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Sometimes You Just Have To Share

June 23, 2017  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Every week I hear someone speaking about vaping in a negative way, be it in person or in the media, and quite often by being sent a link to a 5 year old article on Facebook. Some days it can be exhausting giving people the accurate information about why they are being idiots.

What you need is the perfect quote, a handy one liner not necessarily funny but will maybe get them to stop and think for a second and as usual you don’t always have this available the second you need them.

Until I came across an online blog post that I thought quite useful and has come in very handy since I found it so I thought I’d share a few of the good quotes, you never know when you might need them.

Starting with one of my favourites, Elaine Keller, Vaping advocate:

“Why is your concern about my “addiction” to nicotine more important than MY concern about getting lung cancer?”

I’ve used this one twice already this week.

Duncan Selbie, Public Health England:

“E-cigarettes are 95% less harmful to your health than normal cigarettes”

A classic and good for all responses.

Dr. Michael Siegel, Boston University:

“Electronic cigarettes are a potential lifeboat. No, they have not been tested and approved by the FDA. But if you were in a sinking ship, would you remain in the ship because the lifeboats had not been FDA tested and approved?”

He has a very good point; I’d be in that lifeboat faster than they could lower it.

Dr. Siegel again:

“I do not understand why there seems to be such a need for health agencies and anti-tobacco groups to lie about electronic cigarettes”

I don’t get it either Dr. Siegel.

Prof. John Britton, Royal College of Physicians:

“If all the smokers in Britain stopped smoking cigarettes and started smoking e-cigarettes we would save 5 million deaths in people who are alive today. It’s a massive public health prize.”

5 million lives saved says it all for me.

Dr. Siegel is good with these quotes:

“In a political climate that is full of dishonesty, I think the last place we need more of it is in public health.”

Why do they seem to find it hard to tell us the truth?

One from Deborah Arnott, Director of Action on Smoking and Health UK (ASH UK):

“in comparison to tobacco products they are safer by several orders of magnitude”

I think that’s the only thing I’ve ever agreed with her on.

Chris Snowden, Velvet glove Iron Fist blog:

“once e-cigarette use hits critical mass, the revolution will become unstoppable”

Viva la Revolution.

Dr. Michael Russell:

”People smoke for nicotine but they die from the tar”

David Sweanor, Former advisor to the WHO on Tobacco Control:

“Rather than the unattainable standard of “safe” we should be thinking in terms of “safer”. Despite the risks associated with football, I would, for instance, prefer my children play football rather than play with live hand grenades”

So would I.

And finally from Dr. Paul Aveyard on the reason more people take to vaping than any other NRT out there:

“Vaping is like nicotine replacement therapy, but in posh clothes. Clothes that people want to wear”.

There’s no way anyone will remember all of these when they need them but if you could remember a variation of one or two then you will always have something in your arsenal to throw back when the idiots start approaching!

Filed Under: News

Smoking Rates Decline, Again

June 16, 2017  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

The 15th of June 2017 saw the latest release of the Statistical Bulletin: Adult smoking habits in the UK 2016. Published by the office of national statistics in partnership with Public Health England, the bulletin aims to show the amount of smokers currently in the UK and now it also covers those who have made the switch to an ecig. The survey covers the entire UK and also shows the different results for those 4 nations individually as well as the whole.

The highest percentage of smokers live in Northern Ireland 18.1%, Scotland is at 17.7%, Wales 16.9% and England has just 15.5%. Which makes an average percentage total of 15.8% across all 4 countries, the lowest it has ever been since 2010. Scotland however had the largest decline over all, a massive 7%.

Gender makes a difference too with more men likely to smoke than women but age also plays a part as well. According to the results the younger you are the more likely you are to smoke. However don’t judge young people just yet as they also showed the age range with the highest reduction in smoking around 6% in total since 2010. The 18-24 range also showed that they were the most likely to try an ecig and with the huge drop shown in the that age range with tobacco, this is possibly the early signs of the gateway effect we were all warned about, but, the gateway is away from tobacco and not towards it as some experts feared.

As the smoking rates drop it’s highly possible a lot of the former smokers have moved away from cigarettes and towards ecigs, the percentage of down swing for tobacco roughly matches the percentage of upswing towards ecigs. 5.6% of respondents said they were current ecig users, which equates to about 2.9 million people throughout the UK. Again men were more likely to have tried an ecig than women. While those aged around 35-49 were the most likely to be a current ecig user.

More results and in-depth breakdown is available on the Office of National Statics website.

The ecig results have only been available since 2014 so the full trends aren’t yet totally visible but it’s a good show of which way the tide is turning, and that’s away from tobacco and towards ecigs!

Filed Under: News

What Does Europe Think?

June 9, 2017  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Every 2 years the European Commission publishes its Eurobarometer results. This is a survey taken across all nation states and can cover just one subject or a multitude. The most recent survey included tobacco and vaping; the survey questioned nearly 28,000 people. The results have just been released and it covers some good and bad news for vapers. It should also show the impact (if any) on the new laws covered in the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), however as the TPD has only been in place for a year the results of the survey wont yet show the full impact either positive or negative until the next survey expected in 2019/20.

One of the questions asked was if people thought ecigs were harmful to the health of those that use them.

It is worth noting that the wording of the question may have caused some confusion. Do you think they are harmful or not to the health of those who use them isn’t necessarily a yes or no question. Italy seems to come out the best here, the UK sadly lacking in 7th place. In the Netherlands 85% of people asked thought they were harmful. The UK has tried to implement the TPD in the softest way possible and attempted to encourage people to switch to ecigs rather than stay smokers, but there are still regular scare stories in the press about the danger levels of ecigs, imagine what the press in the Netherlands must be like.

The commission doesn’t seem to think that vaping has helped many smokers quit tobacco; the survey reports that only 14% stopped smoking entirely with an ecig, 10% managed to stop but started again and 17% managed to reduce their tobacco usage but not stop smoking totally. Dramatically different figures compared to the UK which has embraced vaping.

The socio-demographic differences from respondents that have at least tried an ecig are:

Men (17%) are more likely to say they have tried an ecig compared to women (12%). More young people (aged under 40) have tried an ecig than those aged over 40. Those who stayed in education longer are more likely to try one than those who left at 15 or younger. Those who find themselves struggling to pay bills are also more likely to have tried an ecig than those who never struggle. 47% of people who have tried to quit smoking have tried an ecig to do it and those who have smoked for longer are less likely to even try an ecig.

The types of flavour people enjoy the most was also covered on the survey, the results are very similar to what I would have expected.

I would like to know what spontaneous tastes like and how do 1% of the people asked not know what flavours they like? Considering the most popular flavours are fruits this does give a strong argument to the case of not banning certain flavours.

The question that caused me the most concern is the question about banning ecigs in public places. 63% of respondents thought ecigs should be banned in the same places as tobacco with just 26% against it. 40% think ecigs should be covered in shops like tobacco (Ireland was as high as 80%). The ban on flavours is a slightly more positive result roughly 48% are against it while about 37% support the option. As expected those who were vapers answered the flavour ban question as 84% against 9% for. Why 9% of vapers would want to ban a flavour is beyond me though.

As I said earlier the new rules have only been in place for a year and have only been enforced properly for a few weeks now (a year’s grace was given to get everything in order) so no big impact can yet been seen in these results compared to previous surveys, the interesting ones will be the next survey in 2019/20. Then we will start to find out if the TPD was the huge success story of the decade. Or was it the huge disaster the vaping advocates claimed it would be.

Filed Under: News

Hull Hospital Staff Banned From Vaping

June 2, 2017  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

But strangely staff and patients are still allowed to vape as much as they like. It seems this isn’t for health reasons its more about how it looks.

Staff are still allowed to use traditional quit aids such as sprays, patches or gum but not an ecig, if they wish to use their ecig they must leave the hospital grounds.

If any staff member is caught breaking the ban they will face disciplinary action.

The trusts smoke free policy states:

  • Smoking by workers, patients and visitors is strictly prohibited in all of its premises, which includes buildings, vehicles and grounds
  • Patients and visitors are permitted to use e-cigarettes within Trust grounds ONLY. The charging of e-cigarettes using the Trust’s electrical system is strictly prohibited
  • Workers (whether direct employees or agency staff, contractors etc.) are NOT permitted to vape on Trust premises or grounds. Staff who do not adhere to this policy will be subject to disciplinary action

Staff are largely in agreement with the ban on smoking within the grounds but are feeling angered by the rules on vaping, given that patients and visitors can still use them within the grounds quite freely.

The trust has said that:

“E-cigarettes are not currently covered by smoke-free legislation and a review by Public Health England in 2015 estimated that they are 95 per cent safer than smoking tobacco. Therefore the Trust has taken the decision that patients and visitors are permitted to use e-cigarettes within Trust grounds only”

While the trust claims it has based its decision on the advice from Public Health England (I think they got it wrong a little, especially as PHE said to support and encourage your staff to switch to ecigs) it seems to go against NHS advice. The NHS website states that “Evidence indicates that e-cigarettes can help people quit smoking, with similar or better results than nicotine replacement therapies such as patches or gum” and it also contains lots of information on the benefits of ecigs and how to make the switch over to them.

When the NHS believes that ecigs are safer than traditional tobacco cigarettes and a much better chance of quitting than the gums or patches why remove that option from your own NHS staff? It could only be because they don’t like how vaping looks. Personally I’d much rather see a friendly group of vapers than hear someone chewing or stand in discarded gum, call me biased if you want to but, gum, yuck!

I also think it would be a great advert for them, showing that those wanting to use an ecig to quit smoking are welcomed by the hospital and staff. If they can support their staff to do it imagine how much they could help you too.

Filed Under: News

How was it for you?

May 26, 2017  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

I was going to write a bit last week about the last few days of madness before the TPD (Tobacco Products Directive) took its full effect on the 20th of May but I thought it would be covered a lot in the press already. So instead I thought I’d ask you this week how was it for you? Did you even notice the new regulations taking place? Did you hear the whooshing noise as the deadline flew past?

So far it’s all been a little quiet on the news front, no one has gone mad with lack of nicotine and I could only find one story about a company getting into trouble with its advertising (In a local newspaper, there was a picture of the shop in the article which had a visible nicotine containing product name on display).

I do find one or two things about the TPD annoying (10ml bottle size for example) but they are easy enough to live with. Compared to some countries we have it easy. The Philippines plans to forbid smoking and vaping in all public places, including out on the street, jail time is an option for those caught. Bit harder to deal with than a 10ml bottle.

Now the new rules are in force a lot of people are worried about the amount of vapers on high nicotine that may end up back on the ciggys. Vapers now total 2.9 million in the UK and some of them are/were on products with more than the allowed 20 mg of nicotine and vaping advocates fear that for some it may mean going back to tobacco. If this sounds like the situation you find yourself in then maybe think about upgrading your equipment. Something with a harder hit could provide that extra bit of oomph that you need to be able to keep up your good work on an 18mg liquid. Please don’t be tempted to get your 24mg from somewhere else either, that guy on Facebook might be offering a great deal but do you know what else is in the liquid? Has it been tested?

If you find that you are struggling under these new regulations then please don’t struggle alone, come and talk to us in any of our stores and we might just have a solution for you!

Filed Under: News

The Nanny State Index

May 19, 2017  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Yes it’s a real thing, and with the holiday season approaching it could help all you vapers out there to review any planned European break destination. The index covers food, drink, smoking and ecigs, by scoring each country in Europe in all 4 categories it attempts to work out which country is the best and worst for nanny stateism.

Scoring for each category is out of 100 points , with 100 being the worst but the requirements change for each section, sugar tax in the food category for example would not be relevant in the tobacco category. So let’s see if you can guess the best and worst for each category.

Starting with food, the areas covered are: Taxation, Advertising restrictions, Ingredient limits, Energy drinks, Vending machines. Which of the 28 European Countries are the best and worst? There’s a clear loser in this one and it’s Hungary scoring 28 points out of 100. The next worst is France with 11 points. The best has no clear winner with 10 countries scoring 0 points, those are: Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia and Spain. The UK comes in joint 3rd with 10 points scoring worst in the advertising section.

Drink next and the areas covered for this are: Taxation, Advertising and Other (which covers areas such as retail monopoly, closing times, drink drive limits and bans on promotions). The worst place to get a drink in Europe is Finland with 87.1 out of 100 closely followed by Sweden with 74. The best is Spain with 8.3 out of 100 with Germany on its heels with 11.1. The UK is in 4th nannyist position with 48.6 points.

Smoking is next on the list and this covers: Taxation, Advertising, Smoking ban and Other (which covers plain packaging, retail display ban, snus ban and vending machine ban). Again we have a clear front runner for the worst in this category and it’s the UK coming in with a huge 91 points out of 100. Ireland finds its self in second place with 75.2 points. The best is the Czech Republic with 26.9 points and Luxembourg right behind with 30.2 points.

The best category now and that’s ecigs, the areas covered in this section are: Product bans, Advertising, Taxation and Vaping bans. Finland are the worst in this category, scoring high in all the areas they come out with 59.4 out of 100 and are the least ecig friendly country in Europe. Only 0.8 behind them are Hungary with 58.6 points. But which are the most ecig friendly countries in Europe? As an avid vaper your top 6 European holiday destinations are: Sweden with the lowest of all the countries with 10 points out of 100. All scoring 16 points were: The UK, Netherlands, Ireland, Estonia, and Czech Republic.

Working out those 4 categories together the UK finished in second worst position with 37.4 points, the worst was Finland at 51.6. Finishing the best over all were Czech Republic with only 11.5 points, Germany with 15.9 points and Slovakia with 16.2 points.

If vaping is a part of your decision when you plan your getaways then Sweden ranks as the most ecig friendly but you might struggle to get a drink. Maybe split the difference and go for an all rounder

like Czech Republic, Germany or Slovakia this year. Don’t forget my postcard though and a picture of you vaping on holiday of course!

You can check out the Nanny State Index 2017 for yourself here.

Filed Under: News

Could Second-hand Vapour Be Good For Those Around You?

May 12, 2017  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Last week we found out that second-hand vapour is about as hazardous to you as normal air, this week we find out it might actually be good for the air around you and those in the air around you. The ingredient that is having this surprising effect is propylene glycol (PG) which is in all eliquids, some have it in smaller quantities but it’s still there. Back in 1945 a scientist called Dr. Theodore Puck along with his team discovered that vaporised propylene glycol provided some very significant health benefits.

The study his team conducted is titled “The Bactericidal action of propylene glycol vapor on microorganisms suspended in air” and is still published on the NLB-NIH website to this day.

Their original study discovered that:

“Data are presented showing the minimum glycol concentration necessary for effective bactericidal action on various microorganisms. Pneumococci were killed by amounts of propylene glycol as low as 1 gm. in 20 million cc. of air. Concentrations of 1 to 5 million to 1 to 10 million were required to produce the same degree of killing of streptococci and staphylococci. The observations here reported add further support to the previously proposed conception of the mechanism of the lethal action of propylene glycol vapor, namely, that a bactericidal concentration of the glycol accumulates in the bacterial droplet as a result of contact with and absorption of glycol molecules from the surrounding atmosphere. Pneumococci were killed by amounts of propylene glycol as low as 1 gm. in 20 million cc. of air. Concentrations of 1 to 5 million to 1 to 10 million were required to produce the same degree of killing of streptococci and staphylococci”

What does that actually mean? Pneumococci, streptococci, staphylococci are the bacteria responsible for illness such as pneumonia, strep throat, food poisoning, impetigo, cellulitis and many more. These are all scary, serious illnesses but as a vaper you carry a secret weapon. The PG from your ecig kills them off. These effects happen in parts per million, you don’t need neat PG for it to happen. So depending on the quantities in the air around the vaper you might be inadvertently cleansing the air around you of these bacteria.

Why am I bringing you 70 year old news? Well, research never stops and now the bacterium that causes meningitis can also be added to the list of bacteria that are running scared from your ecig and PG. The PG in your vapour doesn’t just protect you; it protects those near to you as well. So next time someone tells you vaping is bad for your health just think of Dr. Puck’s research, walk away and leave them to enjoy their potentially devastating bacteria.

Filed Under: News

Second-hand Vapour Exposure is Minimal

May 5, 2017  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

The Californian Department of Public Health thought they could add another weapon to their “vaping is bad” arsenal this week when they conducted a study on the air quality in vape shops.

I think they hoped to show that the air quality would be badly affected and it would therefore help with their vaping ban in public places. It didn’t quite go to plan.

Many vape shops around the state were tested and the results from one of those shops tested was released as a representative sample.

The sampling was conducted under very adverse conditions, which included many of the employees vaping throughout the testing and 13 customers vaping in the shop too. There was no active ventilation system in place and clouds of vapour were visible at times. All this seems to suggest that the results would show a high level of exposure to none vapers.

So given all that how did the results read:

  • Nicotine: Not detected
  • Glycidol: Not detected
  • Formaldehyde: 7.2 ppb
  • Diacetyl: Not detected using standard method
  • 2,3-Pentanedione: Not detected using standard method
  • Acetyl butyryl: Not detected using standard method
  • Acetoin: Not detected using standard method
  • Acetone: Not detected
  • Ethyl benzene: Not detected
  • m,p-Xylene: Not detected
  • o-Xylene: Not detected
  • Toluene: Not detected
  • Acetaldehyde: Not detected
  • Acetonitrile: Not detected
  • alpha-pinene: Not detected
  • Benzene: Not detected
  • Chloroform: Not detected
  • d-Limonene: Not detected
  • Methylene chloride: Not detected
  • Methyl methacrylate: Not detected
  • n-Hexane: Not detected
  • Styrene: Not detected

The only thing that was detected was formaldehyde; however, the level of formaldehyde they detected is consistent with normal indoor and outdoor air levels under baseline conditions.

So they had a small non-ventilated shop with many staff and customers’ vaping and visible clouds of vapour and not one of the results of the air tests showed any levels that were even remotely hazardous either to the vapers or none-vapers health. Even the formaldehyde was no different than normal levels. They really couldn’t have tested a more extreme environment and they still got no negative results.

Many of the vaping experts including Dr. Michael Siegel, Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, had an opinion on this study. Dr. Siegel said that:

“Based on the current scientific evidence, I fail to see the justification for banning vaping in most public places. I just don’t see any reasonable evidence at this time that it poses any significant health hazard to bystanders”

This is something we should be shouting from the roof tops every time someone brings up the vaping indoors ban.

Filed Under: News

It’s Election Time Again

April 28, 2017  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

June 23rd 2016 was a day that changed lives forever, not just in the UK but around the world. It was the day the British public got their chance to speak, the day we voted for Brexit.

Millions of us turned out to give our opinion; some of the highest turn out figures ever recorded were on that day. It was something that affected us all then, now and in future decades to come. Now we are closing in on another general election, and for some ecigs are still an issue that needs to be discussed before we all head to the polls.

For the last few years a registered charity called New Nicotine Alliance (NNA) has been doing wonderful work behind the scenes trying to educate those in power all about ecigs. Working alongside Public Health England they have attended conferences, briefed the media and spoken in UK, European and International Parliaments all to highlight ecigs and the good they can do. Now they want each of us to pick up the mantel and speak to our local candidates.

The NNA have written to all the major UK political parties to urge them to include in their election manifesto this statement:

“We will help Britain’s 9 million smokers switch to healthier alternatives by removing unnecessary restrictions on e-cigarette advertising, tank and refill sizes, strength of liquids, and by ending the ban on snus as soon as we have left the EU.”

They also said that:

“The parties need to know that vapers are voters who are unhappy with the TPD.”

As always I’m not going to suggest you vote one way or the other, that’s not my place but I will suggest you do as the NNA have requested and contact the candidates standing in your area and ask them their thoughts on the issue. You can contact your local MP via the write to them website and many of the other candidates will have email addresses on their election leaflets. If you want to know more about the NNA their website is here.

We voted for Brexit so we could make a change to how this country is run; don’t let this opportunity pass you by, if you have an opinion let them know.

Filed Under: News

Be More You, Be Less Mutant

April 21, 2017  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

I don’t normally bring you research conducted by tobacco companies but I thought this one was quite interesting.

Do you remember those quit smoking TV and print adverts from 2012/13? They showed a tumour forming on a ciggy every time the guy took a drag in an attempt to highlight the effect smoking had on your genes. You must have seen them; they were everywhere and kinda gross.

British American Tobacco has been conducting research to see if the same amount of mutations can happen to human tissue when you use an ecig instead of a ciggy.

The human genome has tens of thousands of genes and the profile of genes that are switched on or off after exposure to an aerosol is used to see if the exposure has had a toxic effect on the cell. Using human epithelial cells gathered from the airway the researchers exposed one sample of cells to cigarette smoke and 2 samples to vapour, they then checked the exposed cells’ genome to see if the cell genes had been switched on or off. The first sample that had vapour tested against it used an equivalent amount of vapour for a straight comparison to a cigarette, the second sample had the amount of vapour doubled. All 3 samples were exposed for 1 hour. 24 hours after exposure the researchers checked the genes for on and off changes and they checked them again after 48 hours.

The tissue that was exposed to the smoke had 873 of the genes affected after 24 hours and 205 after 48 hours. However, only 3 genes were affected after 24 hours using ecig vapour and only 1 gene after 48 hours. Further examination of the genes revealed that some of the 873 changes from the smoke exposed sample were the genes involved in the development of lung cancer, inflammation, and fibrosis. While the minor changes in the vapour tested samples were the genes involved with metabolism and oxidative stress.

Dr James Murphy, Head of Reduced Risk Substantiation at British American Tobacco, said that:

“even at equivalent or higher dose of nicotine, acute exposure to the test e-cigarette vapour has very limited impact on gene expression compared to cigarette smoke exposure–it’s a striking difference”

It definitely is a striking difference, 870 genes worth of difference to be exact. As great as this research sounds, bear in mind it is from a tobacco company (we all know their track record). If it is genuine it’s another fantastic result for vaping.

I think “Be less mutant – Vape” should be this year’s catchphrase.

Filed Under: News

Much Ado About Nothing

April 14, 2017  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Making headlines this week we had an undercover operation carried out by RSPH (Royal Society for Public Health). The operation consisted of none/never smokers (all aged over 18) going into vape shops and asking to buy equipment. 87% of the 100 vape shops they went into sold them what they asked for. Why did this make headline news I hear you ask. Because of one bit of bad wording.

