I haven't posted since May 2018 but now it's time.
I hate to say it, but I saw these health issues coming when they decided to go to war against teen vaping and ramped up regs, including making it very difficult for minors to obtain legal and semi-regulated nic products. I support changes to do this but there are unintended consequences the FDA should have been prepared for...and they weren't. The Black Market.
As investigations continue into the causes of these terrible health issues, which incidentally appear to have started after the last round of regs to prevent teen vaping, we will learn more about the common denominator in these cases. I suspect that counterfeit, low quality juices and pods are making their way to the streets...basically where kids can access it. Adults can just go to a shop or online, kids deal these pods in schools. I know because my son is a 10th grader and tells me all about it. Additionally, it wouldn't surprise me if China was the source of some of the counterfeits...they are masters at stealing IP without regard and quickly flooding the market with cheap alternatives and a history of poor safety standards (poison in dog food, dangerous baby products, etc.)...they have been doing it for years.
Unfortunately there has never been much wisdom in Washington DC and they are control freaks that want to dictate how we live our lives. Once a new reg is in place, it's often hard to unwind. However, in this case, I think it will end OK as long as they wait to see the evidence of what is causing this and start cracking down on the black market, the source of the illnesses IMO, although they should have started BEFORE the regs went into place.
There's going to be a bumpy road ahead to get to the destination but I think this will work itself out with an eventual solution that will reduce access for kids while giving adults the choices they need. Meanwhile, I have a few RTAs, plenty of different wire types and gauges to twist my claptons and lots of TFA melon flavors and 1mg nic 90/10 VG/PG...none of this stuff is going away soon so I'm not freaking out
Cas
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/potential-culprits-in-mystery-lung-illnesses-black-market-vaping-products/2019/09/24/cb5b708e-d98d-11e9-ac63-3016711543fe_story.html#comments-wrapper
Finally an honest article on the vaping hysteria!
This is in today's Washington Post
If people under a certain age are not allowed to purchase vape items, then what's the issue?
Just don't sell to any minors, and handle it like alcohol and tobacco. Go after any stores or vendors that break these rules and that sells to any minor and hit them with hefty fines or prosecution. Problem solved.
I reject the idiotic, false and unscientific argument that certain types of flavors are only suitable for kids. An adult is not allowed to like fruit flavors or desert flavors or any other type of flavor?
Do adults suddenly lose their sense of taste when they age, and they'll be content vaping poor tobacco imitation flavors and menthol for the rest of their lives?
I'm an adult, and my favorite flavors are custard type flavors. Just because I used to smoke, that doesn't mean that I should have to vape and like tobacco flavors. You don't ban all sorts of flavors and deny adults who are ex-smokers the opportunity to continue to be smoke free, just because they were lucky enough to have found and switched to vaping.
Sorry if I sound cynical, but so what if a handful of people have reportedly died because they were foolish enough to use blackmarket counterfeit items? Items that have zero to do with nic based vaping I should add.
How many millions of people die from tobacco related diseases?
Millions is a lot more than a handful last I checked, and the only thing that banning vaping and vaping related items will accomplish is to ensure that many more people will be added to the list of the dead as many will return to cigs and many current cig smokers will never make the switch to vaping, as the politicians seek to deny people the opportunity to stay off of cigs.
If they ever find a cure for cancer, I wouldn't be surprised if they ban that too, because 7 people happened to get some ill side effects from it.
So I heard that the ban in New York will take effect even after the small delay. I'm wondering how I will be able to cope soon. Vaping for me does great things as it keeps me off cigarettes. But one major thing it also does for me is that it lowers my stress level and it relaxes me. Being that I have vaping I have no need to try other things that can be complicated. Someone once told me that my vape is like my pacifier because I always have it in my mouth and I turn to it whenever I am stressed and have anxiety. Truthfully it's terrible that I will be forced to use my pods because Juul couldn't keep their products out of corner stores and leave them for vape shops. When these kids have health issues they blame it on vaping when their parents ask them how it happened and they wanted a high out of school. Even though there is something called deep breathing and vaping isn't done that way I know it cools me off. Many times I was stressed and sweating because, I started to vape and it had it that I was finally able to feel the temperature of the air outside. People need to understand that going with this ban is All Or Nothing thinking, things one is told in therapy to avoid. Now that "it affected a minority" people take it away completely from those who are benefiting from it. Those who are banning - please use common sense - vaping is a lot safer than cigarettes and people are constantly dying from smoke. Vaping was the best thing that has possibly happened in a really long time. Tobbaco plants had a misconception that it was supposed to be smoked until technology introduced a safe method. If it was vaped from the beginning of time people would have lived much longer lives and more people would be born. Those who are cracking down please take this into account.
