vapesquad

[vapesquad]

New Post has been published on http://www.vapesquad.com/scientists-tell-e-cigs-save-hundreds-millions-lives/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=Vape+Squad&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BVape+Squad

Scientists Tell WHO E-cigs Could Save ‘Hundreds of Millions of Lives’

The World Health Organization (WHO), an arm of the U.N. with an already long history of opposing electronic cigarettes — often with wildly nonsensical  claims, is being urged by a group of 53 scientists not to classify electronic cigarettes as tobacco products.

“These products could be among the most significant health innovations of the 21st century — perhaps saving hundreds of millions of lives. The urge to control and suppress them as tobacco products should be resisted.”

The agency is still trying to figure out what to say about e-cigarettes, but scientists have urged them not to overreact, saying e-cigarettes are not part of the tobacco problem, but ���part of the solution.”

Considering past efforts from WHO against e-cigarettes, logical arguments for reason in future decisions may not be enough to sway the agency. In January of this year, for example, they issued a warning against e-cigarettes, claiming that they may contain toxins, following a claim in July of 2013 that electronic cigarettes were more dangerous than tobacco cigarettes because they are not filtered.

A formal position from WHO is not expected until after discussions scheduled from October 13 through 18 in Moscow.

E-cigs could save ‘hundreds of millions of lives’: scientists | New York Post.

[vapesquad]

New Post has been published on http://www.vapesquad.com/happy-mothers-day/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=Vape+Squad&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BVape+Squad

Happy Mother's Day!

A very happy Mother’s day to all the vaping moms out there. And, while we’re at it, a good one to anyone out there who came from a vaping mom. Or a non-vaping one. There… that seems pretty inclusive. If you didn’t come from a mom, we hope you’re not offended, and would love to hear the details.

[vapesquad]

New Post has been published on http://www.vapesquad.com/university-study-discovers-flavors-make-stuff-taste-like-stuff/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=Vape+Squad&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BVape+Squad

University Study Discovers that Flavorings Make Stuff Taste Like Other Stuff

In what may just be the most idiotic piece of journalism we’ve stumbled upon in the history of Vape Squad, we bring you this story from the National Journal, wherein they purport to explain “how candy e-cigarette makers make their products smell like candy.”

“If you take and smell a grape Phillies blunt, you’re smelling the same chemical used in grape Kool-Aid.” –James Pankow

They go on report the shocking discovery that what makes flavored tobacco products taste like they do is the flavorings the manufacturers put in them.

(You may note that we just said “tobacco products.” That’s because the study actually looked at flavored tobacco, not e-cigarettes. Apparently whoever wrote the headline for the National Journal couldn’t be bothered reading the article first.)

According to the piece, a study was recently performed by researchers at Portland State University in Oregon. James Pankow, leader of the study, apparently has discovered that makers of flavored tobacco products use the same artificial flavorings other people use.

We have no idea why it took a university study to figure this out. Did they think they were stuffing actual grapes into those Phillies Blunts?

How Candy E-Cigarette Makers Make Their Products Smell Like Candy – NationalJournal.com.

[vapesquad]

New Post has been published on http://www.vapesquad.com/israel-revoke-licenses-pharmacies-selling-e-cigs/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=Vape+Squad&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BVape+Squad

Israel to Revoke Licenses of Pharmacies Selling E-Cigs

The Jerusalem Post reports that Israel’s Health Ministry has sent notification to the country’s pharmacies that they must immediately stop selling electronic cigarettes.

“There are no data or proof that they are effective in helping users to stop or reduce smoking, or even that they are safe. As a result, they must not be sold in pharmacies.”

–Dr. Eyal Schwartzberg, Israeli Health Ministry

The ministry, which has been making efforts to completely ban the sale of electronic cigarettes, has said that it will begin visiting pharmacies August 1, and will revoke the pharmacy licenses of any establishment found to be selling electronic cigarettes. The rules apply to small pharmacies as well as large chain stores.

