E-cigarettes appear here to stay: So put that in your mod and vape it

In the laboratory of the California Vaping Co., Dakoda Collins mixed up one of his signature potions. Wearing a surgical mask and gloves, he carefully measured out colorless, liquid nicotine from a plastic jug.

He drew the nicotine into a fat syringe, then shot it into a large glass beaker of amber fluid, where it would be swirled with an industrial-strength immersion blender and gently heated.  Collins, 26, makes high-quality e-liquids, the fluid used in electronic cigarettes. This batch was a custom flavor, Cut Strawberry, made for a local chain of vaping stores. The room smelled like a bakery full of delicious, slightly chemical treats.

Last month, Oxford Dictionaries lexicographers announced they'd chosen "vape" as 2014's wordof the year. My family Christmas card is based on the word of the year, so I needed a tutorial. Collins was happy to be my guide.

To vape is to "inhale or exhale the vapor produced by an electronic cigarette or similar device." The vapor, often nicotine-infused, is produced by heating a liquid made with propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin, two solvents widely used as food additives.

The vapor is not hot; there are no harsh chemicals or tars. Your hair and clothes don't reek.

Despite the fact that the vaping industry is estimated to be a $4-billion business in the U.S., it has the feel of a slightly underground, countercultural enterprise. Advocates say this is because vaping is a grass-roots, consumer-driven phenomenon that has not been co-opted (yet) by major tobacco companies.

As sales of tobacco cigarettes have steadily declined, e-cigarettes have boomed in popularity. Wells Fargo Securities analyst Bonnie Herzog has predicted that, in 10 years, vapers will outnumber smokers.

Though the FDA is studying e-cigarettes and has proposed banning sales to minors, the industry is, essentially, unregulated. And despite adearth of research on secondhand vapor, dozens of cities, including Los Angeles, and a handful of states have banned e-cigarettes from public places.

If we are talking about nicotine versus cigarettes, nicotine is far less harmful.- Dr. Neal Benowitz, UCSF professor

No one claims that vaping nicotine is actually good for you, but many doctors say it is far less dangerous than smoking cigarettes. Nicotine is highly addictive but is not considered a carcinogen.

"Nothing is good to inhale other than air," said Lou Ritter, 52, a pro-vaping former smoker who founded the American E-Liquid Manufacturing Standards Assn. in Sedona, Ariz., to promote safety and uniform standards. "But the problem with tobacco is not nicotine."

Dr. Neal Benowitz, a UCSF professor of medicine and nicotine expert, agreed. For the most part.

"Despite the fact that the vaping industry is estimated to be a $4-billion business in the U.S., it has the feel of a slightly underground, countercultural enterprise. Advocates say this is because vaping is a grass-roots, consumer-driven phenomenon that has not been co-opted (yet) by...

AFFABLEMAN

"If we are talking about nicotine versus cigarettes, nicotine is far less harmful," he told me. But nicotine is not totally benign. There are concerns about its effects on the cardiovascular system, on diabetes, on wound healing and on pregnant women. Some researchers suspect nicotine may have adverse effects on the adolescent brain.

Still, Benowitz said, "if you say, 'I am going to use e-cigarettes to quit smoking,' I think that's a perfectly reasonable way to go. But you should also totally quit regular cigarettes."

Collins, a former DJ, discovered vaping when he was in rehab in Florida a year and a half ago. He'd landed there after his increasingly self-destructive drinking habits were exacerbated by his short-lived hard-cider business. Florida was too hot for cigarettes. He took up vaping.

When he returned to California, he helped his entrepreneur father, David, transition from smoking to vaping. They considered opening a store, but so many were popping up, it made more sense to make shops their customers, not competitors.

Last year, with financial backing from his father, Dakoda Collins founded California Vaping Co. in an industrial park. The company now sells to stores in 20 states and eight countries.

"Smokers trying to quit," Collins said, "I got the recipe for them."

As I chatted with Collins, a customer wandered in to buy some White Mango, a popular flavor.