The news of a looming flavor ban is sickening! As an adult former smoker who used ecigs to liberate myself from cigarettes, I am appalled!
It is not my fault that kids are vaping flavors and nicotine intended for adults.
It is not my fault that people are vaping dangerous chemicals in THC mixes.
It is not my fault that people who lack knowledge about vaping consider it on par with smoking.
Parents need to own up to monitoring their own kids! These teens would be smoking cigarettes if they weren't vaping- just as they were doing before vaping came along. Teen smoking numbers are down because of vaping. It is this teenage generation's alternative to cigarettes. This should be part of our national conjecture on the topic!!!
We (legitimate adult users of vaping supplies) need to stand up for ourselves!!! There are millions of us.
Let us be heard!
We need to stand together and protest around our country on the same days/times to have our voices heard.
I say we all go to our local city halls and/or right outside of our workplaces near smoking areas on the same day/time with signs of protest to demand that our opinions be heard.
I also say that we compile lists of pro-vaping and anti-vaping elected representatives so that we may be able to vote our haters out of office!!!
tomorrow in Massachusetts I was told by Gary at MVS during the 4 month ban of vape gear while investigating why people in the US have gotten very sick or died from vaping NON VAPING related marijuana oil products.
So find your friends out of state or get online tonight to order your coils and juices.
Maybe the investigation should be why people in other countries haven’t been getting sick and why this is JUST happening now after a couple of decades of people vaping e juice. Could be something to do with the government and politicians trading in a multi billion dollar industry and let’s not forget the lobbyists errr donors.
And yes I emailed and called my knee jerk reacting guv Baker to express my embarrassment that one of the states with the highest quality Universities aren’t asking for FACTS.
Big Tobacco (and Pharm) and the governments reason of losing $7 billion dollars to people switching from known carcinogenic cigarettes to less harmful vaping products.
As more bans get put into place and more people get sick or die from contaminated black market ejuice and THC products.
Just as planned so they can point their fingers and scream - we told you it was dangerous!!
You can download all 499 pages of the regulations he https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2016-10685.pdf
We liveblogged the reaction: Deeming Live blog | vaping.com
Clive Bates on Stanton Glantz and the junk science which got us he Professor Glantz brings his anti-vaping crusade to Europe – I review his presentation
Here's the reaction from US vaping organisations:
SFATA:SFATA ISSUES STATEMENT ON FDA’S FINAL DEEMING RULE - SFATA | Smoke Free Alternatives Trade Association
VTA: (via Phil Busardo) - http://www.tasteyourjuice.com/wordpress/archives/12809
AVA: Not yet
TVECA: Not yet
And from ECITA, UK org: FDA ‘Deeming’ of e-cigs – designed to destroy? | ECITA - Electronic Cigarette Industry Trade Association
Individual commentors
Mike Siegel: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary: My Op-Ed in Wall Street Journal Points Out Folly of FDA E-Cigarette Deeming Regulations & The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary: FDA E-Cigarette Deeming Regulations are a Disaster for Public Health
Carl Phillips: Ecig deeming regulation — nothing new to see here
Rich Lowry: http://nypost.com/2016/05/09/uncle-sams-crackdown-on-e-cigs-will-make-it-harder-to-quit-smoking/
Sally Satel: What the US should learn from the UK's wisdom on e-cigarettes - AEI
Consumer organisations:
CASAA: CASAA: FDA Deeming Regulations: Release and Next Steps
Various articles
Washington Post: Why the FDA’s new e-cigarette regulations are a gift to Big Tobacco (and could actually harm public health)
Economics21: FDA’s New E-Cig Regs Will Kill
US News: What the E-Cigarette Black Market Will Look Like if FDA Stomps Industry
Reason: Government Officials Are Determined to Turn Vapers Into Scofflaws
PBS interview with Mitch Zeller: Skyrocketing teen use of e-cigarettes leads to new regulations
Clarityse: When two tribes go to war
Stock Transcript: The government crackdown is he What the FDA regulations mean for e-cigarettes | Stock Transcript
Science Explorer: FDA Announces That E-Cigarette Products Will Now Be Regulated Like Regular Cigarettes
NYT Health: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/11/upshot/e-cigarettes-are-safer-but-not-exactly-safe.html
Weekly Standard: FDA Moves to Kill E-Cigarettes
Think Tanks:
FEE: How the FDA Is Helping Big Tobacco and Encouraging Teen Smoking | Jonathan H. Adler
See also Sally Satel at AEI above
Videos
Brent Stafford (regulator watch): NO MORE CASUALTIES - VAPING BECOMES COLLATERAL DAMAGE IN WAR ON SMOKING - REG WATCH (E28) from Brent Stafford on Vimeo
I do not know if anyone else has posted about this topic, so here is mine. I recently tried to order a new tank and juice from a vendor on Taobao ( big online store in China), and was met with, "search not found", over and over again. I sent a Wechat (Chinese Twitter) to a vendor that I know in another city and was informed that the Chinese government had banned the sale of ALL vaping products. The reason? Well to stop children vaping of course. Apparently there is an epidemic (no pun), of kids stealing their parents credit cards, ordering hardware and juice and then hoping their parents do not intercept the parcels. Forgive me for being incredulous with this regard. So at a hand wave the Country that benefits the most from the vaping industry bans it from their own country! So vapers in the West think yourself lucky that your governments can not just railroad vaping as much as their sponsors would like them to. I am coming up to 11 years of vaping, going to be hard to keep going when a 30ml bottle of juice is Wechat selling for about $25 plus postage. Especially as I can buy a pack of MB red for just over a $. So I wonder how long I will be able to vape as I sip on my Corona V.