Vaping as an adult aged over 18 is an entirely legal thing to do in the UK. Nowhere in the vaping laws does it state that you must be a current or previous smoker. It seems the drama all stems from a small Vape Association named IBVTA (Independent British Vape Trade Association) and their 3rd rule which states that:

“Vape products are for current or former smokers and existing users of vaping devices, therefore never knowingly sell to anyone who is not a current or former smoker or a current vaper” (emphasis mine)

IBVTA currently has around 50 members and the RSPH suggest in their press release that this rule is an industry wide standard and they don’t make it clear at all if those shops they went into were members of IBVTA or not. If the 100 shops were all members of the IBVTA I can understand the concern that they may not be abiding by the guidelines they signed up to but is that really front page news?

Good ecig shops will always ask if you smoke and how many you smoke, just as a basis for working out the right device for you and research has proved time and time again that less than 1% of all vapers are people who have never smoked. Should every vape shop in the country refuse to serve someone if they say they have never vaped or smoked before agreeing to sell them a legal product? What if they want it so they don’t try a cigarette, can they buy it then?

IBVTA made a statement about their part in the situation and that dastardly 3rd rule; they said that:

“With hindsight, the use of the word “sell” was not appropriate when “market” would have been. The Board has therefore unanimously agreed to amend point three of the IBVTA code of conduct so that it now reads: Never knowingly market to anyone who is not a current or former smoker or a current vaper.”

Much better and makes far more sense. Member of IBVTA or not I’ve never seen any vape shop market products to none smokers/vapers.

Filed Under: News

Debretts Do’s and Don’ts

April 7, 2017  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Seeing a vaper in the wild was a rarity only a few short years ago but now we seem to be everywhere. There’s now so many of us that the world leader in etiquette, Debretts, has issued their guide to polite vaping. Likening an ecig to your mobile phone, the main advice seems to be if it’s rude to use your mobile there then it’s rude to use your ecig.

The most serious breach of etiquette is considered to be vaping in a confined space such as a lift or a small space like a waiting room. If it’s just me in the lift I admit I do this sometimes, never clouds though and I probably have sneaked a couple of vapes in waiting rooms too.

Second worst on the list of vaping crime is vaping in restaurants or where food is being served. Debretts advise that if you find yourself in a bar or restaurant and there is no clear policy on display then you should always ask. I may also have vaped in a restaurant, and every pub I go into.

Coming in with third place of the most annoying places to vape are queues. Oh dear I’m a terrible person!

Ah-ha, this one I nail! Vaping in cars. Debretts remind us that as a passenger you are a guest in someone else’s vehicle and permission should be sought. Their car their rules. I always ask if the driver minds if I vape, most of them say that it’s fine and just to open the window a little crack. Public transport however is a huge no unless you can locate a designated smoking area.

Home visits. Always ask if you’re in someone else’s home, even if they are a close friend and were happy for you to vape last time don’t assume it’s still ok. When you’re the host, its still good manners to ask if anyone objects. I’m 50/50 on this one, if it’s someone else’s house then I always check first and always offer to go outside, in my own however I vape as I choose unless I know someone has a reaction to it, then I offer to go outside.

In the office. Many workplaces have banned vaping completely except for designated areas but if you’re lucky enough to be allowed Debretts advise you try to keep your vaping to moderate levels around your work area. Away from your work area like in kitchens or meeting rooms then it’s a no from Debretts. Or, if you can’t manage that come work for an ecig company!

Out on a date. If you’re with a fellow vaper then relax and enjoy yourself but if you’re with a non-vaper (5 times more non-vapers would date a vaper than a smoker so it’s possible) it’s polite to check they are ok with it and check with the venue too of course. I score high on this one too, I’m married so he doesn’t get a choice!

Cloud chasing. If you’re not at home on your own Debretts suggest you separate yourself from the group if you wish to do this, many non-vapers see a huge cloud as an invasion of personal space. You should also work on your apology skills too, if vapour accidently goes into someone’s face it’s a huge breach of good manners. If I spot the vapour going towards someone I do normally apologise for it, I don’t do clouds so I’m safe on that one too.

Stealth vaping advice. Don’t do it because you will probably be caught and it goes against what the proprietor allows on the premises. I know I shouldn’t stealth vape but sometimes I hide under my hair to do it (I have long hair, not detachable hair).

Strongly scented juices. Don’t do it in public, all strongly scented aromas are a personal taste, like perfumes for example. Keep them to yourself especially if food is around as it can spoil the enjoyment and tastes for others. I’m safe on this one; most people say they can’t smell my juice.

Be open to non-vaper questions and answer them honestly and nicely while trying to dispel any possible myths they may have.

If you want to try another person’s ecig or let them try yours don’t be offended if someone removes their drip tip, ecigs are not usually disposable items and they may not want their tip to be communally used. I usually carry a spare tip in my bag for just these occasions

Turns out I’m not as bad a vaper as I thought at the start and now you know my biggest vaping faux pas’ it’s your turn to confess. How many of these do you do?

And remember the advice from Debretts “Just because you are allowed to vape, it doesn’t mean you should”

Filed Under: News

Don’t let the gateway hit you in the A** on the way out

March 17, 2017  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

One of the biggest and most passionate debates about ecigs has been the gateway effect, for years this argument has continued. Those on one side of the gate argue that ecigs will lead young people towards tobacco later in life and the other side that it will lead them away.

Almost all the research done in this field has proved that the gateway either does not exist at all or it does in fact lead young people away from tobacco. Back and forth the argument goes, year after year, study after study.

Someone finally asked the young people what they actually thought about it all. Interviewing 50 vapers aged between 16 and 26 provided some interesting information. The results were published in the peer reviewed journal Drugs Education Prevention and Policy, and they seem to show that yet again young people see ecigs as a way out of tobacco and that ecigs may actually be contributing to negative perceptions of tobacco in young people.

The group comprised of 28 current smokers, 19 former smokers and 3 who had never smoked at all. And the results show that the majority of young people think ecigs are substantially less harmful compared to cigarettes and they don’t believe that vaping is going to increase their chances of smoking in the future. The lead author of the study Dr. Neil McKeganey, Director of the Centre for Substance Use Research (CSUR) said that:

“Young people are rationalizing that, because a much less harmful alternative exists, then logically it makes even less sense to consume tobacco.”

Dr. Mckeganey also said that:

“What we know is that all vapers are overwhelmingly current and former smokers. We also know that as e-cigarette devices have evolved, vaping and smoking have become visually quite distinctive from one another. While some young people we interviewed drew obvious comparisons between the two—namely, inhalation and nicotine consumption—it is clear that, for the most part, they perceive e-cigarettes as vastly different from smoking. More importantly, there was overwhelming consensus amongst our participants that vaping is not making smoking more socially acceptable and that, if anything, it is making cigarettes seem even less acceptable.”

Instead of trying to always “think of the children” or deciding adults know what is best for young people how about we just ask them in future? It would save so much time, trouble and nearly 10 years of arguing.

Filed Under: News

Battery Safety Makes a Giant Stride Forward

March 10, 2017  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

John Goodenough is a name you have probably never heard of, I hadn’t either until recently. If I told you he was 94 would that help? No, course it wouldn’t. But if I said all vapers use something he developed every single day, even when they take a drag on their ecig then that might narrow it down a bit. He was in fact the co-creator of the Lithium-ion battery.

The Lithium-ion battery is used in everything from mobile phones to electric cars and ecigs. They are the best we have right now but it wouldn’t be a week of vaping if there wasn’t a story in the press about an ecig going bang.

We have covered it once or twice in this blog too; battery safety is something that should never be taken lightly. Well things could be about to get a whole lot safer.

Working with a team of engineers Prof. Goodenough from the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas has developed the first all-solid-state battery. The battery is low cost, non-combustible and has a long battery life it is also capable of much higher energy density and faster charge/discharge rates.

The batteries we currently use are liquid electrolytes which transport the lithium-ions between the positive and negative, if the battery is charged to quickly or drained to quickly the liquid electrolytes can get damaged and create dendrites (shards of electrolytes) if the dendrite joins the positive to negative end that’s what can create the short circuit and the resulting bang.

This new battery uses glass electrolytes which removes the formation of the dendrites. They can then use other ingredients to increase the amount of power the battery can store such as sodium or potassium instead of the lithium which will make the battery much more environmentally friendly too.

With up to 3 times more power able to be stored in one battery that’s a massive achievement by this team. The test batteries have also demonstrated more than 1,200 charge cycles before energy levels start to drop. They are also able to operate at a much higher range of temperature, possibly all the way down to -60 degrees Celsius. Designed initially for electric cars there’s no reason this can’t be moved across to all the other things that use lithium-ion batteries like phones, laptop and ecigs.

This battery is not something that’s going to be available in the next few months but it is a huge step forward in safer, better battery design. Lithium-ion batteries are Goodenough (sorry I couldn’t resist, it’s a great name) for now, but sometime soon they are about to get even better.

Filed Under: News

Use it or lose it

March 3, 2017  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Did you know the more you use your ecig the more satisfying it is? Yes really, it’s true, the research proves it.

An American study published in the journal Science Direct has the evidence; they also found out that those who used their ecigs more and found them more satisfying were using something more advanced than a cig-alike.

Astonishing isn’t it! (Sorry I’m getting a little bit sarcastic but sometimes it does annoy me a little that what we vapers have been saying since we started vaping takes research for people to believe it.)

The researchers wanted to know if the more satisfying the ecig was compared to cigarettes did people use it more? The study used US Army Reserve/National Guard Soldiers and their partners and asked them a series of questions about their opinions of ecigs, usage and satisfaction levels. Given the recent articles about the dangers of ecigs from the US Surgeon General amongst others the researchers also took the chance to ask about how people felt about the dangers of ecigs.

Using the SAFETY Study (Soldiers And Families Excelling Through the Years which is a survey completed by all serving personnel in the US and their Families) participants filled in the survey online over a 2 year period. 105 adults were surveyed (53 male, 52 Female). The usual question was asked “Do you use an ecig?” those that said yes they do or have tried one were directed to more questions such as “How often do you use an ecig?” They were then asked how satisfying it was and how dangerous to their health they thought it was. Respondents were also asked what their favourite set up was.

Divided into 3 categories named triers (occasional use but not often), not daily (once or twice a week) and daily (every day), the results from the satisfying question showed that the triers found ecigs the least satisfying, the not dailys were in the middle of scale and the dailys found them the most satisfying. The results were very similar in the question about how dangerous people thought an ecig was, with the triers thought they were more dangerous, the non dailys in the middle and the dailys thought ecigs were less dangerous than tobacco.

The question about which device they were using fielded interesting responses too, the triers all seemed to be using something akin to a cigalike, the non dailys were either on cigalikes or basic kits and the dailys had all moved onto something much more sophisticated.

The researchers came to the conclusion that the more you use your ecig the more satisfying it is compared to cigarettes, and the less dangerous you believe it to be compared to cigarettes. Also the better device you have the more likely the satisfaction level goes up and danger perception reduces even more. In other words, the more you vape on better equipment the more likely you are to stick with it, go in half hearted for something that doesn’t work properly and you set yourself up to fail!

Filed Under: News

Are you a Typical Vaper?

February 17, 2017  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

When you think of a typical vaper what image springs to mind?

With all the news coverage vaping gets a stereotypical vaper in your mind might be a 20 something male, possibly with a beard maybe a piercing and tattoos, blowing a huge cloud behind him as he goes.

An online survey has been collecting information about the typical vaper who buys online in the UK and the results aren’t quite as you might expect.

The most common age bracket for someone purchasing online is aged over 40 years old at 66% but the over 50’s aren’t too far behind at 39%. Over 75% of you are male (come on ladies, are we really going to let the men beat us at shopping!) and a huge 83% of you have totally quit smoking. So it seems the typical vaper doesn’t necessarily look how we might expect. Admittedly this survey is about people who already vape but for those of you looking to make the switch a study funded by Cancer Research UK published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence might be interesting reading.

The researchers wanted to find out if smoking at the same time as vaping made any difference to motivation levels of those who continued their use of an ecig to quit smoking. 1489 adults in the UK were surveyed online. Taking into account age, gender, amount smoked, frequency of ecig use and social grade the researchers worked out that those people who stuck with their ecig had more chance than those who didn’t. Dual users were less dependent on tobacco cigarettes and more likely to use an ecig to help cut down on the amount of tobacco smoked. Those who gave up on the ecig for reasons such as “doesn’t feel like smoking” or “didn’t help with cravings” were more likely to go back to full tobacco use. Those who stuck with their ecig also had a heightened motivation to stop smoking all together.

So now you know very few vapers are “stereotypical vapers”, that vaping is something for everyone no matter your age, gender or reasons for wanting to try vaping, it can help if you’re struggling to move away from traditional tobacco, why not give it a try. I’m not a typical vaper and you don’t need to be either!

Filed Under: News

I Told You So!

February 10, 2017  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Before you read this week’s blog you’re going to need a couple of things, first you need a cup of tea (or other beverage of your choice), second you should have some biscuits handy and third you might want to practice looking smug in the mirror for a minute or two. Because this is the week you get to look into the eyes of anyone who told you “ecigs are worse than smoking” or similar, put your smug face on and laugh at them for being so, so wrong.

In case you missed the big news published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on the 7th of February, Cancer Research UK has been funding a study into the potential risks of the long term use of ecigs. The researchers split a group of 181 people into 5 smaller groups. The first group were cigarette smokers only, the second were former smokers who only used an ecig (for more than 6months), third there were the NRT only users (user for more than 6 months), then group four had those who used both cigarettes and NRT, and the fifth had users of cigarette and ecigs. Each group had 36 – 37 people per group. The participants were asked to provide urine and saliva samples and were analysed for biomarkers of nicotine, tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

(Drum roll) And the results are… Ecig only users showed significantly lower levels (up to 97% lower) of all the TSNAs and VOCs on par with the NRT only users, although the ecig users were lower on all the TSNAs and VOCs all groups were around similar levels on the amount of nicotine they had in their systems. This means that “Long-term NRT-only and e-cigarette–only use, but not dual use of NRTs or e-cigarettes with combustible cigarettes, is associated with substantially reduced levels of measured carcinogens and toxins relative to smoking only combustible cigarettes.” The best way to achieve these results is a complete switch to vaping or NRT, duel fuelling (using both ecig and tobacco) doesn’t seem to be effective at lowering your levels.

This study was also covered widely in the press, The Mirror, The Sun and ITV News all ran articles about it that you can show to your friends. One of my favourite quotes is on the ITV page from the lead author Dr. Lion Shabab:

“Our study adds to existing evidence showing that e-cigarettes and NRT are far safer than smoking, and suggests that there is a very low risk associated with their long-term use.”

Well done all you switchers, it’s time to look smug.

Filed Under: News

Sweet Flavours Are Under Attack Again

February 3, 2017  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

This time they are in the firing line from Public Health Wales (PHW). After failing to ban ecigs in public places last year in the Welsh Assembly, PHW seem to be determined that if you do vape you’re not going to enjoy it. PHW published the latest updates to their ecig policy on January the 26th 2017 in which they said that:

“confectionary-like flavours of e-liquid should not be permitted, in order to reduce the appeal of vaping to children and young people.”

Ashley Gould from PHW took it one step further when she said:

“You can buy bubblegum, candy floss, jam doughnut flavour e-cigarettes and they are only aimed at one audience – and that’s about recruiting children.”

Does she mean that only children like sweet flavours and vaping companies who sell sweet flavours are deliberately targeting children? It seems she might really think that no adult has ever enjoyed the flavour of a nice piece of fruit or a doughnut. Not only is that madness it also goes against every piece of evidence available at the moment.

If Wales does decide to ban a massive proportion of the flavours available is that going to make ecigs less attractive to adults too? Or just children? Of course it will affect the adults more, they are the ones using ecigs daily not the children. PHW says it takes this stance because it fears that ecigs will lead to a rise in tobacco use amongst children and the lack of enjoyable flavours will stop them from trying an ecig at all but all recent research suggests the total opposite, tobacco use in children is declining and they aren’t moving towards ecigs.

ASH said as much back in October 2016:

“ASH finds no evidence that children are being recruited to smoking through their use of electronic cigarettes.” And that “more young people are now aware of, and have tried e-cigarettes but regular use is still rare and confined largely to those who currently smoke or have previously smoked.”

Cancer Research UK backs this statement as well saying that rates of young people smoking are at their lowest since the 1980’s.

Come on PHW don’t ruin vaping for everyone in Wales just because you “fear” something that there is no evidence for. Speak to Public Health England; they can give you a few tips on policy that’s not based on fear.

Filed Under: News

Should ecigs be taxed even more?

January 27, 2017  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Most of us are familiar with the phrase “sin tax” usually it’s added onto items that the government deem not good for us like cigarettes or sugar but do ecigs also fall into that category?

I don’t think they do. When so many reputable scientific organisations are coming out and saying that vaping is 95% safer than smoking, and even the UK government has said they have no intention of imposing anything more than VAT onto ecigs.

Should the EU be suggesting we apply a further tax on ecigs? I say no, but thanks for the offer.

Until Brexit takes full affect and we leave the union what happens in Europe still affects you. Running until the 16th of February 2017 the EU government is holding a public consultation on the taxation of ecigs. The consultation is available here. Clive Bates and the New Nicotine Alliance have already given their thoughts on the consultation and why it’s not a good idea, now it’s your chance.

At first sight this might seem a daunting, complicated task it is a government website after all but you can whip through it in about 5 minutes if you follow these easy steps.

  1. Open this link, scroll down to “how to submit your contribution” and click the link highlighted in blue to begin
  2. Background information on the consultation, just click next
  3. A couple of personal questions and your country. Next.
  4. First important question, “In your opinion, should electronic cigarettes and refill containers be subject to excise duties?” Click No!
  5. You’re now asked about tax levels, should ecigs be at similar levels to other tobacco products. I clicked much lower for all of these.
  6. Ignore the green text; you are probably more of an expert than most people replying to this. “In your opinion what have been so far the impact of the introduction of excise duties on electronic cigarettes and refill containers in some Member States? Please indicate the perceived magnitude of the following impacts” Just answer how you think the tax will impact on people’s decision to vape.
  7. The next question is easy “Please express your agreement / disagreement with the following possible approaches for the harmonisation of tax treatment for electronic cigarettes and refill containers.” I went with fully disagree for the first two answers
  8. For “In your opinion, what are the likely effects of an EU-wide harmonisation of the tax regime for electronic cigarettes and refill containers on the functioning of the EU internal market?”! I chose very unlikely for all 3.
  9. For the next question, “Assuming a hypothetical (tax-induced) price increase of 20% for refill liquids used in electronic cigarettes what would the likely reaction of the ‘typical’ user of electronic cigarettes?” just give your opinion on what you think the reaction would be.
  10. “Assuming a hypothetical (tax-induced) price increase of 50% for refill liquids used in electronic cigarettes what would the likely reaction of the ‘typical’ user of electronic cigarettes?” Same again for this question.
  11. Heat not burn products, answer as you will or skip
  12. Cigarillos, fine-cut, raw and water pipe sections can all be skipped if you don’t wish to offer an opinion.
  13. MED (Minimum Excise Duty) mostly relates to traditional cigarettes, answer if you wish too.
  14. I skipped the Customs page questions as I don’t know the codes.
  15. Final remarks, again answer if you wish too. You can also at this point upload a document outlining your arguments or raising more specific points if you wish to do so.
  16. Click Submit!
  17. And you’re done; now go and enjoy a nice cuppa and a vape with your feet up knowing you have done your bit.

Filed Under: News

Advice for Parents

January 19, 2017  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

ROSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) has got together with the LFB (London Fire Brigade), CAPT (Child Accident prevention Trust) and the CFOA (Chief Fire Officers Association) to produce a short document giving guidance to parents on ecig usage in the home.

PHE (Public Health England were also consulted in the making of this document. Available here, it’s very easy to read and makes its point well.

Covering 3 areas, the advice starts with the risks of smoking in the home:

Health harm – frequent exposure to other people’s smoke can increase risks of lung cancer, heart disease and stroke. Second-hand smoke is dangerous for anyone exposed to it, but children are especially vulnerable. Children’s exposure to second-hand smoke results in 300,000 UK GP visits and 9,500 hospital admissions a year.

Copying grown-ups – restrictions on where smoking is allowed influences the way children view tobacco and the likelihood that they will start smoking. In homes where smoking is not allowed indoors, children are less likely to start smoking themselves.

Fire risk – fires caused by smoking materials including cigarettes, roll-ups, cigars and pipe tobacco, and their associated lighters and matches, are responsible for the greatest number of deaths from house fires.

They then go on to talk about these areas of concern in relation to ecigs. Health harm is up first again and this time they say that:

“there’s no evidence so far of harm to bystanders from exposure to e-cigarette vapour. The many harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke are either not contained in e-cigarette vapour at all, or are usually found at much lower levels”.

Obviously it’s your home and your choice if you allow people to vape in it but if you do allow it, any risk to you or your children is likely to be extremely low.

Onto copying grown-ups and the advice is:

“Younger children watch and copy adults and if vaping takes place in front of them, there is a chance they will want to mimic an adult by playing with an e-cigarette or trying to blow clouds of vapour. To remove these risks, e-cigarettes should be kept out of the reach of children.”

That’s really quite important, children should never be able to access your vaping gear, and it should always be kept out of reach or removed to a safe location when you aren’t around.

Fire risk is next and again its good advice:

“Poorly made or counterfeit chargers for e-cigarettes have caused house fires but this is a much smaller number than cigarettes (about 2700 per year for smoking related fires, resulting in around 82 deaths) and there are things you can do to manage these risks. Only buy e-cigarettes from reputable outlets, use the correct charger for the device, follow the manufacturer’s instructions and don’t leave an e-cigarette charging unattended or overnight.”

ROSPA have included a final section here on the risk of poisoning and swallowing:

“As with medicines and cleaning products, e-cigarettes and e-liquids should be kept out of the reach of children. After swallowing nicotine fluids symptoms are usually mild and include nausea and vomiting, but serious poisoning can happen after swallowing larger amounts, especially by small children. If e-liquid is swallowed, contact your GP or call NHS 111. In an emergency dial 999.”

Small children are inquisitive and put everything in their mouths. Keep your liquids away from small children and babies at all times (and your pets too).

Follow the great advice from ROSPA and there’s no reason you can’t keep your children and home happier and safer while keeping yourself off the tobacco.

Filed Under: News

A Positive Start to 2017 or More Ecig Bashing?

January 6, 2017  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Did everyone have a good Christmas and New Year? Mine was great and I managed to take it easy on the Baileys this year too, go me!