Lee, 61, who did not give her last name for privacy reasons, is a program analyst at Qualcomm. After smoking for 40 years, she was inspired to give up her pack-a-day-plus habit by a vaping colleague who quit smoking.

"I noticed he no longer stunk," she said. "And he was not so winded on hikes anymore."

She vapes three times a day. Walking her dogs in her hilly Del Mar neighborhood is no longer a struggle. "I feel a whole lot better," she said.  The last time she tried a cigarette, she said, she was repulsed.

To vape, Collins uses a $300 rectangular brass modular device — a "mod" — that fits comfortably in his hand. During my visit, he vaped a low-nicotine version of Bandit, meant to evoke a flavorful tobacco, with notes of caramel and toasted almond. It reminded me of my father's pipe, a favorite childhood smell.  Collins was pleased when Oxford conferred its imprimatur on "vape."  "I was just really stoked," he said. "I thought about all the people who said this was just going to be a trend. It's pretty obvious that we are here to stay."

He took a long pull on his mod and exhaled. For just a moment, he disappeared behind a cloud of thick white vapor.

Writer: Robin Abcarian

robin.abcarian@latimes.com

Copyright © 2014, LosAngeles Times

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'Vape' lifestyle under scrutiny

By Brittany Woolsey / Long Beach Register

History: The first e-cigarette was patented in 1963, but in 2003, Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik invented a more sophisticated version of a nicotine-based e-cig.

What it is: A tobacco-free smoking alternative, like nicotine patches or gum, that provides an experience similar to smoking. Because the "smoke" is water vapor, vaping can be done indoors.

How it works: Devices come in a variety of shapes, sizes and materials. The main tube that holds the battery and e-liquid, or "juice," usually is called a mod or pen. The battery heats the juice to create an inhalable mist.

Ingredients: Vegetable glycerin; propylene glycol (found in many pharmaceutical and personal care products); flavoring; and nicotine, ranging from 0 to 18 milligrams.

Customers: In Southern California, you must be over 18 to purchase an e-cig product and to vape, but that is not the case in all states. Some consider it a smoking cessation product, but existing regulations do not allow for that to be officially advertised.

Price: Costs vary for starter kits but can be as low as $15. On average, juice and cartridge refills cost $10 to $20.

Source: casaa.org, esmoking101.com, totallywicked-eliquid.com

Melissa Williams relaxes at Genkivape in Lakewood. Williams has been vaping for six months in an effort to quit smoking.

Tony Borriboonratana said he was a smoker for 10 years before he discovered electronic cigarettes.

He had tried everything, he said, from the patch to meditation, to try to quit.

E-cigarettes and vaporizer devices, or “vapes,” work like cigarettes, in that they contain nicotine but are missing the tobacco. They don't produce smoke, supposedly making them less harmful to users' bodies.

“It wasn't just something that helped me quit; it helped me replace cigarettes with a healthier alternative,” he said. “I could still have my cake and eat it, too.”

Now, Borriboonratana works for Vape Revolution in Cerritos, a shop that claims to be one of the first of its kind to open in Southern California and one of the biggest in the nation.

Despite the growing trend of e-cigarettes and vapes, which have different levels of nicotine – from 36 milligrams to none – many cities in the greater Long Beach area are cracking down on them, passing moratoriums and regulations.

Cerritos recently passed a moratorium on new e-cigarette and vape shops, and Lakewood is looking to pass regulations on where the items can be used.

The city of Long Beach doesn't have any moratoriums or concerns about the devices, City Manager Pat West said.

HEALTH WORRIES

Cities that are taking action say they are placing restrictions on the devices to allow more time to research the potential health risks and benefits of e-cigarettes, and the Food and Drug Administration hopes to release its findings about the potential risks soon.

While FDA results were expected by the end of October, FDA spokeswoman Jennifer Haliski said further research is needed to assess the potential public health benefits and risks of electronic cigarettes and other devices. E-cigarettes use nicotine cartridges, while vaporizers use water and flavored oil.