The source of the information in the linked Jerusalem Post article may have been provided by the Israeli Health Ministry, but the sources are not clear. What is clear is that it is wildly inaccurate.  For example, the article claims that the nicotine in e-cigarettes is “more concentrated, it is much more poisonous than nicotine in cigarettes. Smoking e-cig chemicals also lasts longer than smoking a cigarette.” Most studies done to date have indicated that the intake of nicotine from e-cigarettes is actually much lower when e-cigarettes are used instead of tobacco cigarettes, and there have been no indications we are aware of which indicate toxicity is increased.

Pharmacies that sell e-cigs or tobacco will lose their licenses | JPost | Israel News

[vapesquad]

New Post has been published on http://www.vapesquad.com/hearing-california-internet-sales-ban-postponed/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=Vape+Squad&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BVape+Squad

Hearing on California Internet Sales Restrictions Postponed

A hearing on California’s AB 1500, which would place restrictions on the sale of e-cigarette products via the Internet, has been postponed until May 14.

 “While CASAA supports bans on sales to minors, we oppose any restrictions that impose unnecessary burdens on adult consumers. Requiring age verification before delivery (with third-party database verification), and then mandating a delivery service with age-verified signature required–and requiring it each and every time an order is delivered to a particular address–imposes an unnecessary burden on adult consumers, especially those who are not able to be present at the time of delivery.”

–CASAA

AB 1500 would amend California’s Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement (STAKE) act, and make it a crime to deliver an electronic cigarette without first obtaining the full name, birth date and residential address of the person to whom it will be delivered, and then validating the information “through the use of a commercially available database or aggregate of databases, consisting primarily of data from government sources.” Violations of the law would carry fines up to $1,000 per violation.

Previous version of the legislation would have banned the sale of electronic cigarettes unless the seller had obtained a tobacco license, but advocacy group CASAA credits the efforts of vapers for getting the bill amended to its current version. However, they say, the requirement to provide vendors with personal information every time they make a purchase would still place an undue burden on consumers, as well as increase the cost of the devices.

CASAA: Call to Action! California Ban on Internet Sales (AB 1500) and Ban on E-Cigarette Usage (SB 648).

[vapesquad]

New Post has been published on http://www.vapesquad.com/hearing-california-internet-sales-ban-postponed/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=Vape+Squad&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BVape+Squad

Hearing on California Internet Sales Restrictions Postponed

A hearing on California’s AB 1500, which would place restrictions on the sale of e-cigarette products via the Internet, has been postponed until May 14.

 “While CASAA supports bans on sales to minors, we oppose any restrictions that impose unnecessary burdens on adult consumers. Requiring age verification before delivery (with third-party database verification), and then mandating a delivery service with age-verified signature required–and requiring it each and every time an order is delivered to a particular address–imposes an unnecessary burden on adult consumers, especially those who are not able to be present at the time of delivery.”

–CASAA

AB 1500 would amend California’s Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement (STAKE) act, and make it a crime to deliver an electronic cigarette without first obtaining the full name, birth date and residential address of the person to whom it will be delivered, and then validating the information “through the use of a commercially available database or aggregate of databases, consisting primarily of data from government sources.” Violations of the law would carry fines up to $1,000 per violation.

Previous version of the legislation would have banned the sale of electronic cigarettes unless the seller had obtained a tobacco license, but advocacy group CASAA credits the efforts of vapers for getting the bill amended to its current version. However, they say, the requirement to provide vendors with personal information every time they make a purchase would still place an undue burden on consumers, as well as increase the cost of the devices.

CASAA: Call to Action! California Ban on Internet Sales (AB 1500) and Ban on E-Cigarette Usage (SB 648).

[vapesquad]

New Post has been published on http://www.vapesquad.com/will-new-fda-regs-leave-us-crap/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=Vape+Squad&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BVape+Squad

Will New FDA Regs Leave Us with Crap?