Ecig news and research is usually a little light over the festive period, with most talk being of quitting and switching as a New Year Resolution, there was a good article in The Guardian though. Written by Professor Linda Bauld from the University of Sterling.

The article summarises the huge amount of research that went on during 2016, the fantastic results of the research and asks the question, why do people still think vaping is as bad as or worse than smoking?

I started off reading this article feeling really positive but the more I read the sadder I got because Prof. Bauld is right. In the last year we have had positive press releases from the NHS, ASH UK, Cancer Research, and Royal College of Physicians all about ecigs. Then if we include all the research by individual groups on subjects such as dental health, post op recovery, general sickness levels, that has been published. Why isn’t the message getting out there? Why aren’t people hearing about these things? Why do some people still think ecigs are as bad as or worse than smoking?

Prof. Bauld believes the answer to that question maybe be something to do with the press. I do have to agree with her on this. It seems sometimes very little of the good stuff ends up on the front page of the papers, but anything that can be skewed to seem bad has pride of place. Sometimes it was just bad science creating bad headlines, but then why aren’t the peer review results published to prove why it was bad science? Readers are left just knowing the badly done research rather than the adjusted results. Other times the press completely forgets to compare the results with cigarettes, compared to fresh air the results may not look the best, but compared to a ciggy they couldn’t look any more positive. Positive news doesn’t really sell I suppose.

The UK seems to lead the way in setting standards for ecigs whether it be research or policy. What will 2017 bring for ecigs? Who knows but I’m looking forward to seeing what’s published. This year my resolution will be the same as last year and the year before, this year I’m going to try and keep it positive, to keep writing about the bad science and why it’s bad and to keep bringing you guys the best of the ecig news. Keep spreading that ecigs are positive message and just try to do my little bit to convert some of those negatives.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Filed Under: News

Ditch or Switch

December 30, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

The North East of England (where I live) has one of the highest smoking rates in the whole of the UK and along with it one of the highest fatality and illness rates too. No matter where you live in the country most people find the traditional methods of quitting smoking the hardest, that’s why every year people try and fail and try and fail and feel as if stopping tobacco is something they will never manage. Yet every year it’s one of the most made (and broken) New Year resolutions. Far too many people start the New Year feeling like a failure and that’s not right.

So why do it to yourself?

Why struggle every year when there’s something on your local high street that could help you? It’s not a miracle; it still takes some will power. It’s not a pill or a patch it’s an ecig. Something that can still give you all the things you enjoy about smoking but at a quarter of the price. Time to take back control.

I could list all the health benefits of giving up smoking but most of you know them already, and if you found this blog then an ecig is probably something you’re thinking about trying out already. Let’s talk about cold hard cash this year instead.

20 ciggys a day 7 days a week at around £8.50 a pack is costing you £60 a week. A starter kit will cost you around £24 that’s everything to get you going and if you smoke 20 a day is about 3 days’ worth of ciggys. Then depending on how much you use it and what kind of kit you start with your looking at about £10 – £15 a week to maintain it. An average week is going to save you £45 compared to smoking.

That’s £180 a month. £2340 a year. What could you do with an extra 2 thousand pounds a year? Take the family on 2 weeks holiday; put it towards your child’s university education, new furniture or a deposit on a new car, dinner out every week, living long enough to be able to do it all. So many options out there waiting for you and all you have to do is switch.

If this is your year for making it happen we can help you, we are available to help you with every step of your journey. If you need advice on how to get started, or have already made the leap and just need a pep talk, or want to move up to the next level we have something for you.

Make 2017 the year your proud of yourself, Make it the year of you!

Filed Under: News

Don’t be scared of the Mistletoe this Christmas

December 23, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

As smokers, how many times have we heard the phrase “it’s like kissing an ashtray”?

Getting caught under the Christmas mistletoe could be a heart stopping time for many reasons, self-conscious about the possible ashtray scent putting off that person of your dreams could be one of them.

A small pilot study published in the BDJ (British Dental Journal) could mean no more mistletoe/ashtray mouth nightmares for you.

The researchers had been paying attention to the stories in the press around vaping and wanted to examine the effects of vaping on the gingiva and inflammatory biomarkers. They recruited 18 people to help with the study in which they required them all to undergo a gingival health examination before and after switching to vaping for 2 weeks. Unfortunately 4 people had to drop out as they couldn’t manage to completely quit smoking (they did manage to cut down to 5 or less during the two weeks). The researchers were expecting a much higher dropout rate than just 4 and they agree with the Royal college of Physicians that ecigs could be an effective tool for smokers wanting to quit.

During the examination after the 2 weeks of vaping the researchers noted an increase on bleeding from the gums when probed and an increase in gingival crevicular fluid levels. Completely contradicting the previous claims that the nicotine was to blame for gingival vasoconstriction and it must be some other feature of smoking. In English that means after giving up smoking and switching to vaping the blood flow started to come back to the gums and mouth and improved the levels of health and bacteria in the mouth. Which the researchers note is a very similar effect to what they would have expected with complete smoking cessation.

Well now you’re not a smoker anymore, you’re a vaper and according to this study a vaper with a much healthier, less smelly mouth and this is code for a better kisser. Sorry, I said that wrong, this means your loved one is no longer kissing an ashtray, which is better for them and maybe you will get a little more practice which is better for you both.

Happy Christmas from Everyone at Phoenix!

Filed Under: News

US Surgeon General’s Report – Is it accurate?

December 16, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Last week I brought you news of the US Surgeon General’s (USSG) report about ecigs. I said that this was a story that would rumble on for a few weeks and it seems I’m right. Experts have been voicing their opinions from both sides of the fence about the rights and wrongs of the report.

The focus of the USSG report was on youth vaping, stating that ecigs were dangerous to young people and that more and more young people were taking up the vaping habit which would lead them to traditional tobacco (the gateway effect).

I want to take a closer look at the whole idea of young people vaping and the gateway effect that featured heavily in the USSG report. Every year Michigan University publish their Monitoring the Future Study (MTF) and their 2016 results were published this week. The MTF report reveals that smoking is at its lowest ever rate among 8th to 12th graders (14 – 18yr olds) 14yr olds being the lowest at 2.6% this year from 3.6% in 2015 and 18yr olds coming down from 11.4% last year to 10.5% this year. Is the reduction because they are now all vaping?

No, Vaping numbers are also falling; teenagers are now neither smoking nor vaping. The MTF report has only tracked vaping for the last three years, 2014 and 2015 both showed a rise in vaping while showing a reduction of smoking. This year however they showed a reduction in vaping as well as smoking.

If the gateway effect were a thing that happens then all that would be the other way round wouldn’t it? If it was as the USSG claimed vaping numbers would continue to rise slowly and smoking numbers would too as everyone moved from vaping to smoking. From looking at the numbers it seems it’s not happening. It seems as if they were using vaping to get off traditional tobacco and then stopped vaping as well. Isn’t that it a good thing that smoking is being de-normalised and not re-normalised (because of vaping) as the USSG report claims? This doesn’t mean that young people vaping should be promoted by any means but it does seem to show the claims of the USSG are not quite standing up to scrutiny.

Filed Under: News

US Surgeon General, Right or Wrong?

December 9, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Back in 1962 the UK Royal College of Physicians published its ground-breaking report Smoking and Health; the US Surgeon General (USSG) report was released 2 years later and replicated the same findings.

So after Public Health England and The Royal College of Physicians released their research on ecigs earlier this year most people were expecting something similar again from the USSG. Not this time though.

The US report was released on the 8th of December and is titled “E-Cigarette Use among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General” and it has shocked many UK ecig advocates. As the title suggests the report focuses totally on the effects of ecigs on young people but many vaping advocates claim that it cherry picks the research to prove points that are irrelevant and scare potential users (young and old) away from ecigs.

As an example the report claims that only 1% of girls and 2% of boys in High School in 2011 had used an ecig but in 2015 13% of girls and 19% of boys are users. That’s the whole fact and when you first hear that it does sound like a dramatic increase but back in 2011 vaping was relatively unheard of, I started around that time and most people had never heard of such a thing, I think I was the 1% in my whole town (and well over High School age too, unfortunately); there wasn’t even a local vape shop. Secondly they fail to mention that those using an ecig in 2015 are no longer smoking.

Isn’t the fact that 12% of girls and 17% of boys are no longer slowly killing themselves the better point to make? The report makes no reference to tobacco statistics V vaping statistics in that age group or any of the nicotine containing prescription options such as patches that can be given to children as young as 12. We don’t live in a perfect world; if we did no one (of any age) would be a smoker, but isn’t trying to provide a successful route out of tobacco more important than scare tactics? It seems not!

The UK seems to have a little more common sense about vaping so what did our experts have to say about the report?

ASH UK said that:

“ASH is puzzled by the level of concern being expressed about e-cigarettes by the Surgeon-General. In the US as in the UK, young people are experimenting with e-cigarettes but vaping has not been associated with an increase in smoking, a point which is not made sufficiently clear in the report.”

Clive Bates has written 3 articles on his website The Counterfactual one of which he has titled “Bad science, poor insights and likely to do harm – rapid reaction to the Surgeon General’s terrible e-cigarette report” I think we get the idea on what his opinion may be, but just in case:

“It is truly terrible – a heady mix of emotive propaganda and a completely warped and one-sided account of the science built on a lack of insight into youth behaviours and no knowledge of the tobacco and nicotine market and its consumers.”

Prof Kevin Fenton, national director of health and wellbeing at Public Health England was outspoken about the report too saying that:

“Our review of the evidence found e-cigarette use carries a fraction of the risk of smoking, a conclusion reiterated by the Royal College of Physicians earlier this year. No new evidence has been published to contradict this; however we are closely monitoring any emerging evidence”

Prof Peter Hajek, Director of the Tobacco Dependence Research Unit at Queen Mary University of London had an opinion too:

“The new US report’s conclusions do not tally with what the actual data show. It is simply not true that e-cigarettes are a tobacco product or that vaping lures children to smoking or that it creates dependence in non-smokers. The prevalence of smoking among young people is at all time low and regular use of nicotine containing e-cigarettes among never-smokers is extremely rare.”

Prof Linda Bauld, Professor of Health Policy at the University of Stirling referenced the reports claims about vaping during pregnancy and the effects on foetal development:

“This report mentions the issue of e-cigarette use in pregnancy, stating that nicotine delivered by e-cigarettes can affect foetal and post-natal development. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the evidence. We know Nicotine Replacement Therapy is safe – a recent study from the University of Nottingham found no adverse impact on the children of mothers who used it in pregnancy and followed up these infants until they were two years old.”

The list of people speaking out about this report is endless. Researchers and activists on both sides of the argument are voicing their opinions loudly and I’m expecting this story to run for a while. In 1962 the reports from the UK and US agreed, smoking is bad. In 2016 the opinions are opposing, Harm reduction V Scare tactics, which side got it right this time? (We did obviously)

Available on YouTube there is also a handy video to go along with the USSG report, if you weren’t scared enough from the report already.

Filed Under: News

Hertfordshire County Council Leads the Way

November 25, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Last week we spoke about the responses to the Freedom of Information request submitted that asked local councils about their vaping policies. This week news has reached me that Hertfordshire County Council could very possibly be leading the way on local ecig legislation.

On Thursday November the 24th the 4th item on the Council agenda was “TOBACCO HARM REDUCTION: A POLICY STATEMENT ON ELECTRONIC CIGARETTES” with the purpose of the report being “To ask the Panel to consider and comment upon a draft Policy Statement on the use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) to reduce the harm from tobacco in Hertfordshire.”

They seem to have taken the information from Public Health England, and the Royal College of Physicians (both documents they have also linked to in the report) very much to heart and paid attention to the details too, especially the science bits. The whole document is pages long but summarised very nicely towards the end in a handy little chart.

If you live in Herefordshire what can you expect? Well as long as you have a licensed or CE marked product, a lot more flexibility than other councils. If you work outdoors the rules are that vaping is allowed anywhere in the grounds but not in council vehicles just like food and drink for road safety reasons. If you work indoors on council property, if none of your colleagues object and your vapour is minimal you might be able to vape at your desk, if there’s quite a few vapers they suggest an indoor area maybe allocated for use on breaks. You probably won’t be able to charge your device or batteries in the building though.

For community sites within the council area such as hospitals the policy could be to allow vaping anywhere in the grounds as long as there are no child play areas. They do stress the point that vapers should not be required to stand with smokers in a smoking shelter or restricted area provided for smokers. Acute hospitals maybe providing communal areas for the patients to vape and the staff could have the same. For Mental health units they simply use the word “Allow”. Maternity areas/units should also consider internal vaping areas. For prisons and custody areas again it’s just a straight forward “Allow”

Moving into the wider community council areas such as play parks and places of learning for children the advice is to consider “adult only” indoor areas for the staff where the children are not allowed to enter. For adult residential areas bedroom and communal area use is allowed however charging in an oxygen rich environment is not acceptable. Public transport like buses and trains are enclosed areas and the suggestion is that in the enclosed areas it’s not allowed but it is in the open areas. They do admit on this section though that it would be “difficult to monitor”. The hospitality industry is the last section and the advice there is that:

“Permit in all open spaces. Permit vaping areas in restaurants, pubs and hotels subject to considering nonvaping areas and ensuring the amount of vapour and smell is not intrusive to others”

This is just draft form and hasn’t yet been brought into the rules but doesn’t all that sound like it’s been considered and well thought out? It seems they may be the first council to have some common sense about ecigs and have definitely read the information at hand rather than headed straight to panic mode. Maybe all the local councils should be taking a look at what Hertfordshire is trying to achieve and getting some basic common sense rules in place. I think I’ll forward this information to my local council, try to show them how it should be done!

P.S. It’s nearly Christmas and if you want to buy the vaper that has everything something different Doctor Farsalinos (huge vaping advocate, I’ve referenced his work on this blog many times) has just co-authored a book. Available on Amazon and all other online bookstores it’s titled “Analytical Assessment of e-cigarettes: From contents to chemical and particle exposure profiles” Admittedly it’s not quite coffee table browsing but they might still like it.

Filed Under: News

Out in the Cold

November 18, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Have you ever been made to stand in the smoking shelter by your employer while you vape? It seems that could be a little bit naughty of them.

A report has been commissioned by Freedom to Vape, by using the freedom of information act they contacted every council in the UK to ask about their vaping policy.

In total 386 councils responded, a response rate of over 92.5%.

The results of request are that:

  • 112 councils (29 per cent of those who responded) require vapers to use designated smoking areas in all or some circumstances, despite the fact that vapers are not smokers – indeed the vast majority of those who vape do so as a means of quitting combustible tobacco or to reduce the amount of tobacco they consume. Two included in the list required vapers to vape in close proximity to designated smoking areas.
  • 335 councils (87 per cent of those who responded) have the same (or effectively the same) policy on vaping as they do on smoking.
  • Just one council – the London Borough of Enfield – allows vaping indoors and actively encourages staff to vape instead of smoking combustible tobacco, in line with recommendations from Public Health England and the Royal College of Physicians.
  • Three other councils (Belfast, Chiltern and South Bucks) allow vaping at desks; however, they do so because currently there isn’t a policy in place.

Huge pat on the back for The London Borough of Enfield (also Belfast, Chiltern and South Bucks, keep it that way too please) but where does that leave the rest of us? Out in the cold apparently. Considering Public Health England’s (PHE) published guidelines about vaping, which are:

  1. Make clear the distinction between vaping and smoking.
  2. Ensure policies are informed by the evidence on health risks to bystanders.
  3. Identify and manage risks of uptake by children and young people.
  4. Support smokers to stop smoking and stay smoke-free.
  5. Support compliance with smoke-free law and policies.

Most councils seem to fall far short of the recommendations. With very few of them recognising a difference between vaping and smoking and not making policies based on evidence. What’s worse is asking someone who no longer smokes to stand in the one place they have chosen not to be – the smoking shelter. Is asking non smokers to go to the smoking shelter complying with smoke free laws? I don’t claim to be psychic but I do sense a legal case coming soon!

If you want to see how your local council responded all the information is on the Freedom to Vape website (My local council couldn’t even be bothered to acknowledge the request) and if you want to voice your own opinion you can do so using the write to them website.

Filed Under: News

BMJ Article Gets it Right

November 11, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Since the start of this blog we have regularly referenced and discussed research published in many of the large medical journals, did you know some of them also have a section for articles?

Published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) the article is titled “E-cigarette use in public places: striking the right balance” and tries to dispel the myths and fear mongering surrounding ecigs and the recent new laws. The authors are all names you will recognise if you read this blog often, Linda Bauld, Ann McNeill, Peter Hajek, John Britton, and Martin Dockrell, and are all very much respected in their fields of expertise.

They cover 3 areas of concern in the article (all with very long answers so I’ll summarise), starting with:

Firstly “Is e-cigarette vapour harmful to bystanders?” in short the answer is no. The report by the Royal College of Physicians titled “Nicotine without smoke: tobacco harm reduction” summarised many of the recent studies to reach its conclusion that there was no evidence that passive exposure was likely to cause significant harm to bystanders. Although exhaled nicotine can be deposited on surfaces, it is at extremely low levels and no mechanism has been proposed by which these deposits could be ingested in doses that could cause physical harm. So even licking the window all day you couldn’t ingest enough nicotine from deposits to cause you harm, other things maybe but not the nicotine.

The second section is “How could a ban on e-cigarettes in indoor places affect smoking?” Again they don’t see this as a good idea. For Children or young adults they reference the studies that researched the “gateway effect” showing that ecigs do not normalise smoking or encourage none smokers to take up the habit of traditional tobacco or ecigs. Adult smokers are finding ecigs more useful as a smoking cessation tool than pharmaceutical options but the misconceptions that ecigs are as bad as cigarettes seems to be growing. Banning ecigs in places smoking is banned would promote that misconception and deter potential switchers away from trying.

Thirdly “What are the views of stakeholders?” believe it or not but stakeholders aren’t the users of ecigs (who has the biggest stake if it’s not the vaper?) but employers and those who set the guidelines for employment. In this section they talk about the recommendation from Public Health England who decided that national legislation was not acceptable in this area as there were too many variables so a set of guidelines were suggested instead. These are: make a clear distinction between vaping and smoking; ensure policies are based on evidence of harm to bystanders; identify and manage risks of uptake by children and young people; support smokers to stop smoking and stay smoke free; and support compliance with smoke-free laws and policies. This would allow a builders merchant to make more relevant rules about its vaping policy compared to the school down the road.

They close the article with the conclusion that the evidence to date does not support a policy to stop e-cigarette use in enclosed public places and such policies could have significant consequences by sustaining the use of smoked tobacco. In addition, if and when vapour products with a medicinal license become available, it will be important to allow their use indoors, just as any other medication can be used indoors.

It’s a great article and should have been broadcast widely but it hasn’t been so in some regards it’s a shame this article is in the BMJ, it means most people and policymakers won’t get to see it unless they go looking for it. Or we tell them about it.

Filed Under: News

The Diet You Didn’t Know Existed

November 4, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Welcome aboard the vape train all you new Stoptober vapers, how’s it going so far? Well I hope? If you are struggling at all feel free to pop into one of our shops for a chat or a confidence boost if you need it. But remember you’re awesome and you’re doing well!

If you are one of those types of folks who doesn’t believe in diets (bit like me but it’s because I love my choccy to much) then this won’t be good news for you, however if putting on weight from quitting smoking was one of the reasons you had delayed switching to vaping for so long then this will make your day. Vaping can help you lose weight.

Anecdotally most vapers have been making this claim for quite some time but the claims covered various reasons, was it because you still had something in your hands? Because you still had the hand to mouth action? Because you could get flavours that compensated for your sweet tooth? Or maybe it was all of the above. The first research looking at this phenomenon was published at the start of 2016 (Our blog post on it is here) although no conclusive reason was decided upon the trial they conducted seem to agree with vapers claims.

Taking what was learnt in the original study this new team of researchers wondered if it could be the lack of nicotine in those giving up having an effect on the brain causing them to eat more and given the global epidemic in obesity at the moment they thought it would be worth pursuing. So can you get the weight balancing benefits of smoking by using an ecig? It seems yes is the answer.

The team realised the nicotine in the ecig was having exactly the same effect on the brain as it does in tobacco cigarettes, causing the switchers to eat less and therefore mitigate the weight gain effects of quitting traditional tobacco. Coupled with the other benefits of having something to do with your hands and tastes you enjoy plus the familiar hand to mouth action they all added together to make vaping as successful as smoking for keeping the weight off. Just like the vapers claimed, it’s all of the above, a whole body and mind amalgamation.

The team did stress that it wasn’t a good idea for non-smokers to take up vaping as a diet plan it was just a happy side effect of the process of switching. This one is just for vapers, so hands off non- smokers get your own method. For those of you just joining us on the vape train, welcome to a happier healthier and maybe skinnier new you, we hope you enjoy the ride.

Filed Under: News

Another Reason to Vape Instead of Smoke

October 28, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

For those of you who have switched to vaping already I have another reason for you to feel a little better about the decision you made to switch away from tobacco cigarettes, for those of you that are still thinking about making the jump this might help to make your mind up. Every smoker, non smoker, and those somewhere in between has heard about the ailments and illnesses that lead from smoking.

Sometimes the press has even tried to manoeuvre ecigs into that bracket as well and recent public surveys have shown that ecigs are starting to have a bad public perception.

Some research that was released this week shows the opposite side of that argument. Published on the National Center for Biotechnology website which is part of the United States National Library of Medicine, the article was titled “Electronic Cigarette: Role in the Primary Prevention of Oral Cavity Cancer”. The researchers wanted to find out if using ecigs had the same effect on the chances of oral cancer as smoking did, or would it be the same as a non smoker?

They took 65 people who were split into 3 groups, non smokers, smokers, and ecig users. The genders and ages were divided equally between the 3 groups and all 65 subjects were required to be either a non smoker, smoker, or ecig user for at least 6 months before the study. The subjects also had to meet other criteria such as no oral disease in the last 6 months, no alcoholism, and no previous history of malignancy. The researchers then took samples from the inside of their mouths and analysed these under a microscope. They were looking for the exposure to carcinogens creating a presence of micronucleus and therefore signs of a cancer risk.

After all that prodding, scraping, and analysing, did they find anything to compare ecigs with tobacco cigarettes? Well, no they didn’t. In fact the researchers said that:

“Our results show that e-cigarettes cause no harm in the oral cavity and, therefore, should be suggested as a reliable aid to smoking cessation compared to alternative methods.”

Yet another reason to smile, go on, show off those great tobacco free pearly whites and know you have made the right decision to switch to vaping!

