Vape News In Brief: May 1st, 2018 Edition

 

Vape News In Brief is a semi-regular column in which we take a look around the globe, searching for news, science, and the occasional pop culture reference related to vaping and the life of vapers. Today, let's talk about…

…why banning flavored e-liquids is a bad idea and might lead people who otherwise wouldn't smoke to pick up a pack of cigarettes. This well-reasoned piece provides a nice counterpoint to a dozen California cities mulling flavor bans.

Change of pace: check out this crazy outer space vapor cloud. Committed Earth-borne cloud chasers can do nothing but stand by and watch.

 

 

Here's an odd story: a Colorado husband and wife wanted to quit smoking, but they were in one of the more difficult positions in which to do so: the pair owned a smoke shop that made most of its money from tobacco products. After deciding to pull tobacco from the shelves and concentrate on vapor, the shop's credit card processor refused to accept it as a client, fearing the glass pipes and other paraphernalia in his shop meant he was catering primarily to illicit drug users. Switching to an all-cash business, the couple's bank became suspicious of large deposits and closed their account, temporarily forcing them out of business. Luckily, the shop has found a new bank and, after verifying that the bulk of their business is now centered around nicotine vapor products, has had their ability to process credit cards reinstated.

 

In a promising sign that people are becoming more responsible when it comes to handling their vapor products, one health agency is reporting a nearly 20 percent drop in the number of children accidentally exposed to nicotine-containing e-liquids. The article characterizes it as a "slight" drop, noting that before e-cigarettes existed as a mainstream device e-liquid exposure was even lower, but we'll tick this one off in the positive developments column…

 

Probably not news: health officials are saying that we need more long-term studies of vaping, but don't have them because vaping hasn't been a thing for a long term. Maybe better: the same piece cites vapor products as being the impetus for as many as 20,000 Scots quitting smoking every year.

 

Reminder: you can't vape on a plane. A man recently attempting to fly from Sacramento to Salt Lake City was removed from a Delta flight prior to takeoff after becoming confrontational when caught vaping as the plane taxied toward the runway. He was not let back on to claim his baggage, which apparently made the journey to Utah without him.

 

A New Jersey town council has voted to completely ban brick-and-mortar vape shops. Their reasoning? According to councilmember Dan Flynn, vape shops are "low class," unlike "your grandfather's tobacco store," which he classifies as a "high end" business venture.

JUUL has been in the news for all the wrong reasons for months now, as hit piece after hit piece joins the parade of bad news for the company. Finally, things have hit a tipping point, and the company is going on the offensive by doubling down on their commitment to preventing minors from accessing their product. We'll have more on this in the days to come...

 

 

We're not sure whether the overall tilt of this piece is positive or negative, but it's a great read on the current state of vaping in Britain from an outsider's perspective, and well worth a few minutes of your time.

Thanks for tuning in, and check back soon – we'll have plenty more news from the last week or so in a few days or something…