Today’s issue of Motherboard features an article from Meghan Neal succinctly wraps up the fears of much of the vaping community: that the FDA’s new regulations may not completely kill the booming e-cigarette industry, but they will effectively hand it over to Big Tobacco.

“The difference between pre-loaded ‘cigalikes’ sold by Lorillard (the Blu e-cig) or Reynolds tobacco (the Vuse e-cig) and the customizable DIY mods beloved by the vape community is like the difference between instant coffee and responsibly sourced beans hand-ground and brewed with a high-end filter by a loving if pretentious barista.”

With their long-awaited new rules now published, it has become apparent that the new hurdles they want to place in front of new products may prove too much for the current market to bear. An example is their requirement for all e-cigarette products introduced after 2007 (which effectively includes everything on the market today). Some estimates place the cost of such approval at $3 to $4 million, obviously much too high for the modest mom and pop shops that basically are the whole industry if you leave out big tobacco and a small handful of other players.

The real problem here, as Neal explains, is not so much who will be selling the small number of companies who can afford to get their e-cigarette products approved, but that, in her words, “those products suck.”

Could FDA regulations leave us with only lowest-common-denominator products and kill the innovation that has brought us some really great vaping gear over the last few years? It seems very possible.

The E-Cig Industry Will Choke on New FDA Regulations—Except Big Tobacco | Motherboard.

[vapesquad]

New Post has been published on http://www.vapesquad.com/e-cigs-brownian-prime-time/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=Vape+Squad&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BVape+Squad

E-Cigs: Too Brownian for Prime Time?

In an article from Live from Golga-Frincham, Mary Ann Jarvis believes she’s discovered why people are taking up vaping faster than other anti-smoking products: it’s the vapor.

To be more precise, it’s the Brownian motion of the vapor. For those who slept through physics, Brownian motion in the seemingly random motion of particles caused when they bounce off other molecules or atoms they’re suspended with, and describes (to a degree, at least) why vapor clouds swirl and tumble the way they do.

“We see ourselves thinking. This is a highly powerful and addictive effect and an effect, crucially, that means vaping will forever partner smoking and forever be the knock on the door reminding you of the existence of cigarettes.”

But it’s not just the hypnotic qualities of the swirling vapor that make vaping so attractive, says Jarvis, but something much deeper. “The gently uncoiling swirls of vapour offer up a mirror to the electrical activity that swishes through our brains, remodelling the workings of the inner world in the outer world and transforming thoughts into something material, apparent and circumambient to the flesh: we see ourselves thinking.”

According to Jarvis, this Brownian motion inextricably links vaping with smoking, and inevitably causes people who see it to think of cigarettes.

Her answer: devices like the Gerskzer Plume, which creates a mist which, rather than being exhaled in a cloud, escapes in “a long, straight, responsible line.”

Note: We’re about 97% sure the article’s satirical, so don’t freak out. Just to be sure, we went ahead and Googled Gerskzer, which turned up absolutely nothing.

E-cigarettes: vapour is the magic ingredient, but it’s dangerously brownian | ☁.

[vapesquad]

New Post has been published on http://www.vapesquad.com/press-coverage-new-york-vape/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=Vape+Squad&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BVape+Squad

Press Coverage of New York Vape-In

Monday’s Vape-In to protest New Yorks recently-enacted ban on public vaping has been getting a healthy amount of press.

Newsweek’s coverage of the event takes a mostly positive look at vapers and the reduced health risk of electronic cigarettes compared to their tobacco-based counterparts. It portrays vapers as people enthusiastic about saving their own lives by getting off cigarettes, despite, in the words of Reason Magazine’s Julian Morris, “unsound science or no science being used to justify an extreme restriction on people’s freedom that will harm others.”