Filed Under: News

A quick reminder about battery safety

October 14, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

More and more people are moving onto bigger and better ecigs these days so occasionally I like to do a gentle reminder about battery safety. You don’t need to be a fully qualified electrician to vape safely but you do need a little bit of common sense. Follow these tips and you should be vaping safely for years.

  • Those devices with an inbuilt battery are probably the easiest to take care of. They will usually come complete with a charging cable and instructions. Although you may have similar looking cables, some cables have circuits that tailor the power output so it is highly advised that only the cable that was supplied should be used.
  • Don’t leave your device or batteries charging unattended or overnight. In the unlikely event the batteries should vent it could cause a fire.
  • If you are using a USB plug to power your charge cable check the output of the plug is compatible with your battery’s charge tolerance, too high an output and even the right cable might not be able to protect you.
  • When your device isn’t in use turn it off! In your pocket or handbag also counts as not being in use. If you have removable batteries then you will need a battery box to transport them when they aren’t in your device. You can buy these for just a pound or two from any vape shop. Never put a loose battery directly into your pocket as small change or keys will cause them to short and possibly explode.
  • Batteries are not fans of extreme temperatures; don’t let them get too hot or too cold. Keep them out of direct sun and heat; don’t leave them outside in winter (overnight in the car for example).
  • Batteries also don’t like water; if your device or batteries get wet allow them to dry out completely and check for any visible damage. If in doubt seek the advice from your local vape shop.
  • Inspection of device and batteries should be undertaken regularly for signs of damage. Batteries should be checked for signs of corrosion or leakage as well as nicks or cuts to their wrapping and use should be stopped immediately and advice sought from your local vape shop.
  • If your device takes replaceable batteries then only quality batteries should be used, with special attention given to the correct amperage rating. Most devices with electronics built in will not fire if you try to exceed your battery limit. However this safeguard should not be relied upon and a competent understanding of the correct coil resistance range should be known. Once again this information will be available in the instructions or from your local vape shop.
  • Mechanical devices, those that don’t contain electronics pose the highest risk of shorting and over stressing the batteries. Therefore should only be used by advanced and competent vapers.
  • Only use a reputable vendor, someone who knows what they are talking about and won’t sell you something totally unsuitable for your needs. If you are in any doubt just ask, even if you didn’t buy it from us we can still offer advice and guidance. All our stores are open 7 days a week; we want you to be able to enjoy your vaping safely.

Filed Under: News

It’s all about the taste

October 7, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

What’s more important to you the nicotine or the flavour of your vape? For a long time scientists have believed it’s all about the nicotine but new research published in the BMJ (British Medical Journal) this week throws a cat amongst the pigeons on that theory.

The idea behind the research was to see if flavour had any effect on how people liked or disliked their ecig.

Yeah, I know, every vaper already knows this but research makes it official. They recruited 31 participants (13 female/18 male) 12 were ecig only users and 19 were using both the ecig and traditional tobacco. They each tried out 6 commercially available 12mg liquids and firstly rated them how much they liked/disliked the juice overall and then rated each of them for the perceived sweetness, bitterness, coolness and harshness of each individual juice.

The results were almost as shocking as finding out leaves are green. The juices that were perceived the sweetest were the ones that were ranked higher on the like scores. This was closely followed by the juices that scored high on coolness. Bitterness and harshness brought up the rear. Which led the research team to conclude that:

“Bitterness and harshness have negative impacts on the liking of e-cigarettes, but the addition of flavourants that elicit sweetness or coolness generally improves liking. The results suggest that flavours play an important role in e-cigarette preference and most likely use.”

I find a lot of new vapers start off with the tobacco and menthol flavours and after a few weeks when your taste buds start to come back to life again that’s when many then switch over to something a little more fruity and flavoursome. This isn’t the standard for everyone though, quite a few people stick with the tobaccos and menthols for their entire vaping career and I’m one of those people. Over five years vaping now and I still prefer a tobacco flavour more than a fruity one. I guess yet again it just shows we are all different when it comes to flavour and what works for one won’t always work for another.

This research also shows that flavour is just as important to vapers as the nicotine is. Getting the right flavour makes vaping more enjoyable which means you are more likely to use your ecig, it also goes to show that it’s not the kids the sweet flavours are aimed at, the adults enjoy them just as much. Next time someone says to you that the ecig didn’t work for them, suggest they try another flavour.

Filed Under: News

Still No Gateway Effect

September 30, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

September has been a fantastic month for ecig research, so we are still playing a little bit of catch up trying to get through it all. At the start of the month a little study was released that didn’t pick up much press attention either side of the pond.

Published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine the study refutes the hypothesis that e-cigarettes serve as a gateway to smoking among non-smoking youth.

Dr. Kenneth Warner from the University of Michigan analysed data from the 2015 Monitoring the Future survey. He took things one step further than other studies though, while previous youth smoking studies only ever asked the question “Have you used an e-cigarette in the last month?” Dr. Warner asked what the frequency was in the last month, there’s a huge difference between once in 30 days and several times a day.

He noticed that although the results showed that 6.5% of never smoker 18 year olds had used an ecig in the last month only 0.7% of them reported vaping on 20 or more days in the past month. The main pattern of e-cigarette use among non-smoking youth was vaping about once a week or even less. The study concluded that:

“Never smokers were highly unlikely to have used e-cigarettes, and of those who did, the majority used e-cigarettes only 1-2 days.”

Does 0.7% count as a gateway? When teen smoking rates are at the lowest they have ever been 0.7% is even lower than “normal” so I don’t think it does represent a gateway (Unless they mean a really tiny gateway, one made out of lolly sticks for little tiny people like fairies or pixies.) and neither does Dr. Michael Siegel. On his Tobacco Analysis Website he says that:

“These findings provide no support for the theory that e-cigarettes are a gateway to smoking, these findings refute the gateway hypothesis and show that the claims being made by many anti-smoking groups and agencies, including the CDC, are false.”

Strong words from Dr. Siegel indeed.

Filed Under: News

Stoptober or Switchtober?

September 23, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

It’s that time of year again; the great NHS Stoptober campaign is gaining speed and signing people up across the UK. If you have never heard of Stoptober it’s an NHS campaign with celebrity endorsements to get you to quit smoking. You sign up via your local Stop Smoking Service (SSS) or through the NHS website and make the 1st of October your start date.

The idea is if you can go smoke free for 28 days then you are 5 times more likely to quit for good. The NHS will send you supportive emails or texts there’s also an app and even a Facebook bot that can message you practical support.

Is this your year to try? Or do you think that yet again you will try your hardest but after a day or two the lives of your nearest and dearest may be in danger if they offer you one more word of encouragement? Maybe this time around it might be time to give ecigs a go. Don’t think of it as quitting or stopping, quitting anything is hard, think of it as switching. I’m calling it Switchtober.

The NHS are quite happy for ecigs to be your chosen method to quit tobacco cigarettes and will still offer you all the additional support you can get if your using a more traditional method of quitting. The NHS Stoptober website says that:

“E-cigarettes are particularly effective when combined with support from local stop smoking services – people who choose this route have some of the highest quitting success rates.”

If you’re thinking of giving Stoptober a try this year and using ecigs to do it then pop into one of our shops and have a chat with the team, try a device and see if it’s something you think might be able to work for you. We have all been where you are now, and want you to have the help that we had when we made the big jump. Our team here at Phoenix are happy to offer as much encouragement as you need and we also have many practical tips and tricks to help you get the most from your ecig.

It’s no secret that stopping smoking is the single best thing you can do to improve your health for yourself and those who love you. What have you got to lose? This could finally be your Switchtober!

Filed Under: News

Ecigs can help more people quit!

September 16, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

I’m not just making that up either, there’s evidence to back it up. A study recently published in The BMJ (The British Medical Journal) has made headlines on the BBC website and in The Guardian.

The study titled “Association between electronic cigarette use and changes in quit attempts, success of quit attempts, use of smoking cessation pharmacotherapy, and use of stop smoking services in England: time series analysis of population trends” wanted to know if ecigs had played any part in helping people quit smoking, and if so what was it?

From the results they published it seems that quit attempts did not really change once ecigs came onto the market. Quit attempts did however become much more successful using an ecig, about 18,000 people were more successful last year than they would have been due to the ecig. The team also believes that use of ecigs has caused a reduction of traditional NRT and ecigs are seen by those wishing to use them as the best chance of quitting tobacco. The team collected their data between 2006 and 2015 using the Smoking Toolkit Study and the national behavioural support programme (NHS Stop Smoking Service to you and me). During this period over 8 million quit dates were set.

At the same time as The BMJ study, the Cochrane Review also released their 2nd data study. The Cochrane Review is seen as the gold standard in research groups. They added to the findings of The BMJ study saying that “In the short- to medium-term we didn’t find any evidence that they were associated with any serious side-effects” as always more research is needed longer term. This is very similar to the findings of the 1st Cochrane Review back in 2014. They believe that ecigs will keep going from strength to strength and that “In the next few years hopefully there will be more evidence out there to strengthen our conclusions.”

What’s your vaping story? Did you try traditional NRT first or just skip it and go straight to your ecig?

Filed Under: News

Scottish mums to be could be using ecigs soon and Bradford Council going soft

September 9, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Scotland’s history with the ecig has been a touch erratic over the last few years. There could be a turning point on the horizon however; an article published on the Herald Scotland website claims the world’s first study examining the safety of ecigs for pregnant women will take place there next year.

Professor Linda Bauld of the University of Sterling will be one of the team leading the study. She said:

“We will be recruiting several hundred pregnant smokers and randomising them to use NRT and behavioural support, or an e-cigarette and behavioural support and then we will see how they get on,”

The researchers plan to answer 3 questions; does it help them stop smoking? Do they like it? And is it safe?

The latest research in Scotland suggests that nearly 10,000 pregnant women in Scotland are current smokers at their first health visit. New guidance for midwives states only NRT should be recommended but no one should be discouraged from using ecigs if it helps you quit. Janet Fyle, policy advisor with the Royal College of Midwives said:

“We have to say the jury is still out on e-cigarettes. We do not know what the harm is if any, so we have to be cautious and say to (pregnant) women this is the perfect opportunity to give up smoking, improve your health and stay smoke-free”

This is huge news and a potential game changer for attitudes towards ecigs.

It seems Bradford Council maybe trying to do their part for ecigs too. According to an article in the Telegraph and Argus newspaper, Bradford Council are being urged to become “vape friendly”. The paper published by Public Health England last August, stating the ecigs are 95% safer than tobacco is at the center of the new debate. Councillor Simon Cooke, leader of the Conservative Group on Bradford Council has called on the council to bring its self into line with the published guidance.

Mr Cooke said “Despite this evidence, the Council and many other bodies persist with policies that ban vaping and it is time this changed.” And that “It is wrong to treat these people (Vapers) in the same way as smokers and, worse, these bans act to discourage people from switching to safer vaping. I think it’s time the Council permitted staff to use e-cigarettes, and allowed the public to vape in Council premises such as the markets and leisure facilities.”

Mr Cooke didn’t stop there though; he would also like to see the bans lifted across all private buildings and believes the council could lead the way in this, all in the name of public health. Surprisingly the council didn’t just laugh at him and call him a looney, they are taking this proposal seriously and are “currently reviewing our HR policy in relation to e-cigarettes and their use on council premises to ensure a sensible policy”

Come on Bradford Council, get this right and you could lead the way for the rest of the country. It only takes one to start the ball rolling!

Filed Under: News

Vaping Bad – Or is it?

September 2, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

After a couple of weeks of great research the scary headlines are back in full flow again. The most prominent one was featured on the front page of The Sun Newspaper. Titled “Vaping as bad as fags: e-cigs seriously damage heart” That is a fairly strong scare headline right on the front page. Yet the first line of the article includes the word “could” so it’s not a definite like the headline suggests and that’s just the first line.

The article is based on a study published in The Journal of the American College of Cardiology in which the authors claim that Vaping for 30 minutes has the same effect on the arteries as smoking for 5 minutes. The result they observed is called arterial stiffening.

Let’s break this down a little; firstly Arterial Hardening is a thing. Secondly, you would have to vape six times longer than you smoke for in one session to get the same effect. They also fail to mention the temporary hardening disappeared after 30 minutes unlike smoking which was 60 minutes and they also failed to show the comparison to NRT in the article.

Thirdly (and most importantly) the result was an expected one; all stimulants have the same effect on the arteries, this includes caffeine, stress, an exciting movie, (sorry about this one) sex, exercise, rock music and lifting your head up to name but a few, the list is quite extensive. Yet none of those are ever stated to be “as bad as smoking”. Just because a stimulant causes a change to some measurable property of the body, it cannot be assumed (as they appear to have done here) that this will lead to harm in the long term.

Several people were quoted in the article arguing against the claim. Deborah Arnott from ASH UK was one of them; she “insisted e-cigs were much safer than tobacco.” Also Rosanna O’Connor, director of drugs, alcohol and tobacco at Public Health England, agreed, saying:

“Vaping carries a fraction of the risk of smoking.”

Prof. Peter Hajek and Prof. Michael Siegel even went so far as to create web pages to show their own reasons why the article was incorrect. Both are very good reads.

If you were dashing past the newsstand on your way to work and saw The Suns front page headline then the damage is probably already done. But what should the headline really of said? Maybe something like “Vaping not as bad as fags: ecigs don’t seriously damage heart” or maybe “Study does not show that Vaping causes heart disease and stroke” defiantly not front page material though is it?

Filed Under: News

Vapers Get Sick Less than Smokers Claims New Study

August 26, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

A study published recently in the Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy suggests that Vapers get less airway infections than smokers.

The study took the form of a survey on two of the largest German vaping forums E-Rauchen-Forum and Dampfertreff-Forum.

The opening post on the forum thread commented on an article that suggested vaping could increase rates of common cold and respiratory infections, the post starter claimed that he had had the opposite experience and wanted to find out what everyone else had experienced.

He asked people to respond honestly and reminded them that this was just about infections such as the common cold and not asthma or COPD. He also asked that only people who had vaped exclusively or those who had cut down by at least 95% and vaped for at least 2 months to respond.

The question they were then asked to answer was:

Since switching to e-cigarettes, the frequency of any airways infections I get has:

a) decreased;
b) not markedly changed;
c) increased.

Responders could also provide extra comments if they wished to.

The survey ran from the 24th of September 2014 until the 31st December 2015. The results were then run through a piece of software that identified those who had responded more than once to remove multiple entries from the gathered data. The results were that 941 individual responders had completed the survey and of those 29% noticed no change in respiratory symptoms, 5% reported a worsening of symptoms and 66% reported an improvement.

Now I know what you’re thinking, this is all anecdotal; they could just be claiming to feel better to portray vaping in a good light. The researchers were also having these thoughts. They said that:

“The survey has several limitations. The reports were subjective and there is a possibility that vapers were trying to portray vaping in a positive light to counteract the general anti-vaping ethos of public health and media coverage of vaping. The survey pleaded for honesty, but it is possible that some responders reported improvements in infection resistance even when the actual change was small or none.”

However the results showing such a huge positive result were along the lines of what the researchers were expecting. They went onto say that:

“The finding of an improvement in respiratory health in people who quit smoking is not surprising because smoking causes increased susceptibility to respiratory infections. In addition to this however, there is also a possibility that inhaled propylene glycol may further magnify this effect. This is because this key ingredient of most e-liquids has antimicrobial effects. Vaping may provide a degree of antimicrobial protection, but experimental evidence is needed to confirm whether such an effect exists. In summary, the switch from smoking to vaping seems associated with a reduced incidence of airway infections, but further studies using objective measures are needed.”

I very much look forward to the next phase of this study and the possible results that could come from it. But while we wait for that I’ll just ask, has vaping made any difference to the amount of colds you get?

Filed Under: News

Scientists Prove What Vapers Have Known for a While

August 19, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Anecdotal evidence about feeling better once you switch from smoking to vaping has been rife amongst vapers for years but now the research appears to be catching up. A Study led by Roswell Park Cancer Institute in America has been published in the Nicotine & Tobacco Research Journal and has shown significant evidence supporting vapers’ claims that they feel better once they are no longer inhaling all the rubbish included in tobacco smoke. The study wanted to find out if the vapers claims that you get the nicotine with none of the rubbish where anywhere near true.

The researchers took a group of 20 current smokers, who had smoked for an average of 12 years and had a desire to quit, and tested their urine samples (ewww, who said research is boring?) for seven nicotine metabolites and 17 tobacco smoke exposure biomarkers. They then gave each of the smokers a 1st generation ecig (slightly bigger than a lookalike type but not as good as the more common devices available today) to use for 2 weeks and tested them again after 1 weeks use and again at the 2 week end date.

In total 45% of the participants were able to just use their ecig with no tobacco at all after the 2 week period, with 55% continuing with their tobacco cigarettes. After the 1st week with the ecig the biomarkers the researchers were looking for had significantly decreased in those just using the ecig and the nicotine levels had remained similar. And then they reduced even further after the second weeks testing. This led the team to the conclusion that:

“The decline in toxicant levels was similar to the decline seen among tobacco users who quit smoking. Nicotine metabolites remained unchanged among the majority of study participants, confirming findings from earlier laboratory studies showing that e-cigarettes effectively deliver nicotine to the blood.”

The researchers believe this was the first study of its kind and demonstrates that switching from smoking to vaping may reduce the exposure of numerous toxicants and carcinogens present in tobacco and that the data they gathered in the study will help in the evaluation of ecigs as a harm reduction device. Lead author Maciej Goniewicz, PhD, PharmD said that:

“This study suggests that smokers who completely switch to e-cigarettes and stop smoking tobacco cigarettes may significantly reduce their exposure to many cancer-causing chemicals.”

It seems the scientific evidence supporting vapers anecdotal evidence may finally be beginning to arrive. This study was originally conducted between March and June 2011, I have no idea why it has taken this long to publish the results but some suggest it’s a little late now that the Tobacco Products Directive is in effect across Europe and the FDA regulations across America, however I think that every bit of good research helps with public opinion and will hopefully help to build confidence in those nervous about switching to ecigs, especially when the results are this positive.

Filed Under: News

Parliamentary POSTnote Update

August 12, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

When the government introduces legislation it does keep track of the effect the legislation has after introduction. Back in January 2014 the government was aware that it would be introducing ecig legislation soon and produced a preliminary report on the effect it thought would happen, most of the report focused on the scale of use, safety and quality and are they useful as a stop smoking device.

The government have now published an update, which they call a POSTnote. The update looks at all the same points as the original and also determines if the recent legislation has had any effect.

The updated document is available here and is 4 pages long; page 5 is a list of links where information and research was referenced in the document. The document starts with a brief overview; I’ve chosen a few highlights:

  • Nearly 3m people in the UK use ecigarettes. The market is growing rapidly.
  • A growing body of evidence shows that ecigarettes are much less harmful than tobacco.
  • There is evidence showing that e-cigarettes can help smokers quit tobacco.
  • Current evidence suggests that e-cigarettes do not encourage tobacco smoking among non-smokers or children.

After the overview the document gets much more in-depth, starting with a little bit of background and data about tobacco smoking in the UK. One interesting fact from this section is about the income to the Treasury from smokers. £9.5bn not including VAT was made by the Treasury in 2015/16 and the estimate is that £2bn is spent by the NHS on treating smoking related illnesses. There is then a section about the basics of ecigs, the parts, how they work etc. Followed by some information about the patterns of use of ecigs, such as: 98% of users are ex-smokers and use trebled between 2012 and 2014 but has slowed down since. Vaping is also more popular with women and those of a higher socio-economic group.

The section on the public perception of harm is also quite interesting. According to this document 25% of the UK public think that ecigs are similar in harm to tobacco, up from 7% in 2013. However 69% of vapers think the harm is less than tobacco which has risen from 55% in 2015. If you are a smoker who doesn’t vape then only 29% think vaping is better which has come down from 40% in 2015. And the majority of 11-16 year olds think ecigs are harmful but tobacco flavour is worse than a fruit one.

Health effects on vapers and bystanders is the next section covered and a few highlights from this are: research has improved since 2014 and the consensus is that long term health risks to vapers require monitoring but are unlikely to exceed 5% of the harm of tobacco. Health risks to bystanders are smaller still; current evidence shows that levels are negligible. On technical safety and quality the report concludes that although a few fires have been reported from ecigs these are “comparable to similar electrical goods”

We move onto the value of ecigs as a stop smoking tool, ecigs have given traditional NRT a bit of a kicking in the market place in recent years so has it been worth it? It seems to depend on how you intend to quit, is it with help or are you going to go solo. The document says that:

  • 50% more effective than unsupported attempts, including over-the-counter NRT used without professional support
  • Of similar effectiveness as prescribed NRT or drugs
  • Less effective than NRT or drugs used with regular face-to-face support from NHS Stop Smoking Services.

The document does also say that the evidence is limited as a stop smoking tool as there is such a low number of randomised controlled trials and that previous trials have used less effective types of ecigs. There is currently an ongoing trial using much more advanced devices and the results are due in 2018. The evidence so far is suggesting using more advanced devices within the stop smoking support framework should be at least as successful as other NRT.

The document comes to a close with information about the recent Tobacco Products Directive and the current regulations surrounding ecigs. Are the recent restrictions on ecigs imposed by the Tobacco Products Directive relevant and useful? This question is still very much a hot topic of debate and both sides of the argument are given in the document.

Filed Under: News

What a Weekend! UK VapeFest 2016!

August 8, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

What did you get up to this weekend? Did you have a good time?

I did, I made my way down to Shrewsbury to attend the biggest vaping festival in the UK and it was fantastic. Thousands of people attended again this year and the atmosphere was amongst the best yet.

The Saturday started off with a frantic dash to get the stuff my manager wanted (he couldn’t attend but gave me a shopping list). Once I had his list done it was my chance to grab the bits I wanted and then it was time to take the pace down a little and actually have a look at who was there and what they brought. There were a few new VapeFest releases of juices and atty’s but most vendors had brought the usual Brands with a special VapeFest price tag attached. VapeFest isn’t really known for the free samples but the prices are always very attractive on the day, although I did manage a few freebie juices.

The food wagons were there again this year, except for the vegetarian one which was a little disappointing for some folks. But my chip buttie was lovely and I bumped into Phoenix’s head of flavour development Dan Gordon.

I did say I would Photoshop the beer out of the picky but oops I forgot. He was working hard though, making his way round the stalls talking to vendors about EL-Science.

Vapers in Power had a marquee again this year with a couple of talks going on over both days of VapeFest, very interesting stuff about the future of vaping with the Tobacco Products Directive now in effect.

