that before and once I made that public the tobacco companies wanted me to go away but I had no intention of doing so .” He then spent many years of his life helping educate young people about the dangers of smoking and was an active supporter of the anti-tobacco movement as it spread across America . The movement grew in strength and as more people were starting to get ill from smoking , health organisations such as American Lung , American Cancer and American Heart gained a powerful voice . “ States were paying billions in Medicare and Medicaid payouts for people who had been smoking for 40 years and now were getting sick ,” said David . “ In Mississippi , the Attorney General sued the tobacco companies for $ 12 billion . He said he was sick and tired of tax dollars from his state being used to pay for people ’ s diseases when the tobacco companies kept walking away with the profits with no responsibility whatsoever . “ Next Florida , Texas and Minnesota all did the same and the four states between them got a total of $ 46 billion in a law suit . “ The 46 remaining states also wanted some of that which could have resulted in the tobacco industry having to come up with another $ 600 billion so they decided to negotiate instead . “ The tobacco companies came up with the figure of $ 200 billion to be divided between all the 46 remaining states which also came with the caveat that they would not be able to sue Big Tobacco or be a party of a class action law suit to ban tobacco . The offer was accepted . “ The real funny part about it , and I say this tongue in cheek , is that the cigarette companies got together and decided to raise the price of cigarettes by 48 cents a pack across the board so they didn ’ t lose a dime from the settlement . It was the smokers who paid for it all .” Now that David had quit smoking and had turned his back on the tobacco industry he soon became the golden boy for the anti-tobacco movement . He said : “ They used me as an educator
““ So from 1988 I became real popular with the people promoting public health message to quit smoking .”
in schools because that is where they wanted to place their emphasis . “ I was awarded the 1990 World Health Organization gold medal of honor for my stance against tobacco and protecting kids from tobacco .” David was happy that he was now playing an active role in helping prevent youngsters from smoking - the very opposite of the way he started out in the tobacco industry . However he was also to fall out love with the anti-tobacco movement due to its close ties and associations with Big Tobacco and soon found a new passion in his life … vaping . Next time : David talks about his decision to get behind the vaping movement and explains why he supports the vaping community as passionately as he does .
VAPOUROUND MAGAZINE USA 115