There’s also coverage from The Verge, from which we’ve seen several positive vaping-related articles in the past. Typical of other articles from the publication, The Verge’s “Thank You for Vaping: New Yorkers protest the new e-cig ban at the Museum of Sex” is filled with images from the event, including lots of big clouds and close-ups up vaping devices and the people who love them.

Finally, an article from Vice.com sees the event as the beginning of a “fuck-the-man, David and Goliath-style battle” of vapers and vaping companies against government and Big Tobacco.

Image from the Verge

[vapesquad]

New Post has been published on http://www.vapesquad.com/study-raises-e-cig-cancer-concerns/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=Vape+Squad&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BVape+Squad

Study Raises E-Cig Cancer Concerns

A study funded by the National Institutes of Health has some people concerned over the potential for electronic cigarettes to cause cancer.

The study, performed by researchers from Boston University, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and the University of California, Los Angeles, involved exposing human lung cells modified for increased risk of cancer to both cigarette smoke and e-cigarette vapor. According to researchers, both sets of cells showed similar changes associated with the development of cancer.

The media, of course, has been picking up the story and running with it, portraying the study as a link between e-cigarettes and cancer. Those who performed the research, however, don’t seem quite as convinced.

Study leader Dr. Steven Dubinett of UCLA, for example, urged in an interview not to be too hasty to rush to a carcinogenic conclusion. The study’s findings, he said, are preliminary, and do not show a link between the use of e-cigarettes and cancer. He added that researchers do not know which components of e-cigarette vapor may have led to the changes his researchers observed.

Abstract B16: The effect of e-cigarette exposure on airway epithelial cell gene expression and transformation

[vapesquad]

New Post has been published on http://www.vapesquad.com/democrats-issue-report-claiming-e-cigs-targeted-youth/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=Vape+Squad&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BVape+Squad

Democrats Issue Report Claiming E-Cigs Targeted at Youth

Democratic members of Congress have issued a report which they say shows that electronic cigarette companies have been targeting young people.

The report, entitled “Gateway to Addiction? A Survey of Popular Electronic Cigarette Manufacturers and Targeted Marketing to Youth” was based on an inquiry led by Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), including a survey of nine major e-cigarette brands, to which eight responded.

“[The] FDA should ban and companies should cease marketing e-cigarettes in ways that are attractive to children and teens under the age of 18, such as the use of characterizing flavors that appeal to children and teens, distributing free samples of e-cigarettes, and product promotion through social media, sponsorship of events, and other activities that are intended for a youth audience.”

The primary basis of the claim that e-cigarettes are marketed toward youth appears to be that six of the companies said they had sponsored events such as parties, sports events or music festivals, and that eight had given away free samples of their products.

The report further cites the use of flavors “such as strawberry, grape or chocolate” which “appear to be designed to appeal to youth,” advertising via social media and the use of celebrity spokespeople as evidence that e-cigarettes are marketed toward young people.

The ties between sponsored events and youth are a bit tenuous, with the report including events unlikely to be attended by youth, such as DJ appearances at night clubs, smokers’ gatherings, pub crawls, and a great many other adult-oriented events. Most of the events listed in the report, in fact, seem to be events of this type.

With the FDA still not having issued rules for the sale and use of electronic cigarettes, congressional Democrats seem to be increasing the pressure on the agency, urging the swift issuance of regulations, and a ban on “flavors that appeal to children and teens,” and the distribution of free samples.  The report also calls for bans on promotion through television and radio, social media and event sponsorship.

Gateway to Addiction?

[vapesquad]

New Post has been published on http://www.vapesquad.com/nj-senator-calls-ban-e-liquid/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=Vape+Squad&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BVape+Squad

NJ Senator Calls for State-Wide Ban on E-Liquid

On the heels of a CDC report that poisonings involving nicotine are up as a result of the rise in popularity of e-cigarettes, New Jersey State Senator Kemp Hannon introduced a bill late last week which would ban the sale of e-liquid in his state.

“I know this bill will make some people angry.”