Then it was time for the raffle. With at least 60 prizes everyone in the crowd was hopeful; I know there were at least 60 prizes because I won one of them! I can’t bring you any pictures of that yet though as it hasn’t been delivered yet, but I can tell you it’s a special edition Rude Oil BBQ.

The grounds cleared out fairly quickly after the raffle as the evening’s festivities began. Those who stayed behind got to enjoy the live band and the beer wagons. I headed back to the hotel as happy hour began at 6PM. That was day 1.

Sunday last year was much more of a social day and the same happened this year, a lot more of the vendors stayed for the Sunday this year and it was nowhere near as manic as Saturday. Plenty of opportunity to try the juices and devices in a more relaxed atmosphere. Lunchtime saw a couple more talks from Vapers in Power and I spent my time after that catching up with VapeFest friends new and old. By 6pm most of the vendors had packed up and VapeFest 2016 came to a close. What a weekend, fantastic weather and all. I hope I see you there next year!

Filed Under: News

It’s Nearly Time… For UK VapeFest 2016!

July 29, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

It’s Nearly Time… For UK VapeFest 2016! We are now just days away from the UK’s biggest vaping event.

Saturday the 6th of August and Sunday the 7th are the dates for your diary and the location for your Satnav is the West Midlands Showground, Shrewsbury SY1 2PF.

Every year VapeFest gets bigger and better as the vaping community grows and last year was a great weekend out so it could be hard to top this time around but I believe it will be the best yet.

Gates open at 10am on Saturday and will stay open until 10pm. Sunday will be a 10am start again but closing at 8pm. Admission has always been and will continue to be free again this year. There is a small charge of £10 per adult this year for camping which must be booked and paid for in advance*. But that charge gives you the chance of extra tickets in the raffle and a secondary raffle for campers only with at least 1 prize being worth over £500. If camping isn’t for you there are many great hotels locally and usually a couple of pub crawls to join in with on the Friday and Saturday night.

The next important thing to mention is the Raffle. Always a huge part of the event, tickets cost £2 each last year so I expect this year’s price to be the same and maximum of 5 tickets per person. The money raised from the raffle goes towards the event nominated charity and this year that will be Tiny Hearts based at Barnsley Hospital. Tickets are only available on the day and by those attending in person; you also have to be there to claim the prize. The prizes are always well worth winning with everything in there from litres of juice to attys to mods and squonkers, very often all in one prize pack. The raffle will take place at 4pm on the Saturday and with at least 50 prizes to give away it can take a while, get a drink to bring with you while you wait to win.

Most of the 75+ vendors will be offering some great VapeFest only deals so if there is something specific you have been wanting get in there early as it can get a little manic and most of them will start closing down between 5 and 6pm on the Saturday. The shopping may be over but the party is just starting, at 6pm the Rock band “Hedgehog” is due on stage covering classics from Prince, Metallica and Queen amongst many others. The Food and Drink vans will be open until closing at 10pm or if you would rather you can head on into town. Sunday last year was much more of a social day with more chatting going on rather than shopping, there will still be things to spend your cash on but not quite as much.

Disabled access is available as much as is possible and the access to the toilets is on the radar system. The one building with a lip to the entrance will have ramps available but do bear in mind that the event is held in a field so the Great British weather may have other alternatives in mind, brollies and wellies might be needed. Children and dogs are also welcome but again please remember that vaping is an over 18 hobby so there will not be any entertainment for the kids and they must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

If you see the organisers Ukric, Fiona, Funkybunch, itsmeitis, wyrm1973 or Cerby wandering round in their official lanyards feel free to say Hi and Thank you as they do this for free every year so we can have a great day out. If you want to look at the finer details of what to expect on the day you can have a look at the official VapeFest website here. See you there!

*At time of writing camping tickets were still available but have since closed.

Filed Under: News

Public Health England Set the Standard

July 22, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Public Health England is getting involved in vaping again, and again it’s on a positive note. Now they have written and published advice for employers on how to treat vapers at work.

The advice is contained in 3 documents, the first is titled “Use of e-cigarettes in public places and workplaces: advice to inform evidence-based policy making” the second is “Report of PHE stakeholder ‘conversation’ on use of e-cigarettes in enclosed public places and workplaces” and thirdly we have “E-cigarettes in public places and workplaces: a 5-point guide to policy making”.

The most interesting to me is the third document (it’s also the shortest) and it’s the one I’ll talk about, but all 3 are available for your perusal here. The other two documents expand on the 5 points laid out and summarise the way they came to these conclusions.

This page is very simply laid out with just a 5 point bulleted list:-

  1.  Make a clear distinction between vaping and smoking
    E-cigarette use does not meet the legal or clinical definitions of smoking. Furthermore, international peer-reviewed evidence suggests that e-cigarettes carry a fraction of the risk of cigarettes and have the potential to help drive down smoking rates, denormalise smoking, and improve public health. So policies need to be clear on the differences between vaping and smoking.
  2. Ensure policies are based on evidence of harm to bystanders
    The evidence of harm from secondhand smoke is conclusive and provides the basis for UK smokefree laws. In contrast, international peer-reviewed evidence indicates that the risk to the health of bystanders from secondhand e-cigarette vapour is extremely low and insufficient to justify prohibiting e-cigarettes. This evidence should inform risk assessments.
  3. Identify and manage risks of uptake by children and young people
    E-cigarette use is not recommended for young people and this is reflected in the UK’s age of sale and advertising restrictions. However, because adult smokers use e-cigarettes to quit smoking and stay smokefree, the products can help reduce children’s and young people’s exposure to secondhand smoke and smoking role models. In developing policies for child and youth settings, guarding against potential youth uptake should be balanced with fostering an environment where it is easier for adults not to smoke.
  4. Support smokers to stop smoking and stay smokefree
    E-cigarettes are used almost exclusively by smokers and ex-smokers and are now the most popular stop-smoking aid in England. To help smokers to stop smoking and stay smokefree, a more enabling approach to vaping may be appropriate to make it an easier choice than smoking. In particular, vapers should not be required to use the same space as smokers, as this could undermine their ability to quit and stay smokefree.
  5. Support compliance with smokefree law and policies
    Maintain and support compliance with smokefree requirements by emphasising a clear distinction between smoking and vaping. Indicate accurately where vaping is permitted or prohibited, and communicate the policy clearly to everyone it affects.

The way I read those 5 suggestions is that PHE are very much taking a common sense, evidence based approach and suggest that employers do too.

  1. Don’t demonise your vaping employees, they are trying to do something good for their health, you should learn the difference between smoking and vaping and help them.
  2. Don’t panic that the cloud of vapour is going to mean instant death, look at the evidence before you over-react.
  3. Don’t ban them totally because a child may see someone using them but provide a discreet place the vaper can go, after all you wouldn’t ask someone to remove their Nicotine patch while working at their desk would you?
  4. Don’t send your vaping staff out to the same shelter as the smokers; it’s not a nice place for a non-smoker and it may make it harder for them to stay off the ciggies.
  5. Don’t blanket ban the vapers, put some signs up to show where vaping is acceptable and where it isn’t, just like you do for smoking, perhaps even provide a vaping room nearby.

Common sense!

If you have trouble vaping at work then maybe show the PHE information to your boss and it might help, you could also show him this article from the Nottingham Post, back in May they decided to overturn the blanket ban on vaping on the hospital grounds, saying that:

“We have a duty to help our patients and staff make healthy life choices, and can’t ignore the potential benefits of electronic cigarettes as a nicotine replacement therapy. We’re now allowing e-cigarettes on our grounds to give our patients, staff and visitors more choice in how they quit smoking.”

Much better idea than the Big Red Panic Button and it was all down to advice and recommendations from PHE.

Filed Under: News

The Night that Changed our World – EU Referendum

June 24, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

June 23rd 2016 saw the historical referendum vote by the people of the UK. The referendum saw a massive 72% turnout and 16.8 million votes needed for the winning side, with 308 of the 382 areas declaring their results.A t 4:39 am on the 24th of June 2016, David Dimbleby and the BBC announced that the people had spoken and decided 52% to 48% to leave the EU. There is now a lot of uncertainty ahead for every member of our society and the coming days will involve a lot of bickering, discussion, and decision making. All of that will be covered by the mainstream press endlessly I’m sure; we are here to find out how it affects vapers.

The answer is (I’ve been waiting weeks to say this): we just don’t know! Sorry- I couldn’t resist, but it’s true. It could take years to extract or repeal all the EU directives currently affecting our lives including the recent Tobacco Products Directive (TPD). Right now, it’s all guesswork. David Cameron has always supported ecigs but now he’s on the verge of resignation. The front runner for the conservative leadership seems to be Boris Johnson and we don’t know his opinion on ecigs yet, but I’m sure he will be only too happy to tell us. And then there’s the House of Lords Regret motion still waiting to be discussed (recently postponed to the 4th of July). While we are still waiting for the waters to settle, let’s take a look the question:

“Did vapers affect the vote?”

Like all good media, the polls are the place to look for answers. Through forums, Twitter and Facebook vapers have been getting surveyed, along with the rest of the UK population. Vaper surveys were a little more specific though. Most of the questions were aimed towards vapers who had followed the TPD through the EU Parliament and one survey asked:

“As a vaper, would you be voting to leave the EU?”

151 vapers responded and 90% voted yes to leaving. Translating that to a national level, it would mean 2.6 million vapers voting out. If that number is accurate and the difference between the referendum leave and remain votes is 1,269,501, could this difference have affected the whole referendum outcome? Could it be that half of those 2.6 million vapers may have voted remain if it were not for the TPD?

Now I’m not saying the leave vote was all because of vapers, because everyone had their own reasons for voting how they did, but vapers have shown their determination and passion on many occasions recently and they come from all walks of life. Whatever the reasons for the leave vote, the decision has now been made, so it’s time to go forward and see what the future holds for us all. Just keep remembering: vaper power!

After 11 hours of referendum watching I’m now off to bed. Night night.

Filed Under: News

The Big Red Panic Button

June 16, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Back in March, I covered the failure of the Welsh Government to bring in their own unique ban on vaping in the great Welsh fresh air all because of a badly timed joke- bad for them, but not for vapers, and the ban was dropped. I found out this week that even after all that stupidity, people still haven’t been put off from demonising vapers in Wales.

An article appeared on the BBC website concerning four Welsh hospitals and their big red buttons. The hospitals involved are Bronglais, Glangwili, Prince Philip and Withybush, and the big red buttons will be located near the main entrances.

I hear you asking; is the big button for security? Entry to the hospital? Emergency help? Nope, no and non. It’s to humiliate smokers and vapers into stopping doing either on hospital grounds.

From now, on upon seeing a smoker or vaper, the panic stricken hospital visitors will be able to furiously smack the big red button, and a message recorded by children will play from the PA system. Click here to hear a sample of the message recorded both in Welsh as well as English (mp3). I’ve visited hospitals many times and they all state “Smoke Free Site” on their signage- no one could really miss it. Yes, there are usually a couple of smokers hanging out by the exits or sitting on a wall if the weather is nice, or a few patients wheeled out by the staff for a quick ciggy- do they all deserve this sort of humiliation? Or will the staff wheel them all the way to the main road so they can partake?

Teresa Owen from the Welsh health board said:

“While the majority of staff, patients and visitors to our sites respect this policy, some people continue to smoke on-site. Everyone has the right to breathe fresh air, especially when visiting a health care facility and we regularly receive complaints about people smoking on our sites.”

I would have thought that they received more complaints about the bad food, parking, lack of appointments and waiting time in A&E than someone outside having a crafty ciggy or a vape. It seems that I am wrong. Although only in Wales at the moment, I’m left wondering how long it will be until other hospitals around the UK are trying something similar themselves- all in the name of fresh air of course.

Filed Under: News

Fatal Motion is now just Regret

June 14, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

This week I was hoping to be able to bring you some happy news about Lord Callanan’s Fatal Motion for the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) in the House of Lords, but it seems that a change to his plan has in fact occurred. No one believed it possible, but Lord Callanan has changed his fatal motion to remove the TPD from UK law to a simple regret motion. This means that nothing will change, the House can regret as much as they like with a 100% vote of support, but nothing will change in law.

The change was noticed a few days ago by some eagle eyed vapers on the House of Lords debate schedule. The notice has now become:

Lord Callanan to move that this House regrets that the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 place restrictions on product choice and advertising of vaping devices were devised before evidence had accumulated that vaping was enabling many people to quit smoking, run counter to advice from the Royal College of Physicians to promote vaping and are so severe that they could force vapers back to smoking and create a black market with harmful products; and calls upon Her Majesty’s Government to withdraw them (SI 2015/507).

Lord Callanan is not the only member of The Lords feeling regretful about the TPD though; Baroness Walmsley has put forward her own Regret motion concerning the advertising ban:

Baroness Walmsley to move that, in the light of the prohibition of commercial advertising of vaping devices in the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 and the proven public health benefit to former smokers of switching to vaping devices, confirmed by the advice from the Royal College of Physicians that vaping is 95 per cent less harmful than smoking tobacco, and that half of all tobacco smokers die from smoking-related causes, this House regrets that the advertising ban would hinder e-cigarettes from being promoted as a way of assisting smokers to stop smoking tobacco, and that concerns regarding the restriction of the nicotine concentration of the vapour have not been properly addressed (SI 2015/507).

And Lord Hunt of Kings Heath Regret has put his concerns about the impact of the TPD and any negative effect it will have on those choosing to vape rather than smoke:
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath to move that, in the light of the concerns about the impact of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 on the use of electronic cigarettes, this House regrets that there is not a monitoring mechanism in place to measure whether the Regulations will have a negative impact on the number of smokers using electronic cigarettes to give up smoking; that the Regulations are not to be accompanied by a public information campaign to reassure smokers that electronic cigarettes are less harmful than normal smoking; that smoking cessation services are being cut back at the same time as the Regulations are being introduced; and that the Regulations are due for implementation before the Government has published their tobacco strategy (SI 2015/507).

Lord Callanan hasn’t yet said openly the reasons for his change of motion from Fatal to Regret, but it is believed that it was because he didn’t have enough support from amongst the Labour Lords. The Regret debates are expected on or before the 15th of June.

Filed Under: News

Quitting the wrong way

June 10, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

I very rarely bring you information on what’s happening across the pond in the US, but sometimes the news is so unbelievable that I just have to mention it. A few days ago, an article appeared on the Reuters website- at first it seemed like the usual stuff about people being put off vaping and ecigs by all the scare stories in the media. Then I spotted the closing paragraph:

“We think there are certainly more and better ways to help smokers to quit,” said Erika Sward of the American Lung Association. “When you’re going to e-cigarettes, you’re not quitting, you’re switching.”

Sorry, what? Giving up smoking isn’t enough; we need to do it in the way you tell us? Giving up smoking, switching, quitting whatever you want to call it, is the single biggest thing any smoker can do to improve their health, but it seems like the American Lung Association (ALA) is saying that the benefit is only if you do it their way. Maybe it’s the fact that vapers are still enjoying nicotine that they don’t agree with? Isn’t the fact that we are no longer inhaling all those life draining toxic cigarette chemicals several times a day enough?

I say it is enough, more than enough in fact, and so does Dr. Michael Siegel from Boston University School of Public Health, with over 25 years of experience in the field of tobacco control- he’s a man who should know what is best. Dr. Siegel has had a few things to say about the ALA previously on his long running blog Tobacco Analysis, and he has a few thoughts about this article too:

“The American Lung Association would rather see all these millions of people smoking rather than vaping because the idea that literally millions of people might be benefiting from the use of a product that contains nicotine is simply too hard to bear.”

He also says that:

“Vapers are people who should be congratulated for having finally succeeded in quitting smoking – something that they were unable or unwilling to do using the methods that the American Lung Association recommends”

Dr. Siegel says this next bit way better than I ever could:

“There is no right or wrong way to quit smoking. What matters for your health is that you quit. The body doesn’t know how you quit; what it knows is that you are no longer inhaling tobacco smoke with its tens of thousands of chemicals and more than 60 known human carcinogens. Whether you quit using a nicotine patch, a pill, hypnosis, vaping, acupuncture, or natural magick, you have successfully quit smoking, are no longer inhaling toxic tobacco smoke, have essentially saved your life, and I congratulate you for having accomplished the single most important – and most difficult – thing you can do to protect your health.”

In the UK we have Public Health England, and The Royal College of Physicians saying ecigs are 95% safer than smoking and backing ecigs as a way to get off tobacco, and the US has the American Lung Association. I know which side of the pond I would much rather be on right now. Whichever way you decide to quit tobacco, be it cold turkey, patches, gums or ecigs, do it the way that you think will work for you; it’s the not smoking bit that’s the important part.

Filed Under: News

Horizon, E-cigarettes: Miracle or Menace?

May 27, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

The BBC broadcast one of its most important programmes ever shown on TV last week. OK, so maybe that’s a little over the top, but if you’re a vaper, it’s a huge deal. A whole hour’s air time all about ecigs on one of the most respected networks in the world is a huge turn of events.

If you didn’t get a chance to watch it, it’s still available on BBC iPlayer, or if it’s not, next month YouTube has a few versions too. With sections covering scientific facts and opinion pieces, it was very interesting to watch but I have to admit that there was a couple of little niggles in the programme for me.

Dr. Mosley presented the programme and used himself as a human guinea pig; he carried out a month’s trial as a vaper, even though he has never smoked in his life. He did try his first ever tobacco cigarette for the cameras and after he coughed himself senseless (he had a bucket on hand just in case) he was asked how it was. His response was that now the buzz had kicked in, he could understand why people smoked. Horizon set Dr. Mosley up with a variable voltage/wattage device with a nautilus tank on top, quite a standard bit of kit for the cigarette replacement experience but in clips showing general public vapers, most (not all) of them were sporting sub tanks and blowing large clouds. Fair enough- the vapour might show up better for the cameras this way, but not everyone vapes like this; in fact, the majority of vapers don’t vape like this, so apart from Dr. Mosley, where are all those vapers? Dr. Mosley finished his month’s vaping and had no trouble at all walking away from his ecig, so that helps rule out the ‘addictive as cigarettes’ argument a bit doesn’t it?

In another section of the programme, there was the air quality control test or passive vaping test, previously performed with vapers, with smokers and with fresh air. Lots of little sensors would read any changes in the air and report these to the computer. They sent two guys with sub tanks into the room and the sensors went mad from the first exhale. Well, of course they would with two people vaping at 100+ watts in a room the size of an elevator. In previous experiments, the levels released by vapers were far lower- those vapers were possibly on the “pen style” devices which are much more common. However, the actual results from the sensors showed no matter how cloudy the room got, the sensors were picking up 99% less toxins than they did with tobacco cigarettes and nothing that would be worrying to public health.

There was also a quit test set up as well. 26 smokers were separated into groups, one group went cold turkey, one went with NRT and one had ecigs, while the fourth group carried on smoking as a control group. The cold turkey group failed miserably and NRT and ecigs managed 7 out of 8 quitters. All had tests done before they started which included lung function and heart tests. All the quitters showed improvements at the end of the trial with NRT and ecigs being comparable at 4 weeks, however Horizon are expected to do a follow up episode in about 4 months to see if those involved in the quit trial are still quitters or if they have gone back to tobacco.

The cell damage section was extremely interesting as well. 3 sets of human cells were used in the experiment. The first had just fresh air, the second set of cells had ecig vapour and the third had tobacco smoke blown across them. The fresh air and ecig cells repaired in approximately the same amount of time but the cigarette cells showed little if any improvement in repair, and the wound they were representing was barely healing at all. The test showed that “the vapour of ecigs doesn’t impair the ability of cells to repair themselves”.

Did they prove if ecigs are a miracle or menace? I think they proved the miracle; if it’s a choice between smoking and vaping, vaping is the way to go.

Filed Under: News

House of Lords and the Final Prayer

May 20, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

The 10th of May saw a possibly historic debate take place in the House of Lords. The debate was led by Viscount Ridley (who has been a staunch supporter of ecigs since the beginning), and it focused on the implementation of the TPD (Tobacco Products Directive) which was officially introduced on the 20th of May.

The Lords are not fans of the inclusion of ecigs into the TPD, and the debate saw many of the Lords speaking up positively for ecigs, with a couple of them admitting they actually used ecigs themselves. The entire debate is available on YouTube; it’s 1 hour 13 mins long, but well worth the watch- but if that’s not an option, the transcript is available too.

Since the debate, Lord Callanan has tabled a fatal motion, known as a Prayer Motion. A little background on Lord Callanan first though; he was an MEP when the TPD was going through the EU Parliament and fought incredibly hard to get the best deal for ecigs. Along with vapers, he helped to convert many of the other MEP’s to the benefits of ecigs, which resulted in the vote that all ecigs should be medical devices being beaten. He also chaired the meeting between the MEP’s and the Council of EU Ministers and fought for ecigs again- this time not quite as successfully, and we ended up with the TPD as it is today. Ever since then he feels that he has let us and ecigs down. That’s one of the reasons behind his fatal motion.

You may have heard of a fatal motion or Prayer before. The Lords, if they so wish, can hold a debate and vote on any legislation the government wants or has already introduced (within 40 days of introduction). The most recent time this was used was the tax credits debate just a few months ago. So even though the TPD is already law, the Lords still have a chance to remove vaping and ecigs from the legislation. The motion Lord Callanan has introduced is this:

“†Lord Callanan to move that a Humble Address be presented to Her Majesty praying that the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016, laid before the House on 22 April, be annulled on the grounds that its restrictions on product choice and advertising of vaping devices were devised before evidence had accumulated that vaping was enabling many people to quit smoking, run counter to advice from the Royal College of Physicians to promote vaping and are so severe that they could force vapers back to smoking and create a black market with harmful products (SI 2015/507).”

This now starts the process of another debate in the House of Lords and then they vote straight afterwards. They have until the 10th of June to complete this process (that will mark the 40th day of the “praying” time). They can vote to remove all of the TPD until it’s re-written or just the section about ecigs or to leave it as it is. The only thing that can stop this motion going ahead is if Lord Callanan bows to pressure from Downing Street and removes the motion himself. Since he has supported ecigs so valiantly since the beginning, this would be an extremely unexpected turn around.

With nearly 3 million vapers in the UK now, legislators do not want this piece of EU law being used as a debate subject just before the EU referendum, which it is starting to become; the leave.eu site has a whole page about it already. The mood in Britain is that ecigs are a good thing for smokers and the EU opinion seems to be not quite as keen. Having such a passionate, powerful subject up for debate right now could raise some interesting arguments towards the whole “in or out” debate so everyone is expecting this to be taken very seriously indeed.