“The FDA intends to propose a regulation that would extend the agency's tobacco product authorities, which currently only apply to cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco and smokeless tobacco to other categories of tobacco products that meet the statutory definition of tobacco product,” she said in an email.

Amber Lee, spokeswoman for Vape Revolution, feels it is unjust to group e-cigarettes and vapes with tobacco products, citing that users of such devices want to stay away from tobacco completely.

“It would upset a lot of people because people who vape would like to have the choice to not have to vape in the smoking area outside,” she explained. “They are Americans who also have the right to not breathe secondhand smoke.”

SCHOOLS TAKE ACTION

Local schools are also cracking down on the devices.

Cal State Long Beach Dean of Students Jeff Klaus said that students are only allowed to use the devices 20 feet away from a building's windows and doors, as with tobacco products.

Jeff Cornejo, principal at Millikan High School, said he sent a letter to parents at the beginning of the school year warning them about the devices and saying they will be confiscated if used on campus. He said the school has confiscated three devices since the beginning of the semester.

“It is a concern because they contain either nicotine or THC oil,” he explained, citing THC as a main ingredient in marijuana. “The difficulty is we can't tell what liquid is in a device, and because of that, we don't want them here on campus.”

Cornejo said he was also concerned about a vape shop that opened within blocks of the school.

“The issue is you're really not supposed to build a liquor store within 500 feet of a school campus,” he said. “It's not a liquor store, but it's the same concept. I believe this one is that close to our north parking lot.”

Gene Valbuena, who works at Vape Street in Artesia, said he thinks the trend of vapes and e-cigarettes is starting to “get out of control” because minors are starting to buy them. This reflects negatively on his business, he said.

“I've heard a lot of stories about schools confiscating the devices from students,” he said. “Now all the fingers are pointing toward us. It's hard to deal with all that stuff while trying to promote an alternative lifestyle.”

Martin Almeida, left, Adrian Leyva sample flavors at the tasting bar at Vape Revolution in Cerritos.

FINDING A BALANCE

Borriboonratana said he agreed that e-cigarettes and vapes shouldn't be used in certain places, like restaurants, classrooms and theaters, to be courteous to others who may not know what the devices are or who would have to explain them to their children.

He said he also agrees with the laws that the items only be available to people over the age of 18. Vape Revolution, like all smoke shops, is required to check IDs upon arrival, and Borriboonratana said he doesn't mind.

“It's not for kids,” he said. “We don't believe anyone under the age of 18 has the maturity to make a decision about in-taking nicotine, even if they choose zero milligrams.”

Likewise, David Joo, owner of Genki Vape in Lakewood, said he agrees with restrictions on where people can use the devices, but he hopes vaping won't be wiped out completely.

“As long as (the council gives) people who are vaping a place they can actually vape, then I do not mind,” he said, adding he would like people to continue to be able to vape inside his shop.

One of the reasons Lakewood is looking at restricting the devices is because of a fear that they could be used for illegal substances, said Community Development Director Sonia Southwell at an Oct. 8 City Council meeting.

Borriboonratana argued that while he's aware people can smoke other items with the devices, the drug issue should be totally separate.

“You can smoke pot out of these, but just like anything else, people buy Zig-Zags (rolling papers) to roll tobacco or marijuana,” he said. “You don't see them banning Zig-Zags or blunt wraps. People have the choice to break the law or not, regardless. At our shop, we don't sell any paraphernalia of any kind.”

Borriboonratana urged lawmakers to continue studying the devices and their benefits before making a quick decision, which would include lumping the products in with tobacco.

“Unless they have a firsthand account of how these devices helped one of their family members or friends, they're not really going to fully grasp how it's helping people,” he said. “Until there's proof that there's tobacco in our actual devices, then there's nothing more you can do.”

***

Temple City adopted an e-cigarette zoning/CUP ordinance that prohibits e-cigarette retailing within 1,000 feet of youth sensitive areas (e.g., parks and schools) among other conditions.