-New Jersey Senator Kemp Hannon

Hannon says he had previously attempted to pass bill which would have banned e-cigarettes entirely, but admits that “even my colleagues did not agree with me on that.”

According to Hannon, calls to poison control centers for nicotine poisoning via the e-liquid used in electronic cigarettes increased 300%, “and many of these have been calls involving children under 6 years old.”

Hannon did not comment on whether he intends to ban everything toxic, including the thousands of household products which are responsible for far more poisonings than e-liquid, such as cosmetics, cleaning solutions, pesticides and plants.

Ban on e-liquids for e-cigarettes proposed in State Senate – Newsday

[vapesquad]

New Post has been published on http://www.vapesquad.com/site-outage/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=Vape+Squad&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BVape+Squad

Site Outage, and Why I Do This

Apologies for the downtime of late — we lost a database server, among other things, that kept things offline much longer than we would have liked. As for the “among other things,” well, that’s what I wanted to talk about.

Another reason for the long outage was the death of my father weekend before last. It hit me pretty hard, and as the technical guy behind all of this I admit the site became a lower priority for me than it always has been since we launched the place. Because of that, the outage lasted much longer than I would typically accept.

I had a great father. Smart, caring, supportive, and everything a father should be. I’ll always remember him as he seemed when I was a child: big, strong, funny, and completely invincible. Unfortunately, that all changed several years ago when my father was diagnosed with cancer in his tongue and throat, brought on from years of smoking Marlboro Reds (also my brand of choice, no doubt from a misguided attempt to be more like my dad).

It wasn’t the cancer that destroyed him, so much as the treatment. Doctors went after the cancer with aggressive treatments like surgery and radiation therapy, and while my father’s life was saved, it was effectively ruined. He spent the following years in sever pain, no longer the strong, imposing, energetic man he was. Almost overnight, he became emaciated and frail, appearing and acting much, much older than he was. He could only spend minutes at a time with family and friends before he’d have to withdraw to be alone with his pain.

As I was thinking of my father in these days following his death, it occurred to me that, in a large way, he has been a driving force behind why I started this site. It’s no secret that smoking kills — but it doesn’t just kill, it does it in horrible, ugly ways that can leave people facing unendurable suffering of the kind that finally claimed my father.

I think of my father, and believe in my heart that while I have strived over the years in many ways to be more like him, picking up e-cigarettes and getting myself off the Marlboro Reds could very well spare me from being like he was for those horrible years at the end of his life, when cancer and the treatments for it turned him into a pale, emaciated shadow of the man I remember.

Every person spared from that kind of suffering is a victory, and that’s a huge reason why I stay excited about running this site, and about the inroads e-cigarettes have been making despite the horribly misguided attempts from several fronts to stop that progress.

Keep spreading the word, and sharing your stories, as I will. Though it’s too late to help my father, it’s not too late for the millions more who will certainly share his fate, or one like it, if they keep smoking.

If that’s not a battle worth fighting, I don’t know what is.

[vapesquad]

New Post has been published on http://www.vapesquad.com/washington-state-mulling-75-tax-e-cigs/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=Vape+Squad&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BVape+Squad

Washington State Mulling 75% Tax on E-Cigs

Democrat Reuven Carlyle (D) has introduced a bill to the Washington state legislature which would levy a 75% on e-cigarettes and other tobacco substitutes.

The original version of the bill called for a 95% tax, but a revision which passed through the House Finance Committee with a 7-6 vote lowered the proposed rate to 75%.

Bill 2795 would exempt e-cigarettes prescribed by doctors, but only if, and after, the FDA rules electronic cigarettes to be a smoking cessation aid.

Carlyle says the purpose of the bill is to “equalize taxes and mitigate negative effects,” despite the fact that negative health effects from electronic cigarettes have yet to be proven, and there is no logical reason why electronic cigarettes should have taxes “equalized” with cigarettes made from tobacco.