The history of ecigs is not written just yet. Whatever your thoughts on the EU referendum, this is about ecigs and we have a chance to exploit the political consciousness surrounding the EU to our benefit. If you want to have your say on it you can use the write to them website and send a note to your local representative and you can write to any of the Lords using the site they work for you. There is also a petition you can sign on the Change.org site which will be delivered to David Cameron MP and Jeremy Corbyn MP, over 37 thousand vapers have already signed and it’s only been up a few days. Time on this one is short. Using vaper power we achieved a lot the last time we tried, it’s time to try again!

Filed Under: News

ECJ Verdict Is Published and Taxing Ecigs

May 6, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Since October 2015, vapers across Europe have been waiting for the verdict on the Article 20 legal challenge from the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Back in December, the Advocate General made her opinion known when she released her statement that said she thought the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) was legally binding and lawful. Hopes were still high however, as the ECJ Judges still had to announce their decision. The Judges were expected to release this by the end of April, but it has only just been announced in the last few days- and it’s in line with the opinion of the Advocate General. The TPD is lawful and will be implemented across Europe on the 20th of May.

Fraser Cropper, the Managing Director of the company that brought the challenge had this to say:

“Today is a bitterly disappointing end to a battle that has lasted more than two years. At its heart was a fundamental dispute between those who recognise the public health potential vaping offers and therefore wish to see these products and their use flourish under a robust yet proportionate consumer regulatory regime, and those who either do not understand vaping or see it as a threat to established interests and therefore wish to see e-cigarettes subjected to a disproportionate and inappropriate regulatory regime.”

He also said that:

“In time I firmly believe that the European Commission and others who support the TPD will come to realise the terrible mistake they have made or eventually be shown to have used the power of the European legislature for vested and craven self-interest. Our business and informed and justifiably angry vapers across Europe will continue to attempt to hold these organisations and individuals to account”.

There is no confirmation yet if they will appeal this decision or not. Click here to view the full statement.

As it seems that all the legal challenges are over and the TPD is to be fully implemented across Europe in a matter of days, the tax argument has begun. The UK has said for a while they did not intend to tax ecigs at a higher rate like tobacco, but the EU may have a different point of view. An article published in The Guardian a few days ago suggests that taxes are already being discussed and case studies are being prepared. EU Finance Ministers appear to be suggesting a minimum level of tax that may be equal to that of combustible tobacco, which is 57% plus 20% VAT in the UK.

However many other EU officials say that raising vaping duties to the same level as tobacco would “make no sense in terms of health policy”. The UKIP Leader Nigel Farage is one of those speaking out against this suggestion; he said on Twitter that he was “Appalled that EU set to tax e-cigarettes at same levels as tobacco.” It seems to be another case of will they tax? Won’t they tax? I know which way I think it will go!

Filed Under: News

Royal College of Physicians Back eCigs!

April 29, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

I wasn’t sure I’d ever see this day but here it is; the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) have also now given ecigs the green light. The subject has been covered widely in The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Daily Mail– even The New York Times ran a story about it. And that’s just the paper press; Sky News, The BBC, ITV and most of the breakfast news TV shows had an “expert” available to discuss the news. It’s probably been as big a story as the Public Health England (PHE) announcement a few months ago that said that ecigs are 95% safer than tobacco cigarettes. The reason for that is it’s pretty much the same announcement, but this time by the RCP, not the government.

The entire RCP document is available for your perusal, but at 206 pages long, it’s probably more than most of us want to read over a cup of tea and a biccy, so I’ll share some highlights with you. Firstly, what is the RCP? The RCP is a professional body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, founded back in the 1500s. The RCP has worked hard to set international standards in medicine, and in 1962 they published the precursor paper to the American Surgeon General’s paper linking tobacco cigarettes to cancer. Tobacco and NRT has been on the RCP radar for quite some time; ecigs are a recent addition but they learn fast at the RCP, and can see the benefits of them already.

Secondly, the authors, are a quality mix of experts in the tobacco and harm reduction field, some with names you will have heard from me before- Prof. Linda Bauld, Deborah Arnott (ASH UK), Prof. John Britton, Martin Dockrell, Prof. Peter Hajek, Prof. Ann McNeill and Prof. Robert West are just a handful of the people involved in this report. Sifting through years worth of research on ecigs, the RCP comes to the same conclusion as PHE; ecigs are only 5% as harmful as tobacco. They also say that:

“There are concerns that e-cigarettes will increase tobacco smoking by renormalising the act of smoking, acting as a gateway to smoking in young people, and being used for temporary, not permanent, abstinence from smoking. To date, there is no evidence that any of these processes is occurring to any significant degree in the UK. Rather, the available evidence to date indicates that e-cigarettes are being used almost exclusively as safer alternatives to smoked tobacco, by confirmed smokers who are trying to reduce harm to themselves or others from smoking, or to quit smoking completely.”

This makes another well respected organisation that states there is no evidence of a “gateway effect”.

The RCP also say that regulation is needed to ensure the products are as safe as possible, but that:

“regulation should not be allowed significantly to inhibit the development and use of harm-reduction products by smokers.” As the technology improves “the vision of a society that is free from tobacco and the harm it causes becomes more realistic” and that “technological developments and improved production standards could reduce the long-term hazard of e-cigarettes even further”.

They wrap up the document with the point that:

“in the interests of public health it is important to promote the use of e-cigarettes, NRT, and other non-tobacco nicotine products as widely as possible as a substitute for smoking in the UK.”

Yes, they really did say promote the use of ecigs!

However there are still a few hardliners out there who prefer the quit or die approach to tobacco control and believe that the UK is becoming one big ecig experiment. Stanton Glantz from the University of California is one of those hardliners and he seems to be very anti ecig; he said that:

“They are taking England into a series of policies that five years from now they all will really regret. They are turning England into this giant experiment on behalf of the tobacco industry.”

Fortunately, he seems to be a minority and in 5 years’ time, I hope someone reminds him of this quote so he can eat his words. Right now, I’m glad I live in the UK where they are willing to focus on the evidence we have right in front of us and they aren’t scared to stand up and say 95% safer is good enough when the product they replace is deadly to 50% of users, not the what ifs of the hypothetical, possible, maybe future.

How many times will 95% safer have to be said before people stop trying to claim ecigs are the devil’s work?

Filed Under: News

Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation Research

April 22, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation (RCLCF) has announced this week that they will be conducting some research into ecigs. The Foundation has noticed over the years that even when given such a serious diagnosis, only 1 in 3 patients undergoing radiotherapy or chemotherapy manage to stop smoking fully. There is emerging evidence that continuing to smoke while undergoing these types of treatments could compromise the outcome, recovery time and quality of life after treatment has ceased. With the announcement from Public Health England about ecigs being 95% safer than tobacco, the RCLCF wanted to know if ecigs were something that might make a difference to those 2 in 3 patients who couldn’t stop smoking.

Teaming up with Prof. Linda Bauld from the University of Sterling and Dr. Stephen Harrow, a consultant clinical Oncologist at Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Center, the RCLCF hopes to show that switching to ecigs can improve the benefits of the treatments and lead to better outcomes for lung cancer patients. The study aims to determine whether using an ecig after diagnosis is acceptable to patients, is it feasible to use them, and how useful the patients found them. The announcement has only just been made, so the results are still months away- but I’ll be very interested to read them when they are ready.

There’s some news from the Nottinghamshire County Council this week as well. They have become the first council in the UK to ban staff from smoking or using ecigs during working hours. Banning smoking during working hours is not a new idea, but the inclusion of ecigs is a first. The idea was first brought up back in September, and has been voted through at the latest council meeting. It’s now expected to come into force in May. The restrictions will include all employees, whether in uniform or not, during working hours. They will cover all council vehicles too. Employees working offsite are also under the ruling. Also included are visiting contractors. However, employees will still be able to use ecigs on their lunch breaks, providing they are not on council property.

The council are hoping that this move will enable them be seen as a “beacon of health” and emphasise that their reasons behind the ban are supportive, not punitive. Many disagree though; Simon Clark from campaign group Forest says that:

“A lot of smokers are using ecigs to cut down on cigarettes or quit altogether, so it’s barking mad for the council to ban the use of ecigs”.

Questions have also been raised about what will happen when the medical ecig is available on prescription; will these be banned too? If they are, is it fair that you can use over the counter gum or patches, but not a medical device? Only time will tell if the decision is a good one or not (personally, I think not) but it does make me wonder how soon before other councils also want to be “beacons for health” and follow suit.

Filed Under: News

The Power of Adverts

April 16, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Shocking headlines appeared this week as a new study proves advertising may work. The Independent ran with the story, and their headline claims that ecig advertising is encouraging young people to vape, and that “young people who recall seeing ecigs in shops were more likely to have used them in the past.” Researchers from the Stirling University studied almost 4000 Scottish teenagers to examine whether their recollection of seeing ecigs for sale would affect past or future use.

The Independent article strongly suggests that those who remembered seeing them were more likely to try them in the next 6 months.

Instead of scaremongering about ecigs and young people, there is another way to view this result; rather than the shops luring young people (who never intended to pick up an ecig in their lifetime) in with the power of their displays, maybe the young people remembered the advert because they already smoked or vaped. According to Prof. Paul Aveyard of behavioural medicine at the University of Oxford, the study did find this- but The Independent forgot to write that in the story:

“an obvious explanation is that people with no interest in smoking or vaping will tend not to notice them on display, whereas those who do will notice them. We look at what we are interested in and this is the most likely explanation of the study’s findings”

He also says that:

“It is also important to remember what else this study found. The main group of young people that use ecigarettes are those young people that already smoke. The study provides no evidence that point of sale displays are creating a generation of young people who do not smoke but regularly use e-cigarettes.”

Prof. Aveyard isn’t the only person to think this. Prof. Peter Hajek from Queen Mary University London agreed with Prof. Aveyard saying that:

“The study found that vaping appeals primarily to adolescents who smoke. This corresponds to numerous other studies that confirm that e-cigarettes can attract smokers but that they have very little appeal to non-smokers.”

And Prof. Robert West from University College London:

“the conclusions of the study could easily mislead readers. Almost everyone in the sample who used an ecigarette was already smoking, so the study has no bearing on whether point-of-sale advertising of ecigarettes leads young non-smokers to use them, which is the inference most people are likely to draw”

However, with the new advertising rules for e-cigs about to come into force, this whole argument might be null and void. 20th May 2016 is the date the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) is due to come into law, and Ofcom and BCAP (Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice) have made their announcements of what will no longer be allowed.

“Advertisements with the aim or direct or indirect effect of promoting unlicensed, nicotine-containing electronic cigarettes and e-liquids will be prohibited on television and radio in the United Kingdom”

That means no adverts on TV or Radio about ecigs that contain nicotine, and if the device is 0 nicotine but may encourage the use of nicotine, that is not allowed either. No sponsorship of events that may be viewed elsewhere in the world and no product placements in TV shows. The prohibitions for the other forms of advertising are still being finalised but are expected to be similar and will cover the internet, e-mail, text message, newspapers and magazines. Scotland is expected to take this a little further and include leaflets, outdoor posters and bus stops, cinemas, fax and direct hard copy. Vendors selling ecigs are also still waiting to hear what they will and won’t be allowed to do on their websites and in-store.

Filed Under: News

American Study about health of long term vapers

April 8, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

96% Reduction in Adverse Health Effects

Back in November, a study was released in America that has just found its way over to this side of the pond. The purpose of the study was to figure out the demographics of ecig users and any health effects for users of 3 years or more. Using ecig social media sites, anonymous online surveys, and some local paper distribution through ecig shops, the researchers managed to get 573 participants in 6 months throughout the South-Eastern United States.

They divided the respondents into 3 subgroups that they wanted to specifically observe- those with 3 years or more vaping experience, previous never users of tobacco products, and those who had no health issues while smoking.

All participants were asked if they were diagnosed with any adverse health events both while smoking and using an ecig, such as asthma, cancer, bronchitis, circulation issues, palpitations and quite a few other illnesses. They were then asked: if they did have any of those conditions, have any of them resolved since they started vaping? Of the 573 participants, 108 of them had been using ecigs for 3 or more years and on average while smoking they had 1.87 acute or chronic health issues between them. Since switching to ecigs, they show an average of 0.7. This represents a 96% reduction in adverse health events for those vaping over 3 years.

On average, all the respondents reported 61.8% improvement in health issues that developed while smoking. 1 person did report a resolution of their diabetes, but that was not related to smoking, and the researchers are assuming it’s to do with a healthier lifestyle once they stopped smoking. The most common reported resolution was shortness of breath, followed by respiratory infections and high blood pressure. In the group of previous never smokers, none of them reported developing any health problems as a result of use. The group of never smokers comprised of 10 people which is less than 1% of the overall total surveyed, and leads the researchers to believe that there are very few users of ecigs who weren’t already smokers.

From this study, the demographics of vapers in America seem to be 90% White/Caucasian and 65% male. The 31 – 35 age range had the most respondents, but the average age of a vaper was 36 years, with those who had been vaping more than 3 years slightly higher than that, at 39. Those vaping the longest tended to have a higher education and a higher income than the other groups. The researchers also asked about previous smoking history of the respondents and with 47% at 1 pack a day and 36% at 2 packs a day, the rest was split between cigar, pipe, social smoking or less than a pack a day. From the results gathered in this survey, the researchers approximate that ecigs have a minimum success rate of 52% at 3 years, 7 to 8 times greater than patches or gums at 6 months.

This is yet another study that suggests once again there is no “gateway effect”. People feel better after switching to ecigs and (we knew this bit already) are cleverer than those who don’t. Maybe a future study will show the longer you vape the higher your IQ goes.

Filed Under: News

Welsh Assembly Members take the ecig vote down to the wire

March 18, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

What a week it’s been in Wales for ecigs! Will they or won’t they ban them in public places? Well, they nearly did- and then they didn’t, all because of a joke. The debate in Wales between Welsh Assembly Members (AM) has been raging for weeks now, with Labour’s Mark Drakeford leading the ban argument and Welsh Liberal Democrat Kirsty Williams leading the pro vapers. On the 8th of March, the sides met again to discuss new additions Mr. Drakeford wanted added to the legislation. Originally, the ban was set to include enclosed public and workplaces, just like the smoking ban. Mr. Drakeford wanted the additions to include zoos, cinemas, school grounds, hospital car parks, public playgrounds, sports grounds, swimming pools, theatres, libraries, and numerous other places. 39 votes were in favour of these changes and only 17 against them, so into the bill they went.

Many other amendments were tabled such as scrapping it altogether and removing the ecig section totally; all of these failed with 31 against and 26 for. During the long debate Clwyd West AM Darren Millar said restricting vaping was “draconian”, adding that there was more evidence of harm from smoke from “burnt toast” than vaping. He also said that:

“If we are not careful the Minister is going to get us onto a slippery slope where we will be seeking to ban air fresheners, the use of deodorant, the use of certain cleaning products, and potentially even opening the window by the roadside because of the potential harm to the air quality in an enclosed public space of the fumes from passing vehicles.”

The vote was set for the 16th of March.

I tried to, but I wasn’t feeling confident about the outcome of this vote. The Welsh Assembly is split 50% Labour and 50% other parties; Labour only needed one vote from any of the opposition party members and it would go through. Not looking good at all. I really didn’t think I’d have one person’s “bad joke” to thank for my later shock and relief. Labour AM Leighton Andrews just happened to make a joke the day before the vote about Plaid Cymru being a “cheap date” (something to do with a previous alliance between the two groups) and they did not take it well at all. Any support Labour may have expected from them dried up quicker than a 1 ml tank.

Plaid Cymru tried to table an amendment again about removal of the ecig section from the bill and a delay of the vote until after Easter; Labour rejected this suggestion and Plaid Cymru decided to use the vote as a “lesson” to Labour. The hour of the vote arrived and the result was 26 for and 26 against- as it was a tie, the presiding officer had to vote in line with the against votes, this made the final vote 26 for and 27 against, and with that result, the vote to ban ecigs in public failed!

For now there will be no banning of ecigs in Wales anywhere that is public; private buildings as always are welcome to make their own decisions either way.

Filed Under: News

NCSCT issues new guidance about ecigs for NHS Stop Smoking Services – and it’s brilliant

March 4, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

For months now, the NHS has been saying that their Stop Smoking Service (SSS) is becoming more ecig friendly and in some cases, this has proved to be true – the North East SSS and Leicester SSS spring to mind. Unfortunately, I’ve also heard that other areas around the country are not quite as progressive when it comes to ecigs. That could be about to change. NCSCT (National Center for Smoking Cessation and Training) has recently released their briefing for all NHS SSS, and you could have knocked me down with a feather when I read it. Once you read page 2 you will understand why it’s as good as it is. People who actually know about ecigs wrote this.

They really have tried to cover everything anyone has ever tried to say about ecigs, good or bad, and they take 48 pages to do it (they are really small pages). There is some fantastic information available throughout the document that may be informative for current vapers, and for those who want to try vaping. The entire document is upbeat and positive. This for example:

“How often should I use my e-cigarette to help me to stop smoking? As often as you need to help manage nicotine withdrawal and urges to smoke. You will soon discover the best way for you of using your e-cigarette, and find that you’re using it when you feel a need to top-up. It’s not like a cigarette, which you would smoke from start to finish, with an e-cigarette you can sip on it once or twice, and then put it away.”

None of the negative “we don’t know what’s in them” or “we need more research”- just lots of positive “use it as and when you need it”.

They even advise SSS staff to get on the forums, talk to vapers and vendors and learn about ecigs so that they can help people as much as possible. To be positive when talking about ecigs, not to rush people to come off ecigs until they are ready and to remember that “We are not a ‘stop nicotine service’” (that’s where I nearly fell off my chair). They finish this section with this:

“Is it OK to smoke and vape at the same time? Yes. There is no evidence that smoking cigarettes and vaping at the same time increases health risks. However, the greatest health benefits are seen when people stop smoking tobacco completely.”

No quit or die attitude, more of a “when you’re ready to fully quit it will happen”. Harm reduction is better than not trying at all.

I could easily write another 10 paragraphs on this document, but then you wouldn’t need to go have a look, so I will summarise the rest. They talk about the upcoming regulation and what’s expected to happen once the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) comes into effect in May 2016. They also spend a little time covering recent studies and surveys, and they also agree that there is no “gateway effect” emerging and non-vapers aren’t turning to ecigs. There’s a section on what flavours are popular and why, and what strength liquids people prefer, and how to decide what’s right for you. They also cover a little bit of quality control and safety:

“Are e-cigarettes dangerous, do they blow up or catch fire? As with any rechargeable device, like mobile phones and laptops, it is important to charge with the correct charger and not to leave an e-cigarette unattended whilst charging.”

And the more personal than practical:

“Are e-cigarettes safer for me than smoking? Yes. Experts estimate that e-cigarettes are, based on what we know so far, around 95% safer than cigarettes.”

And:

“Is secondhand vapour from e-cigarettes dangerous? Some studies have found traces of toxicants in secondhand vapour, but at such low levels that they do not pose a health risk to bystanders. There is no evidence that secondhand vapour is dangerous to others.”

Safer than smoking, no danger to those around you, use them as and how you please, no gateway effect, charge responsibly and they are as safe as your phone- it really is all very positive, well researched and well written stuff. I hope by now that every SSS in the UK has received at least one copy of this document, preferably one for every staff member and it’s going to get enforced. This can only be good news, can’t it?

Filed Under: News

Is there Government support for Ecigs?

February 19, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

During my reading about all things ecig, I came across a link to a blog I had never heard of, written by a guy I wasn’t familiar with. The reason for that is he’s a conservative MP. In fact, he’s the MP for Windsor and also the chairman of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology and he’s called Adam Afriyie, definitely a name I would have remembered hearing about before. But the biggest shocker? He’s pro vaping! This wasn’t another run of the mill “Europe is good and what they say must be law” type of blog post. Titled “Will the EU inadvertently undermine the fight against cancer?” this one was actually worth 5 minutes of my time. Was I about to uncover public Government support for Ecigs??

The tone of the blog post seemed to move away from vaping a little as it went on and more towards the EU needing to be more flexible and not as overbearing and controlling as it tries to be, but the vaping points covered were covered well. He even says that:

“As a former smoker myself I would advise anyone struggling to keep their New Year’s resolution six weeks on to pick up a vaping device in place of the dreaded cancer stick”

I think that’s about as pro vaping as it gets for a politician. The bit that got me the most interested though, was when he said this:

“The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, which I chair, has also produced an impartial peer-group reviewed summary of the science available so far, which is definitely worth a read.”

I had not seen this yet either.

He was right – it was worth the read. Published on the 30th of January 2016, the Office of Science and Technology tries to provide a summary of the evidence on the safety and quality of electronic cigarettes, explore some of the social issues raised and review current UK and EU regulation. They don’t actually come to a conclusion about ecigs being good or bad or anything in between, but all the information is in one place to help others make a final decision for themselves.

At only 4 pages long, it doesn’t take an age to have a browse through it and it’s quite well laid out (it is double column though so you have to keep scrolling back to the top of the current page to read the second half of it). They cover all the major areas such as who’s using ecigs and why, types of ecigs, effectiveness, social impacts and current, future and international regulation. There are also quite a few figures and statistics thrown in for comparison between NRT and ecigs. Really very thorough stuff, but in bite sized portions. It could be a very useful little tool to keep handy for the next time someone starts telling you that you haven’t really quit smoking.

Filed Under: News

Can Ecigs help patients recover post-surgery?

February 12, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

It has long been known that smokers heal more slowly than non smokers, and quite often have more complications during and after any type of surgery. Often enough, smokers have been refused routine surgery until they can quit tobacco or at least cut down on consumption. However, even when your life depends on it, quitting tobacco can seem like an impossible mountain to climb.

The Mayo Clinic in the United States is a world renowned hospital and is considered by many to be on the forefront of cutting edge research. Lately, they have published their most recent research surrounding ecigs. Titled “Feasibility of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems in Surgical Patients”, the premise of the study was to determine if using ecigs two weeks before and two weeks after surgery would help the patients healing ability and time taken to heal, compared to those who carried on with tobacco.