Pico Rivera adopted an e-cigarette ordinance that prohibits the use of e-cigarettes in school campuses, public buildings, child day care facilities, public parks, polling places and retail establishments selling e-cigarettes.

Lakewood is looking to possibly adopt zoning regulations on e-cigarettes.

Cerritos, Seal Beach, Norwalk, Bellflower, Duarte and Alhambra adopted e-cigarette moratoriums to further study the issue.

Contact the write: bwoolsey@lbregister.com, 562-277-8343 (Click to view original article)

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E-Cigarette from China Infected Man’s Computer with Malware

Smoking will not only damage your health but also your computer, as e-cigarettes manufactured in China are reportedly being used to spread malicious software through the USB connection used to charge the device.

A recent post to social news site Reddit detailed how the computer of an executive at a “large corporation” had been infected with malware from an undetermined source. Further investigation apparently revealed that it had stemmed from a $5 e-cigarette bought from the online auction site eBay.

“The executive’s system was patched up to date, had antivirus and anti-malware protection,” Reddit user Jrockilla said. “Web logs were scoured and all attempts made to identify the source of the infection but to no avail. Finally after all traditional means of infection were covered, IT started looking into other possibilities. They finally asked the executive: ‘Have there been any changes in your life recently?’ The executive answered: ‘Well yes, I quit smoking two weeks ago and switched to e-cigarettes.’ And that was the answer they were looking for.”

The e-cigarette was found to have malware hard-coded into the charger, which “phoned home” and infected the system when plugged into the computer’s USB port. 

Pierluigi Paganini, chief information security officer at ID management firm Bit4Id, said that electronic cigarettes were just the latest vector to serve the spread of malicious software.

“Hackers are able to exploit any electronic device” to serve malware to a poorly protected network, Paganini said in a blog post.

“Despite the [fact the] idea could appear hilarious, many electronic cigarettes can be charged over USB using a special cable or by inserting one end of the cigarette directly into a USB port.”

Paganini cites other examples of “apparently harmless” USB devices being used as a hacking tool in the past, including a charger for Apple iOS devices like iPhones and iPads.

Yahoo Tech

(Click here to view original article)

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New Product: The Aspire Atlantis Tank!

Aspire's newest item is finally available, Nov. 20th 2014 was the first day any vape shop could get their hands on them for resale!

This next generation tank system brings improved adjustable airflow and Sub Ohm coils that provides performance similar to even the best rebuildable atomizer.

By enhancing Aspire's Bottom Vertical Coil design Vapers will experience better taste and vapor production.

Aspire's Atlantis Tank design is easy to carry, install, and refill.

Features:

- stainless round drip tip 
- tube pyrex glass
- capacity 2ml
- size 22*70.3mm
- available resistance 0.5ohm (20-30w)

Keep updated with our current blog and website, thank you for viewing - Vulcan Vapor!

'Vape' Is The Word Of The Year. Here's Why That's A Bad Thing.

To “vape” means to inhale and exhale the vapor produced by an electronic cigarette or similar device.

Always spotting trends on the rise, last year’s Oxford English Dictionary “Word of the Year” was “selfie” — and we’ve seen no shortage of personal snaps, selfie-centered books and namesake TV shows spawned since the announcement.

That’s why this year’s buzzword is cause for real concern.

As proof that e-cigarette use has reached mainstream audiences, the folks at the Oxford dictionary have just announced “vape” as their word of 2014. In case you’re unfamiliar, the term means “to inhale and exhale the vapor produced by an electronic cigarette or similar device.”

Shocked? Maybe we shouldn’t be. This news comes just a week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that e-cigarette use has tripledamong teenagers in just two years. More than a quarter of a million youth who had never smoked a cigarette used electronic cigarettes in 2013. Today, 4.5 percent of high-school students use e-cigarettes on a regular basis, and 12 percent have tried them at least once. 

While some people think vaping is a decent (and safe) alternative to smoking tobacco products, that’s far from certain due to the lack of large-scale research yet to be conducted on e-cig use. 