“An important part of the objective is to equalize taxes and mitigate negative effects of the product.” –Rep. Reuven Carlisle

Presumably, the taxes on cigarettes are justified in large part due to the burden placed on taxpayers by the adverse effects of smoking. E-cigarettes have no such ill effects. By way of comparison, statistics from anti-tobacco activists Campaign from Tobacco Free Kids claim that approximately 7,300 people die from smoking in Washington annually, at cost to the state of $2.81 billion.

In contrast, the total deaths attributed to the use of electronic cigarettes is zero — not just in the state of Washington, but worldwide.

Clearly, lacking any logical justification for equalizing taxes between electronic cigarettes and those made from tobacco, one can only come to a single conclusion: Carlyle’s bill is a shameless cash grab at the expense of the vapers of Washington.

Legislature considers 75% tax on e-cigarettes | Northwest News | The Bellingham Herald.

[vapesquad]

New Post has been published on http://www.vapesquad.com/video-rachel-ray-e-cigs-still-fighting-battles/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=Vape+Squad&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BVape+Squad

Video: Rachel Ray on E-Cigs -- Still Fighting the Same Battles

This clip from the Rachel Ray show isn’t exactly new (the episode first aired several years ago, in fact), but it’s been making the rounds again recently. It’s interesting in that it shows that the same arguments about e-cigarettes have been occurring almost since they first appeared in stores.

One thing we find particularly interesting is the debunking of the FDA’s study on e-cigarettes, still cited today as evidence that electronic cigarettes are harmful even though problems were seen with their shoddy study as soon as it was published. Still, the findings still appear on the FDA’s website as if they are accurate, or even applicable, to electronic cigarettes sold today.

[vapesquad]

New Post has been published on http://www.vapesquad.com/rally-fight-l-e-cig-ban/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=Vape+Squad&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BVape+Squad

Rally to Fight L.A. E-Cig Ban

A recently updated Call to Action on CASAA’s website is urging vapers to help fight the recently-passed ordinance that bans vaping in public areas of Los Angeles.

In addition to contacting Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to voice opposition to the new ordinance, vapers are also encouraged to attend a “Save Vape LA” rally to be held Saturday, March 8 in Pershing Square.

Keynote speakers at the rally will include Herbert Gilbert, inventor of the first electronic cigarette in 1963, as well as Empire Brands electronic cigarette CEO John Cameron, and Smoke Free Alternatives Trade Association President Phillip Daman.

A media wall will also be constructed to allow attendees to provide testimony of how vaping has changed their lives.

More details are available from CASAA at the link below.

IMPORTANT Updated Call to Action for Los Angeles! Attend Rally Saturday, March 8th and Contact Mayor to Voice Your Opposition | CASAA.

[vapesquad]

New Post has been published on http://www.vapesquad.com/e-cigarette-myths-debunked/?utm_source=TR&utm_medium=Vape+Squad&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BVape+Squad

E-Cigarette Myths Debunked

From the pages of Steve K’s Vaping World, a long-running electronic cigarette blog which we highly and frequently recommend around here, comes a great article blowing a lot of the misconceptions about e-cigarettes out of the water.

“I’ve been around the block a time or two before when it comes to e-cigarettes. There is a certain set of talking points that prohibitionists go to when smearing the industry… I figure I’d take a little time out here to touch on the more popular ones and try to explain why they are myths.” –Steve K

In addition to the oft-repeated myth that e-cigarettes contain anti-freeze, other topics are covered as well, from the idea that nicotine is a carcinogen to conspiracy theories concerning big tobacco’s interest in e-cigarettes, as well as the “gateway theory.”

It’s a good resource for countering a lot of the ridiculous arguments we so often hear about electronic cigarettes, as well as a handy link to send to friends and family who’ve fallen for some of the anti-vaping propaganda spouted by e-cigarette opponents.

There's Antifreeze in 'em: 7 e-Cigarette Myths Debunked | Steve K's Vaping World.