I was surprised by this chart that I recently came across.
It shows that the USA is the biggest market by far for vape products.
There are still over a billion, old fashioned tobacco smokers in the world. Vaping has been around for many years already, yet there are only slightly over 40 million vapers in the world, of which I am proud to call myself a part of that wise group.
With all of the anti-vape propaganda and nonsense taking place, it seems that there is a movement out there to keep those billion+ cig smokers hooked on their cigs and also to deny the 40+ million vapers out there the freedom and the choice to remain cig free.
I guess it's better that millions of people die from cancer, because vaping is just pure evil and the work of satan, or something like that. Oh, and think about the kids. Nevermind the kids who would previously just start smoking plain old regular cigarettes before vaping ever existed. That was never a big deal.
Here is the chart I found showing the top vape markets in the world.
And notice how there are no third world countries on the list? Isn't vaping banned in India? That's insane. That country has a huge population. How stupid of them. Their actions are contributing to the deaths and diseases of an awful lot of people.
And here is a link to the article which the chart came from:
How many people vape?
Well, I figured this would be the place to go to express my vaping pride as of right now. I just realize that I am becoming a financially responsible and informed vaper (LOL).
After years of using a popular company that sells 808 cig-a-like's and 808 mod cigar-type batteries, I have graduated to the fine world of 510 products. I have nothing bad to say about the company I used to primarily use. Their products and juices are what made me definitively kick the alternative to vaping and for that I will be forever grateful for them. I guess it's like loving your high school but realizing how cool college is!
But after a while you start noticing how expensive of a habit/hobby vaping could be. Cartomizers costing $7+ and 12-13$ juices is not exactly an economical way to vape. Plus, from what I have seen the majority of the e-cig market has 510 threaded products.
So I dipped my toe into the 510 world by buying an iStick mini. I tried the ViVi Novas and quite honestly thought they sucked. I went ahead and got the Aspire Nautilus and anyone who has tried this combo knows what a pleasant experience it continues to be. Then I went ahead and order a Mini Nautilus and a 30W iStick to have that versatility and the possibility of sub obm vaping in the future.
So I tried a new e-liquid supplier in Mt. Baker. For the most part, I am a menthol guy and found their "Extreme Ice" to be unbelievable (like winterfresh gum) and their regular menthol flavor to be awesome. No to mention how great their prices are for me. I still have a few other samples left to try but so far their spin on Jolly Ranchers is a nice occasional "change of taste" vape!
Anyway, I just ordered a bunch of replacement coils for the Nautilus for really cheap and two more Mini tanks so I can change flavors more often without having to go through the whole tank. I just realized how a little more money up front really does mean more savings in the long run. Not to mention-- a far more rewarding vaping experience.
The moral of the story is that my vaping morale is extremely high. I am grateful for slowly but surely figuring this all out. I'm getting a hold of how to do this economically and learning about all of the wonderful products the vaping market has to offer.
I'm coming up on my one year anniversary (if not, just passed it) of no analogs. I figured I'd share my thoughts with all of you wonderful people here since I don't really have anyone else to chat with this about!
Cheers!
Honestly, this USA Today is one of the first articles I've read where someone is actually talking to some of the people who have experienced first hand serious health issues from the underground and worthy of a read:
Vaping illnesses: Crisis mixes teens, black market THC, no regulation