"You are still breathing in problematic substances," says Dr. Michael Roizen, chief wellness officer at the Cleveland Clinic. “We know electronic cigarettes have addictive nicotine, potential carcinogens, and hinder lung function,” Roizen tells Yahoo Health. 

A 2014 Surgeon General’s report found that and nicotine use can have adverse effects on adolescent brain development, and said that nicotine use by youth in any form — combusted, smokeless, or electronic — is unsafe.

What’s worse: The CDC found that 44 percent of non-smoking youth who had ever used e-cigarettes said they intended to smoke conventional cigarettes within the next year. "Since the group of users gaining the most traction is teenagers, it almost feels like e-cig usage is just a step toward graduating to full-fledged cigarettes," says Roizen.

The CDC reports that nearly 23 percent of teenagers currently use a tobacco product. And unless that trend sees a decline quickly, 5.6 million kids up to age 17 today will die prematurely from a cigarette-related condition.

“Nine out of ten smokers tried their first cigarette by age 18,” said Dr. Tim McAfee, director of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, in last week’s report. “We must do more to prevent our youth from using tobacco products, or we will see millions of them suffer and die prematurely as adults. Fully implementing proven tobacco control programs would help keep our youth from falling victim to tobacco.”

We need to prevent kids from smoking, in general — tobacco products, e-cigs, or otherwise. If we don’t, today’s e-cigarette users could be tomorrow’s tobacco users. For now, unfortunately, smoking is still proving cool for millions. Especially young people.

By: Jenna Birch
Nov 20, 2014
(Click Here to View Original Article, Yahoo Heatlh)

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Vango Vapes, E-Liquid Review

Vango Vapes offers a variety of nicotine levels 0 - 18 MG.  As a standard to their brand they offer 60/40 (PG/VG) on their Signature E-Juices.  Upon special requests we make 70/30 (VG/PG) blends.

They focus on Fruit or Pastry mixes, with an additional Tobacco flavoring as an option as well.  
As of now, Vango Vapes is leaning towards producing more high VG blends as they are getting into the drippers market.

Five Sample Juices:

The Albino - White Grape and Blueberry. The taste was a cool sweet breeze, to me almost tasted like a sweet tart. 

Cool Tropix - Pineapple with Mint.  I am not much of  a Pineapple person, however this was a decent blend. 

Hubba Bubba - Watermelon and Strawberry.  This was my favorite. I would have only hoped for a slightly stronger flavor for my drip.

MudSlide - Chocolate Cheesecake.

Berrimel - Mixed Berry and Caramel. 

Things to improve: 

The Bottle is hard to squeeze, it is hard to apply a good solid layer across the top of your cotton (Drip Tank).  I also feel like the liquid should produce more flavoring.  

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The Truth About E-Cigarette Risks

Oct 6th, 2014, By: Nick Tate, From NewsmaxHealth

A sweeping new analysis of the health risks of electronic cigarettes has conclueded the benefit of using such devices instead of tobacco products far outweigh any hazards they may pose and that there is little scientific evidence to warrant closer federal regulation.

The Virginia Commonwealth University review, which examined 81 studies on e-cigarettes, also suggested that allowing the nicotine-delivering devices to compete with conventional cigarettes would cut tobacco-related deaths and illness significantly. But the study has done little to put the e-cigarette debate to rest and, in fact, has reinvigorated calls by advocacy groups and the World Health Organization for tighter regulation of the devices by the Food and Drug Administration and other regulators worldwide.

Ravindra Rajmane, M.D., a professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, tells Newsmax TV's Meet the Doctors program there is no question that e-cigarettes are a safer alternative to tobacco use and may be beneficial in helping smokers quit tobacco. But that doesn’t mean the devices don’t pose health risks of their own.

“While most of the [research findings] indicate that e-cigarettes are certainly useful as harm reduction for patients who want to quit smoking and also verify that the constituents are relatively harmless, my concern is that we don’t really know exactly the long-term effects,” he explains.