Conducted between December 2014 and June 2015, of the 105 patients approached about the study, 80 agreed to participate. 5 participants were later excluded and the remaining 75 patients were supplied with a 30 day supply of ecigs to use before and after surgery, whenever they craved a cigarette. 67 patients (87%) tried their ecigs and at the 30 day follow up 34 (51%) patients planned to continue on ecigs and 11 (17%) patients were completely abstinent from tobacco and ecigs. Those that were using both tobacco and ecigs more than halved their consumption of tobacco with a drop from 15.2 cigarettes per day to just 7.6 cigarettes. This led the researchers to make the comment that “ecig use is feasible and well-accepted in surgical patients”. Although the study doesn’t seem to say if they did heal quicker or not, it was found that the volunteers did suffer fewer complications than those still smoking.

This is possibly the first time we have seen a leading medical research hospital praise ecigs for their potential and this might help give people the confidence to try an ecig for themselves. If you have tried and failed to quit tobacco in the past and this issue affects you then maybe, even temporarily, it’s worth giving ecigs a try. You never know, it might make things go that little bit smoother, help shorten the recovery time and you might just decide you like ecigs and stick with them for a while longer.

Filed Under: News

Look after your heart with Ecigs this valentine’s day

February 5, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

“Love is in the air, everywhere I look around”. Well, of course it is: it’s Valentine’s Day! Got your flowers ordered? Booked the cosy dinner for two at your favourite restaurant? What is the best gift you could get your loved one this year? No, not a new car or a diamond necklace. It’s time. Time is a precious thing; to have more time with friends and family is the most treasured gift you could give them. And it’s not just for Valentine’s Day- a happy and healthy you is the gift that keeps on giving. They would much rather have you around spending time with them and making memories, than a fancy meal or piece of jewellery. As great as it is to treat and spoil your loved ones at this time of year, you mustn’t forget to look after your own heart too.

The main way you can love your heart this year is giving up smoking and using an Ecig.

In just 20 minutes you can start to feel the difference, with your pulse rate returning to normal.

In 8 hours your carbon monoxide levels have dropped by more than half, and your oxygen levels return to normal.

After only 48 hours, the carbon monoxide is gone from your body. That’s just two days to restart your heart back on the right track and start reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes. The 48 hour marker also starts to improve your taste buds and sense of smell, making that romantic meal even more enjoyable.

2 to 12 weeks after quitting gets your heart beating properly and your circulation improving so that 1 year after that final cigarette, your risk of heart disease is half of someone who still smokes.

It’s not all about the health benefits though. Your skin will clear up and start to look refreshed again and if there’s no more cigarette smell, cuddling up on the sofa for popcorn and a movie might get your partner a little closer too.

I know quitting smoking is the hardest thing many of you will ever do, but what if you could carry on enjoying the experience of smoking without all the nasty side effects? Just by switching to an ecig you can improve your chances of quitting tobacco and you still get the feeling of the cigarette but without the drawbacks. Recent research by Public Health England suggests that ecigs are 95% safer than tobacco and they have no effect on your blood pressure compared to a non smoker. So maybe this Valentine’s Day is the day you make the switch and start to look after your heart and the people whose hearts you carry with you; it’s not just your heart you’re hurting.

Filed Under: News

The Big Turnaround – The Truth about Ecig Safety

January 29, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

As little as 2 or 3 years ago, Cancer Research UK (CRUK) would never have dreamed of publishing their latest article. Yet here we are today, with an article by them entitled “Headlines about e-cigarettes don’t mean they’re ‘not safer than tobacco’” It just goes to show just how much the science has moved on in the last few years. Slowly, CRUK have become more ecig friendly and this time, they actually attack the latest bad science that has been published. They have done their research and they cover 3 topics in their article debunking some of the same news I have brought you recently.

Firstly, the study about the cell damage caused by inhaled vapour. The same conclusions are reached by CRUK as were by me, that “contrary to the headlines, this study actually suggests that using e-cigarettes may be far less dangerous than smoking” (Their emphasis, not mine). CRUK’s main concern about that study is that “as far as public perception goes, the damage may already have been done.” And on this I couldn’t agree more.

The second study CRUK’s article looks at is an evidence review and meta-analysis of a selection of studies. Often if the study is quite small, its results will be pooled with other similar small studies and the conclusions drawn from the larger range of results now available. However, the results also depend on the quality of the studies that are included in the review. This is how this “study” got results proving that ecigs don’t help you quit cigarettes. Until you take a closer look.

As there haven’t been that many high quality studies into ecigs helping you quit cigarettes, the researchers took whatever was available to them to get their results and some of those included the debunked studies. Like the study that only asked current smokers if they used an ecig, this excluded anyone who has successfully quit using an ecig. Or the study that asked if people had ever used an ecig, even just once, and if they had successfully quit; of course, the majority of them hadn’t if they only tried an ecig once. CRUK’s concerns are that people will again be put off trying an ecig as the (now debunked) science says they don’t work. CRUK say that:

“E-cigarettes aren’t a magic bullet, but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t be a useful weapon in our arsenal against tobacco. The evidence for quitters using these products both within the Stop Smoking Services and without points towards this being the case in the UK.”

Again I agree- ecigs don’t work for everyone but they do for a lot of people, and there is a high chance that you could be one of them.

The last section of CRUK’s article talks about the recent study (that created this headline) about the impact of advertising and flavours on under 18s, otherwise known as the “gateway argument” and “renormalisation argument”. CRUK cut off the gateway argument almost immediately with this comment:

“The first of these arguments isn’t supported by the evidence to date: surveys across the UK last year found that young people who hadn’t smoked weren’t using e-cigarettes.”

They then address the part that asked young people about adverts for ecigs and whether a sweet flavour in the advert make ecigs more appealing than those without a flavour, or make them want to try traditional tobacco. Of course, the children said that the sweet flavours made them more appealing, but they also said “they had negative views about e-cigarettes, and said they didn’t intend to buy them.” And that “perhaps more importantly, it didn’t find any evidence that e-cigarette adverts increase the appeal of regular cigarettes.”

The closing part of CRUK’s article is the best bit I think:

“for now the evidence we have suggests e-cigarettes are far safer than smoking tobacco, they might help you quit and non-smoking children aren’t being lured into using them regularly.”

(Again their emphasis). They also suggest that you “maybe keep reading the headlines with an appropriate dose of scepticism”. I think that sums it all up nicely. Well done CRUK! I’m glad to see you’re finally coming around to judgine ecigs factually rather than seeing them as the devil incarnate.

Filed Under: News

The Effects of Ecigs on Blood Pressure and Blood Alcohol

January 22, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

We have a few small studies to bring you this week – two by Dr. Farsalinos and one from an American group of researchers. Dr. Farsalinos’ first study is on ecigs and blood pressure. Published on the 9th of January 2016 on the PubMed.gov site, the results are what you would expect. Quit smoking and your blood pressure gets better. The study took 52 weeks to complete and for those smokers who had an average blood pressure before switching to ecigs, no major change was noticed but those who had a higher blood pressure saw a dramatic drop, leading Dr. Farsalinos to conclude that it didn’t matter if you used ecigs to quit or went cold turkey; the effect on your blood pressure was the same. Contrary to often reported press, ecigs do not make your blood pressure go higher.

Dr. Farsalinos’ second study, published a few days later on the 12th of January, also on the PubMed.gov website, proposes a protocol for testing the amount of nicotine in the vapour produced by the different types of atomisers on ecigs. Collecting the aerosol as they went, 3 cartomisers and 4 different tank style atomisers were tested with 3 different liquid samples per product. They also tested 3 cartridges from a nicotine inhaler and 3 tobacco cigarettes. They found that cartomisers gave the broadest range of results and that per 20 puffs the nicotine could range from 6.9 – 37.8%, but the tank style (the most commonly used nowadays) gave out 6.4 – 9.3% of its nicotine per 20 puffs. All of the tank styles and 1 of the cartomisers tested were within equivalent range to the Medical nicotine Inhaler and therefore the protocol used in this study could be used effectively for regulatory purposes. This type of testing information could be very useful when the Tobacco Products Directive comes into effect in May 2016 and may end up being the technique they use to regulate what is and isn’t allowed on the market.

The Drug and Alcohol Dependence Journal published a study back in December 2015 that has just come to light. The study is about ecigs and if vaping alcohol gets you drunk or not. The researchers used 3 eLiquids available in America, one was a vanilla flavour (8mg nicotine) and the other two had alcohol in them, one at 23.5% and the other at 0.4%. The full paper (which you have to pay for) draws the conclusion that vaping alcohol could cause you to crash your car because of alcohol intoxication, but nowhere in any of the results produced is this claim validated. In fact, the study seems to show that vaping liquids with low alcohol content shows no difference on blood alcohol levels and that the baseline of the reactions of the participants seemed to improve compared to those receiving the placebo, the complete opposite of the conclusion they reach. Those who used the higher alcohol liquid (equivalent to about 1 sip of alcohol) passed the blood test but did show an alcohol metabolite in their urine.

Professor Michael Siegel has a fantastic breakdown here of the study and he says that:

“I’m afraid that it is really not rigorous science to obtain study findings showing that vaping high-alcohol liquids results in no detectable alcohol in the blood and then to conclude that e-cigarette use may cause car crashes due to alcohol intoxication.”

I would hope that no one reading this blog would ever even consider getting behind the wheel of a car if there was even a chance they had alcohol in their system, and this is also not an excuse for anyone to take a drink then start driving, and blame it on your ecig.

Filed Under: News

Quitting With an Ecig in 2016 Could Mean a Better You

January 15, 2016  By Joy Turner 1 Comment

I’ve heard it said time and time again that one of the worst things about quitting cigarettes is the weight gain it causes. It seems that those who choose an ecig to help them may have one less thing to worry about in that department. A study published on the 5th of January in the journal Nature claims that those who use an ecig to quit “show no statistical weight difference to smokers after one year”. Stop-smoking medications seem to show some benefit whilst being used, but often weight gain can occur once the treatment has been completed, a reason often given for relapses back to tobacco.

The research team started off this study with 300 participants, who were all current smokers, and none of those involved had expressed that they already wished to quit cigarettes. The team took height and weight measurements on the first day and the participants were assigned either 24mg, 18mg or 0mg eLiquids, along with a lookalike type device. Measurements were then re-taken at 12 weeks, 24 weeks, and 52 weeks, along with questions about the amount of appetite each participant experienced, ranging from 0 – no appetite to 4 – extreme increase of appetite. Participants demonstrated an overall decrease in appetite during the 52 weeks, and no one at any stage reported 4 – extreme increase of appetite.

225 participants returned at week 12, 205 at week 24 and 183 at week 52; still well over half of those who started the study. Of those 183 completing the study, 13% of the 24mg group had successfully switched over to ecigs along with 9% of the 18mg group and 4% of the 0 nic group. The rest had either gone back to smoking or were now dual fuelling (using both ecig and tobacco). At weeks 12 and 24, a small amount of weight gain was noticed, but by 52 weeks the results matched smokers who had never attempted to quit or people who had never smoked. Those who gave up the study before weeks 12, 24 and 52 noticed an increase in weight compared to those who stuck it out.

On average, the participants put on between 2.4kg and 2.9kg in the early part of the trial but that had gone again by the end. The study was started when lookalike ecigs were much more common than today’s “pen style” devices, and the team believes if they started now, the results would be much better as the technology has improved by leaps and bounds since then. I know when I switched, my taste buds came back after about 2-3 weeks and all I wanted to eat was my hubby’s lasagna, I knew it had never tasted that good before! From my own experience, being able to taste food properly again probably accounts for the initial weight gain in most of the participants. So now, vapers not only notice overall general health improvements when they switch from tobacco, but they also have less chances of piling on the post-quitting pounds and not being able to lose them later- a win-win for all!

Filed Under: News

Ecig Safety – The Truth Behind The Headline Hype

January 11, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Way back in November 2015, a new study on the safety and effects of ecig vapour was published in the Oral Oncology Journal, but went utterly unnoticed until the press release nearly a month later. At this point, the headlines went crazy; this one from the Daily Mail Online is a perfect example. The timing couldn’t have been worse, just in time for the New Year and possibly being viewed by people who were thinking about switching to ecigs as one of their resolutions but instead were coerced into questioning the safety of ecigs.

The study, conducted in America by a team that specialises in head and neck cancer from the University of California San Diego, tried to ascertain the damage to human cells from ecig vapour. They used two types of ecig; one that contained nicotine and one that did not, and they exposed the cells to the extract every 3 days for up to 8 weeks. During this time, some cells showed signs of damage. The most damage was shown on the cells that had been exposed to the extract containing nicotine.

What the news articles failed to highlight was that the cells were exposed to the extract more extensively than a normal vaping human would have been, both in terms of duration and intensity. That kind of exposure simply wouldn’t happen in a human subject. The articles also omitted the fact that all cells exposed to cigarette smoke died within 24 hours. A cigarette killing cells in 24 hours or an ecig affecting them in 1344 hours (8 weeks) is a huge difference, and this difference alone says that ecigs are safer than a cigarette to me.

Others also believe that ecigs are safer than cigarettes, one of them being Prof. Linda Bauld of the University of Sterling. She wrote a whole article about it that was featured in The Guardian, which summarises the results of the study well and says that:

“Few things are risk free, and no one has claimed that e-cigarettes are. However, as an alternative to a uniquely deadly product that kills one in two of its regular users, who lose on average ten years of life, e-cigarettes are a far better alternative.”

The New Scientist Magazine also ran an article about the study and came to a similar conclusion. Prof. John Britton from the University of Nottingham was their quoted expert and he said that:

“The comparisons were based on unequal treatments, without equivalent exposures for equivalent periods of time. Even if the time periods had been equal, the results would not necessarily have reflected real-life hazards. The dose of vapour the cells received was equivalent to that from vaping for hours on end, a much higher dose than someone would typically get.”

After all these headlines, the press release was amended on the 5th of January to say that:

“Contrary to what was stated or implied in much of the news coverage resulting from this news release, the lab experiments did not find that e-cigarette vapour was as harmful to cells as cigarette smoke. In fact, one phase of the experiments, not addressed in the news release, found that cigarette smoke did in fact kill cells at a much faster rate.”

So maybe this study didn’t really tell us anything we didn’t already know and it should have stayed unnoticed with the press release not being issued at all.

Filed Under: News

Happy New Year! Quit Smoking and Start Vaping in 2016…

January 4, 2016  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Welcome to 2016 everyone! How were your festive celebrations? Did you overdo it on the eggnog? For me, it was the Bailey’s; never again! Who got a new ecig from Santa? My Christmas was excellent, thank you for asking; although I think I made Santa’s naughty list this time, as nothing vape related came my way (hubby says I have too much already, but can you really have too much?)

Last year was a busy one for us at Phoenix and for those involved with ecigs in general. It’s been a nonstop rollercoaster of a year – there were new Phoenix stores opened at several locations around the country, which meant thousands of new switchers joining us, and then on top of all that, ecigs were at the forefront of UK and EU politics.

This year the politics is set to get even more interesting with the CJEU (Court of Justice of the European Union) ruling about the TPD expected in January, the implementation of the TPD (Tobacco Products Directive) in May; and that’s just the start of it all. Lots of good research in the ecig field is expected this year as well (along with some not so good research, no doubt). All you new switchers really couldn’t have joined us at a better or more exciting time.

If you want to be one of this year’s new switchers, we can help you too. It couldn’t be any easier to finally make that jump and get off cigarettes. With so much to choose from now, the whole process can seem really daunting but this could be your year to finally stick to that new year’s resolution.

Many of our staff were in the exact same place you are now, thinking about switching, but not sure exactly how to go about it. They have so much personal experience with their own switching journey, and are more than happy to share it all with you. We have something for every budget and can help guide you through the whole process, from choosing your first starter kit, to finding the right liquids for you or even something more advanced when the time is right. In fact, they love helping people with their ecigs so much, that they all got jobs doing just that. Whether it’s equipment or liquids, or you just need a little bit of help, advice, or support, we are always there for you. This year there is no excuse to fail!

All that’s left to do is to say – A very Happy, Healthy and Smoke Free New Year to you all!

Filed Under: Information

European TPD contested – Advocate General gives her verdict

December 28, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Back in October, ecig company Totally Wicked had their day in the European Court. They were contesting the European Parliament’s Tobacco Product Directive (TPD) proposal, which is due to be brought into effect in May 2016. Although other companies and groups are against other sections of the TPD, Totally Wicked are arguing against the section that covers ecigs. Before the judges come back with their final decision, expected early in 2016, the Advocate General will prepare her thoughts on the case and her notes are expected to help the judges make their final ruling.  

I thought I’d let you all enjoy your Christmas before I brought her ruling to you, because it’s not great. Advocate General, Juliane Kokott, came back with her verdict on the 23rd of December 2015 and her opinion is that the TPD was legally adopted and that regarding ecigs the TPD is:

“relatively moderate, both in comparison with the rules for conventional tobacco products and by international standards, and are ultimately not disproportionate.”

Advocate General Kokott is also concerned about the gateway effect:

“It is not manifestly wrong or unreasonable to accept, in adopting internal market harmonisation measures, that e-cigarettes possibly cause risks to human health and that that product could — above all in the case of adolescents and young adults — develop into a gateway to nicotine addiction and, ultimately, traditional tobacco consumption.”

Don’t be disheartened just yet. This ruling is just a legal opinion to assist the judges. Fraser Cropper from Totally Wicked had this to say:

“Today the Advocate General issued her opinion in relation to Totally Wicked’s legal challenge to Article 20 of the Tobacco Products Directive. This is not a formal decision, nor a legal judgement on the questions we raised in our challenge. It is a legal opinion prepared to assist the CJEU (Court of Justice of the European Union) judges in making their decision and will be considered alongside the written and oral submissions. It is not binding on the CJEU judges. The decision of the judges is expected in early 2016.”

While the result is very disappointing, there is still a chance. Totally Wicked isn’t giving up hope just yet; and we can’t either.

Filed Under: News

One Extreme To The Other – Ecig Opinion Across the UK

December 12, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

3 Nations, 3 very different outlooks. Maybe one could learn from the other, naming no names but you know who you are (Wales). We are going to start with Scotland and the Health and Sport Committee’s Stage 1 report on the Health (Tobacco, Nicotine etc. and Care) (Scotland) Bill.  Sounds fascinating doesn’t it, we can skip most of it and head straight to the ecig bit, which handily is the first section. The proposal calls ecigs “NVPs” (Nicotine Vapour Products) and they admit they have looked at some evidence rather than just deciding ecigs are bad (*cough* Wales). They believe ecigs have a role to play as a cessation tool and the Scottish NHS should be able to issue guidance to patients regarding them. That they should stay abreast of all the current research at home and internationally and maintain a dialogue with those doing the research and the ecig users. So far they seem quite enlightened.

The committee raises concerns about the cost of medical licenses for ecigs and whether because of that hurdle many will not apply for a license. They address that issue with some information from the UK MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency) who have recently granted the first license for a medical ecig.

The next few points are about the age limit that will be in place for purchasing ecig’s and the age limit of the staff who may sell them.  As with England the minimum age for purchase will be 18 and the same for someone selling one, exactly the same as the rules for alcohol.  As with the alcohol rules there is a proposed age verification 25 policy, which means that if you look under 25 you will be asked for I.D.  If not many people under 18 are enquiring about ecigs the policy may be revised down to 21. If you do try to buy one underage the bill will not criminalise under 18’s because “evidence suggests that NVPs are less harmful than cigarettes.”  Proxy purchasing will also be against the law in the suggested bill.  They finish up by talking about advertising of ecigs, which should be age appropriate.  All that seems fairly agreeable to most reasonable people and compared to some suggested legislation it’s quite relaxed.

Wales could learn a thing or two from the Scots.  The Welsh Health Minister Mark Drakeford (Labour) has been trying to push through his ecig bill for a while now and it’s got to the point of laughable.  At the last meeting he announced he intended to include a blanket ban on vaping in all workplaces and public places. This would mean that if you lived in Wales and you worked from home you wouldn’t be able to vape in your workplace.  You could be fined for having a cheeky vape while you answered a work related email at 9pm in the evening.  That’s nuts!   Even ASH UK and CRUK said they opposed an extreme ban like that. The revision he has made means that they will only be banned in schools, eating places and public transport. But even then surely if you own a pub that serves food it should be up to the landlord if you can partake of an entirely legal pastime or not shouldn’t it? With the Welsh Assembly facing a 50/50 split on the ecig issue it’s never been more important for Welsh Vapers to get in touch with your AM and share your views.

On to the naughty MP’s of Westminster.  For the last year John Bercow (MP and Speaker of the House of Commons) has worked towards making the Parliament buildings a vape-free environment. You can still smoke of course but Vapers have to go to a designated vaping area outside the building. (Welcome to our world vaping MP’s.)  The vaping MP’s are not happy about this and are breaking all the new rules by continuing to vape in their offices and in the bars.

Stephen Metcalf MP, South Basildon and East Thurrock, said:

“The ban is so silly that MPs are increasingly ignoring it, which is not a great image for lawmakers. We need evidence-based policy making on vaping.”

He’s right, all vapers deserve evidence based policy/law making!

Filed Under: News

Ecig Victory – MHRA Grants Medicinal License

December 5, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Yes, you read that right. It seems the MHRA (Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) has actually granted a medical license to an ecig. The e-Voke license was granted to Nicoventures on the 16th of November 2015. Nicoventures may not be a company you’re familiar with but they also make the Vype ecig and are a subsidiary of British American Tobacco. Again, yes, you read that right, the MHRA have granted a medical license to a tobacco company, I do enjoy a good bit of irony.

There will be two types of e-Voke available, one in 10mg (1.0%) and one in 15mg (1.5%) nicotine and they may be available as early as January through the NHS. To obtain the license the e-Voke was compared against the reference product of the 15mg Nicorette Inhaler and a cigarette (Benson & Hedges Gold).  The comparison tests determined that:

“Plasma concentrations of nicotine following administration using the e-Voke Inhaler products were higher than those observed after use of the reference product and is likely to be similar to, or less then, exposure resulting from smoking a cigarette.”

So it’s better than a Nicorette Inhaler but not as good as a cigarette. Given all the people who have tried with a Nicorette Inhaler and ended up back on the ciggys, is something that’s still not as good as a cigarette going to be any use to them?  Or are people going to be in the exact same situation and feel like they have failed again.  The other question I also want to raise is why have they set themselves a nicotine level that’s below the 20mg TPD (Tobacco Product Directive) suggestion?  The TPD says that anything below 20mg will be a consumer product and anything over that limit will be medical.  So why not bring a 20mg, 25mg or even a 30mg version out and cover all the bases?  Maybe that will come in the future when this version turns out to be as useful as a Nicorette Inhaler.