Dr. Rajmane notes, for instance, that a recent study by Boston University and the University of California-Los Angeles found that vapors from e-cigarettes caused abnormalities in lung cells exposed to them in laboratory experiments.

In addition, at least some e-cigarette vapors contain low levels of formaldehyde, which has been classified as a known human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and as a probable human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Second-hand vapors from electronic cigarettes are less harmful than tobacco smoke, but they still release toxins into the air, according to new research.

(Click Here to view Video Interview)

New research by the University of Southern California has also found that vapors from e-cigarettes do not contain as many cancer-causing compounds as tobacco smoke, do contain chromium and nickel at levels four times higher than tobacco cigarettes. Lead and zinc were also found in the smoke, but they occurred at levels lower than regular cigarettes.

Another concern: Since e-cigarettes are virtually unregulated there is no way to know precisely what chemicals and contaminant might be in the vapors users are inhaling.

“I think it’s important to understand … that we’re talking about harm reduction so we’re talking about specifically an alternative to cigarette smoking,” he adds. “I’d like to underscore … our governing bodies [and] advisory bodies — including the American Lung Association but also the American Thoracic Society — have both strongly come out with [warnings of] caution about e-cigarettes and specifically that there should be more oversight by the FDA.

“Part of the difficulty is that there is really no regulation about what constituents are within a vapor cigarette. You can pretty much add whatever you’d like and flavor it … to appeal to, perhaps, younger consumers with interesting spices or fruit flavors. Having said that, though, nicotine is usually a mainstay of most of these cigarettes. Again, but the amount of nicotine is not readily quantified.”

Zachargy Bregman, M.D., a New York-based internist and pulmonologist, agrees that e-cigarettes are a lesser of two evils and may help tobacco users quite. But he is concerned that their popularity might encourage young people who do not smoke to start using them, in the absence of regulation.

“Of course the use of e-cigarettes as part of smoking cessation is really not necessarily the largest group of people who are using e-cigarettes,” he says. “Unfortunately there is a whole new population of people who are starting out by smoking — or vaping — e-cigarettes. There’s no regulation … so when these are available to people, including unfortunately children, they will get used and therefore will be introducing a new substance that doesn’t seem to be dangerous at this point. But that whole population would otherwise not be smoking anything.”

A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention echoes that point, finding that electronic cigarettes may be more tempting to non-smoking youths than conventional cigarettes, and once young people have tried them they are more inclined to give regular cigarettes a try.

For this reason, the World Health Organization this month (August) called for a ban on sales to minors of the popular nicotine-vapor products, and to forbid or keep to a minimum any advertising, promotion, or sponsorship.

In a report to its 194 member nations, the United Nations health agency also urged nations to regulate electronic cigarettes and ban them from use indoors until the exhaled vapor is proven not to harm bystanders.

The Geneva-based agency said the booming $3 billion global market for more than 400 brands of e-cigarettes is increasingly becoming a competition between independent companies and transnational tobacco companies aggressively muscling for market share.

Regulation “is a necessary precondition for establishing a scientific basis on which to judge the effects of their use, and for ensuring that adequate research is conducted and the public health is protected and people made aware of the potential risks and benefits,” the report said.

Proponents and manufacturers of e-cigarettes argue that the health risks are overblown and aggressive regulation is unwarranted and may even be counter-productive. As the Virginia Commonwealth study suggested, tighter regulation by the FDA and other regulatory agencies around the world would likely raise costs for e-cigarettes, which encourage smokers to continue using tobacco.

Even the American Heart Association’s first policy statement on electronic cigarettes has attempted to stake out a middle ground — backing them as a last resort to help smokers quit, but raising concerns about potential long-term risks. The American Cancer Society has no formal policy but quietly took a similar stance in May.

But as the debate over e-cigarettes rages, Dr. Bregman says there is one thing upon which nearly all health experts agree.

“It’s better not to be exposing the very fragile tissue of your lungs to anything other than clean air, if possible,” he says.

Original Article from NewsmaxHealth © 2014 All rights reserved (Click Here for Original Article).

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