Two bits of information stood out when I was reading through this document the first is this:

“However, nicotine is generally considered to be non-mutagenic and expert opinion from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the World Health Organisation’s International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS), and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), do not classify nicotine as a carcinogen, tumour initiator, tumour promoter or co-carcinogen.”

And the second:

“It has been demonstrated that the user will be exposed to inhaled water vapour, which is considered harmless and also to inhaled glycerol.  Calculations suggest that the exposure to inhaled glycerol, if the product is used as indicated, is acceptable for the adult patient population and supported by the known toxicology of inhaled glycerol.”

I can find no reference to the flavour of the liquid they will be using, so I can only assume that it will be unflavoured.  There is also no reference to if the battery will be used for heating the liquid (but I’m unsure how you get water vapour without heating so I am assuming it is for heating the liquid).  If that is the case then it makes me think that the only difference between this and the brands available on the high street is the flavour.

They haven’t given a picture version of what the e-Voke will look like but from reading their description it will look very much like the typical lookalike ecig with a rechargeable battery and plastic cartomiser filled with foam and the liquid.  The cartomisers will come in a blister pack of 5, 10 15 or 20 and they suggest that 10 puffs will be the equivalent of 1 ciggy.  They also say that the cartridge will hold approximately 130 puffs (13 ciggys worth) and you should use no more than 5 cartridges a day (5 cartridges X 13 ciggys = approx. 65 ciggys to a pack).  It may not be the best on the market at the moment but it’s a starting point that will hopefully give more nervous switchers the confidence to try the NHS backed ecig and unlike other NRT it will only be available to over 18’s.

You can take a full look at the license on the MHRA website if you want to learn more.

Filed Under: News

Giving up Smoking – Research Project In Progress

November 30, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

This week we are bringing you the science before it happens. Are you currently thinking about finally making the jump and giving up cigarettes? If you are then there is a new research project you could be perfect for. Leicester Stop Smoking Service (SSS) has been spearheading the campaign to get ecigs included in all NHS SSS support networks and now scientists are coming on board too. Professor Peter Hajek, Queen Mary University London (QMUL) and his team are looking for 886 volunteers to take part in their new trial. As long as you aren’t fussy about which way you give up then this could be an interesting trial to take part in. The objective of the trial is to see if it’s easier to give up with current Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) or with ecigs.

The trial is expected to take 1 year and three locations have been chosen to take part in the trial, those are:

  1. Tobacco Dependence Research Unit, Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, QMUL
  2. East Sussex Stop Smoking Service (Quit 51)
  3. Leicester Stop Smoking Service

Half the volunteers will be randomly assigned either traditional NRT such as gums, lozenges, sprays or patches and the other half of the volunteers will be assigned ecigs.  At 4 weeks, 6 months and 1 year your CO (Carbon Monoxide) level will be tested at one of the three locations to check if you been successful or not. Monitoring along the way will start at weekly intervals and progress from there,  you will be able to have access to all of the Stop Smoking Service support network no matter which aid you were assigned (those of you assigned ecigs will also be able to pop in and see us if you fancy a chat).   They will also be measuring how easy or hard the attempt has been for you, how you have managed your cravings if you had any, how you would rate the treatment and how cost effective the course was for you.

To take part in the trial you must be over 18, a current smoker and able to read/write English.  Ladies who are pregnant or breastfeeding, anyone who has a strong preference for which aid they use, already enrolled in a trial using NRT/ecigs or those who already use NRT/ecigs will not be accepted to take part in this trial.

If you would like to take part you can contact Leicester SSS directly on 0116 454 4000 or stop@leicester.gov.uk.  Alternatively if you live near one of the centres involved ask your GP to refer you.  For more in-depth information on the study protocols you can have a look online here  and to view the details on what is expected of volunteers here.

Anecdotal evidence from users and those who visit Leicester SSS suggests that ecigs are by far the best way currently to stay away from the ciggys, so very promising results are expected from this study.  This could be very good news for vapers new and old when the results are published and may help make the NHS even more ecig friendly.

Filed Under: News

Ecig Events – the 2015 E-cigarette Summit

November 25, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

The third annual E-Cigarette Summit, one of our favourite ecig events, took place in London on Thursday November 12th. For the 3rd year in a row, it was held at The Royal Society, and this year’s event boasted nearly 30 different experts. The speakers included well-known names in the ecig world, from Dr. Farsalinos and Clive Bates to names we might not be as familiar with, such as Beryl Keeley from the MHRA, and Jim McManus, Director of Public Health for Hertfordshire County Council. Many speakers from both sides of the argument were invited along, but very few of those who are against ecigs decided to accept the invitation.

Photo Credits: http://www.e-cigarette-summit.com/

All the slides and recordings of the presentations are now available on the Ecig Summit website, and with nearly 30 speakers in attendance, I unfortunately cannot give you an in-depth report on all of them; so I’ve chosen some highlights that I hope you will find informative. Most of the presentations are were in 20 minute slots, so they are easy enough to glean for more info if you need it.

Let’s start with Deborah Arnott from ASH UK; her section was titled “Ecigs and Children: What does the evidence show us?” Mrs. Arnott said that we are not seeing a gateway effect in the UK; surveys are showing experimentation but almost no regular use and that 3 months use amongst people who have never smoked is at zero. This pattern is repeated worldwide, and also shows that as cigarette use has declined ecig use has increased. Mrs. Arnott also warns that incorrect regulation may lead to unintended consequences, as one study in America revealed that after ecig bans were introduced, youth smoking rates increased. One study does not show a conclusive pattern, but we do need to be careful.

Professor Peter Hajek’s presentation was entitled “Ecigs provide smokers with nicotine, is this a problem?” Prof. Hajek believes the “renormalisation of smoking is clearly a bogus concept” and he discussed what he believes the anti-tobacco lobby’s aims are towards ecigs. Prof. Hajek also discussed addiction and his belief that cigarettes are highly addictive but nicotine on its own is not very addictive at all. He believes that’s why experimentation with ecigs by people who have never smoked is not leading to regular use.

If you’re lucky enough to live in Hertfordshire, then your local Public Health body has an excellent weapon. Jim McManus’ presentation was on “Ecigs and the challenge for local public health systems”. Mr. McManus said that a lot of bad science is being done and the suspicious attitude from researchers because of the “renormalisation” fear is not helping. But if we are not going to do science properly how are we going to make good decisions on policies? A very good question. He went onto say:

“We are supposed to be an evidence based profession, so let’s put aside our misconceptions and start with the evidence. Ecig users are taxpayers and have a right to expect a proper and unbiased service.”

I’ll finish up with Dr. Farsalinos’ presentation: “Common research misconceptions”. The gist of his presentation was that most researchers don’t actually understand what they are researching; simple things such as differences between voltage and wattage are hard for them to interpret. We have seen this play out in the press many times over the last few years. I can think of many examples myself, the most recent being the debunked Chinese study that found formaldehyde in excessive amounts when you dry burn the coil. No one vapes like that in reality, but the press loved the story.

The Chair, Professor Ann McNeill, closed the day by remarking on the fact that many of the professionals speaking on behalf of ecigs have put their careers on the line to do the work they do, and every single one of us owe them a huge ‘thank you’ for that. With her closing statement, this year’s Summit was brought to an end. Let’s see what next year’s has in store for us!

Filed Under: News

VapeFest Ireland: The Biggest One Yet

November 17, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Saturday the 14th of November saw the biggest day in the Irish vaping calendar, with the 4th Annual Irish VapeFest. The doors opened right at 10:03 am, and the hundreds of people queueing outside surged forwards and into the venue. Heading down the stairs into the large conference area, you were greeted with stall after stall of juices to try and hardware to play with, from the smallest starter kits to the largest sub ohm set ups from all around the world.

Pip from Suicide Bunny

Vapouround Magazine were giving out copies of their magazine at the entrance and a scavenger hunt style flyer as well. Some of the vendors had little stampers, and as you wandered around the hall you collected stamps. Once you completed your list, you handed the flyer in for a prize, a fun idea that got people visiting plenty of stalls and moving around the hall. I won a Suicide Bunny T-shirt from mine, which went very well with the 3 boxes of free Suicide Bunny juices they handed me when I went over to say hi, get a stamp and a photo. The whole team Pip had with her were really nice guys.

Within about half an hour, the whole room had taken on a very hazy atmosphere. Even with the external balcony doors open, the visibility was getting low; but this just meant you had to get closer to the action to see what was going on.

There I was stumbling about in the haze trying to fill the shopping list my manager had given me and I bumped into Phoenix’s very own Dan and James. Dan (left) is Phoenix’s UK Retail Manager ( and James (right) is one of EL-Science’s Analytical Chemists. Both are also vapers, of course.

My feet were really starting to hurt by this point and I needed to find a seat; unfortunately chairs were the only thing that were lacking during the event, and you had to grab a seat wherever you could find one, even if that meant sitting on a vendor’s sofa. I did manage to squeeze into a spot on the edge of the stage though, and I bumped into the Vaping Biker and his lovely wife Vicky while I sat there. Along with another friendly guy, he very kindly modelled my boss’s new juices for a photo too.

I managed to wrestle the liquids back off him, and as I was putting them back in my bag I looked up and saw Grimm Green.

He was also very friendly, and was more than happy to have a picture taken; although he seemed a little disappointed when I said I didn’t want to be in it. As you can imagine, he was swamped with people asking for photos and wanting a chat, so I got myself out of the way and let him meet more folks.

The Vaping Biker and Jaime’s Juices
Grimm Green

Next up was the raffle- the 3 prizes originally worth over €1000 each had more stuff added to them by the vendors on the day of the event, and were now estimated to be worth over €2000 each. When you bought your tickets you were asked to write your name and phone number on the back. Grimm Green was invited to the stage to pull the tickets and the organisers dialled the number on the back of the ticket. An Irish winner was very happy to get the call and a cheer went through the crowd. The second ticket Grimm chose was a UK number and the winner was in the crowd. A slightly bigger cheer this time, but I think that was because they had flown over and this box was now so heavy that they might have needed to leave their suitcases behind, depending on their luggage allowance. The third ticket was also to an Irish winner. Unfortunately,I wasn’t a lucky raffle winner- but there’s always next year.

The crowd always thins out after the raffle and after a few more laps of the venue and a few more juices tried it was time to call it a day on VapeFest Ireland 2015 and head out to the bars in the Temple Bar area of Dublin for a couple of drinks, but that’s a story for another blog!

The whole day was very enjoyable, all of the overseas visitors were made to feel very welcome and I think the Americans nearly drank the bar dry of Guinness. I didn’t meet a single person all day that hadn’t enjoyed themselves immensely and many people said it was definitely worth the effort of travelling over for the weekend.

All photos taken from my phone so the quality isn’t too great, sorry about that.

Filed Under: News

VapeFest Ireland

November 11, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Photo Credits: http://www.vapefestireland.com/

Saturday the 14th of November sees the 3rd Annual VapeFest Ireland event. This year, it’s being held at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin and, as expected, entry to this fantastic vaping event is free.

Yet again, it’s set to be bigger and better than ever before. A strict over 18 only policy will be in place, so if you have been asked for your I.D. recently, make sure you bring yours along, as there is a good chance you will be asked for it at the door; and if you don’t have it, you won’t be allowed in. Once you prove you’re old enough you’re good to go, so enjoy this year’s festivities! What should you expect this year?

Of course, there’s the raffle. Only 3 prizes are available this year, but it’s a raffle you will definitely want to win. Each of the 3 prizes will total over €1000 and include, amongst other things, a specially customised VapeFest Ireland mod from Elemental, 4 different tanks and drippers, batteries, chargers and enough juice to last you until next year’s VapeFest Ireland. Tickets will be available on the day at €2.50 each or 5 for €10.

There will also be a few special guests (apart from those of us from Phoenix and EL-Science). The first to sign up was the legend that is Grimm Green, pioneer of Youtube ecig reviews since 2009. There’s nothing this guy doesn’t know about ecigs and he’s looking forward to meeting you. The other confirmed special guest is Pip Gresham, the lady behind Suicide Bunny. She’s an expert on mixing eliquid and she will also be available to answer any questions you may have.  

At some point during the day you may also spot a representative from Guinness – not the brewery (although it is in Ireland so maybe them too), but the World Record people. There is a good chance you may be asked to take part in a setting a new World Record; the plan is to have over 500 people on the main stage all blowing a vape cloud at the same time. Not only can you meet Grimm Green, Pip from Suicide Bunny and have the chance to take home over €1000 worth of goodies, but you could also end up in the record books; what’s not to love about all that?   

My flight is booked, my hotel is waiting for me to check in, I’ve nearly got my bag packed and I’ve already got my t-shirt ironed. I think I’m good to go. All that’s left to say is see you there!

Filed Under: News

The Effects of Ecigs – Anyone Fancy a Drink?

October 30, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

An article regarding the effects of ecigs published on the Daily Mail online received some very angry comments last week, and I can understand why. Published on the 29th of October, the article talks about a recent study which found that ecig users are more likely to be problem drinkers. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; I’m a big fan of the science but even I had to look at this one and ask … “what?!”

The article headline makes the first accusation:

“E-cigarette users are ‘significantly more likely’ to be problem drinkers: Devices encourage excess alcohol consumption, study claims”.

The study, based in the U.S.A., interviewed a total of 1400 people – some who were vapers, some who weren’t. They divided these 1400 into 2 groups, and asked them about their drinking habits and ecig usage. In both groups, the study found that ecig use led to more drinking, and vice versa.

As ex-smokers, I think we all knew that a drink down the local pub meant one or two more ciggys smoked that evening. As a vaper I can say the same; going out for a cheeky glass of wine on an evening with some friends means I probably do have a few more drags on my ecig than I would if I stayed at home in front of the TV with a glass of water. However, I don’t turn into a “problem drinker”. According to the article, “those who expected to use the devices and alcohol together reported drinking more”. Maybe I remain unaware about my own drinking habits?  

Unfortunately, this article doesn’t mention four important little things. Firstly, how do we define a problem drinker? Someone who has a glass of wine on a weekly night out with friends or someone who has so much that they don’t remember where they live? I’d think that the latter was definitely a warning sign that there may be a deeper issue, especially if this a nightly occurrence.  

Secondly, for a smoker,the pub has always been a trigger point; a nice ciggy does tend to go well with a glass of something special. So a lot of smokers who decide to quit cold turkey (or another way), tend to avoid trigger points like the pub. Therefore, there is a very good chance that their alcohol consumption is going to go down, whereas an ecig user is still happy to live life exactly the same way they would have before, because they can use their ecig to satisfy the cravings that may come with a drink, so they don’t need to remove themselves from their routine in any way. Maybe vapers just are a more social bunch!

Thirdly, do non-smokers not drink at all? I’m fairly sure that you and I have definitely seen at least one nonsmoker in a pub before, but from this article it really sounds as though if they were in the pub, they would have stuck to mineral water.

Lastly, the article doesn’t specify just how many of the 1400 surveyed were actually vapers or if they had an alcohol problem before they became vapers. It also didn’t clarify what the study authors classified as a drinking problem, and if any of the 1400 classified themselves as teetotalers. In my opinion, this is a poorly designed study; with far too many variables to take into account and with such a small sample size, the results were never going to “prove” anything that we didn’t already know.

After taking all these points into consideration, I think my glass of wine on a Friday night is fine and I’m not in the least worried that my ecig is driving me to drink. Even if I do tend to vape more when I have a drink, why is this seen as a problem? It shouldn’t be, because vaping is much safer than smoking cigarettes.

Nevertheless, if you do feel that excessive alcohol consumption may be an issue you’re dealing with, it does need to be addressed, whether you are a vaper or not. Help and advice is readily available for those who need it; your GP can put you in contact with people who can help, or a local AA group may be an option you can look at.  

Filed Under: News

How Safe are Ecigs? – Don’t Always Believe What You Read

October 27, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

If you picked you picked up a copy of The Sun or The Telegraph last week you may have spotted a very concerning article about ecigs. The safety of ecigs is seriously questioned in the piece, originally published in The Sun and then picked up the following day by The Telegraph, who even link to The Sun article in their text. The Sun article opens with the headline “Vaping burned a hole in my lungs”.

The gist of this story is that Richard Courtney from Horley in Surrey wanted to give up smoking and decided to switch to an ecig to do so (kanger subtank and eleaf istick are shown in the article). On the way home from a friend’s house, he tasted juice in his mouth and had a coughing fit, then had some serious pains in his shoulder. The next morning, he couldn’t breathe very well, so he went to the local hospital. After testing by one of the nurses using an oxygen tube, the ecig was discovered to be spitting juice out. Mr. Courtney was told that his right lung is down to working at 25% capacity. He was discharged the next morning with an inhaler. However, 5 days later, his chest tightened again, and he headed back to the hospital for another overnight stay. The following Monday, he was back at work.  

There are so many holes in this story (not just including the one in his lung) that I’m not quite sure where to begin. Not a single medical expert was interviewed in connection with the incident. Additionally, no one who treated him has come forward to confirm the story and no medical experts have spoken out saying this is even possible or provided an actual diagnosis for whatever actually was troubling him. In fact, no one with any medical expertise at all was quoted in the articles, just the patient. For these injuries to have occurred as the article infers, the hot juice would have had to totally bypass the lips, tongue and throat to land in the lung and burn the hole. I think every vaper has had juice in their mouth or a hot spit on the tongue; it’s mildly irritating and may tingle a little but that’s about it. No one seems to require hospitalisation to treat the issue. Surely after over 10 years on the market, with millions of vapers around the world, at least one other person may have had this problem?   

The website Snopes (a myth busting website that specialises in urban myths and legends) has also come to the defence of ecigs and attempts to debunk these articles. They mark this story as unproven and say:

We were unable to find any reports of lung injuries that even remotely matched the Sun’s claim, but presumably such an adverse reaction would have previously befallen marijuana smokers, regular smokers, chefs, firemen, and others regularly exposed to inhalation of fumes or steam at a high temperature.

We were unable to find any information to indicate the injury he described was even possible, much less likely to occur in the manner described.

If you do decide to read the full articles, do have a look at the comments section too. My two favourites are these:

“Bless him, under all of his suffering, he managed to contact The Sun, a real hero.”

From The Sun, posted by Dawn Campbell

“I was expecting The Telegraph to be a serious newspaper, that would never reproduce terms like “burning hole in the lung”, which is a ridiculous and unscientific term. I am almost certain that the case is simply an episode of spontaneous pneumothorax, for which SMOKING (current or past) is a risk factor, and could have been triggered by a coughing episode. Ecigarette use is irrelevant to this.  It is never too late to stop the misinformation.  I feel sorry for the patient, not only about his episode of pneumothorax but mostly because he is probably convined (sic) to quit e-cigarette use and relapse to smoking!!!”

From The Telegraph, by none other than Dr. Farsalinos

Dr. Farsalinos’ comment seems to be the closest we have to a medical diagnosis on the whole page, and without reading the patient’s notes, it can only be considered an educated guess. I do feel sorry for the patient, but I feel worse for the potential vapers who may read these articles as gospel truth, and never take the chance on an ecig because of bad journalism like this.   

Filed Under: Information, News

Banning Ecigs in Public – Welsh Assembly Debate Update

October 16, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Another update to the Welsh Assembly debate regarding banning ecigs in public came to light this week. The debate has been raging on for a month or two now and consultations have occurred through various website forms and surveys to gather public opinion. Despite speaking to experts in tobacco control, ecigs and public health, who all say it’s a bad idea, Health Minister Mark Drakeford and his Labour AMs keep ploughing ahead, hoping to find some evidence they can use to support the ban.  

The results of the public surveys are now up for discussion and once again they haven’t gone the way Mr. Drakeford would like. As usual in these kinds of debates, the “gateway theory” is the main argument used by the side who would like ecigs to be banned in public. Unfortunately, they have yet again come up against a wall instead of a gate. The revelation was brought to my attention by the website Wales Online when they published an article entitled “Questions raised over whether ecigarettes lead to smoking after survey can’t find a single regular user that has never smoked”. Surely that’s a debate stopping headline? It seems not.  

Instead of their own failure of a survey, they cited an American one instead. The American study looked at 700 teenagers and found evidence of teenagers going on to become smokers after having tried ecigs (however, this study was slightly debunked as showing a correlation, not causation and effect). The 16 teenagers who went on to try cigarettes may have done so regardless of whether they tried an ecig first or not). A spokesperson for the Welsh Government claims they mentioned the American study instead of their own because they look at evidence from all over the world.

Meanwhile, the Welsh Lib Dems have been having a field day with this news and showed their glee with some great quotes from Kirsty Williams (the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats):

If Labour’s claims that ecigarettes were a gateway to tobacco were correct; we should be seeing people who have never smoked a cigarette before using ecigs now.

She went onto say:

 

In fact, the opposite is true: Labour’s survey couldn’t find a single ecigarette user who has never smoked a cigarette before. Welsh Labour Ministers must be pretty embarrassed that their own report is undermining their own argument for a vaping ban. It’s about time they listened to the evidence and the thousands of people who have supported the Welsh Lib Dems’ campaign against their proposed ban and scrapped these illiberal and illogical proposals.

If you happen to agree with Mrs. Williams you can sign a quick petition to add your support to their ecig-friendly campaign, arguing against a public ecig ban, and you don’t even have to join the Lib Dems to sign it. They are hoping to achieve 5,000 signatures and so far have 3,350.

Sign The Petition

Filed Under: Information, News

Can ‘The Buddy System’ Help You Quit Smoking?

October 15, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Forbes Magazine posted a really good article about ecigs this week titled “How Vapers Can Help Smokers Quit” on their website, written by Sally Satel. Ms. Satel suggests that people might be able to get more out of ecigs to help quit smoking if there was some kind of buddy system in place. Sounds like an odd idea, right? Maybe. Maybe not.  

She starts the article talking about a recent research project in Scotland. Psychologist Christopher Russell and his colleagues from The Centre for Drug Misuse surveyed over 7,000 people about vaping and their personal vaping habits. According to the data they collected, more than 80% of smokers had quit smoking totally since they started vaping regularly. While there is a chance that this survey may have made it to one of the big vaping forums and so may have been biased by that, 80% is still a very good percentage.

Included in the survey was the question:

What could smokers, who are curious about using ecigarettes to quit smoking, learn from vapers who have quit or significantly reduced their smoking by using ecigarettes?

My answer is similar to the most popular reply; the right device and flavour are the most important, and what works for one person won’t necessarily work for the next.  

This is where her buddy suggestion comes into play; she proposes that if a contact list of experienced vapers in the area could be collated, then as people are drawn towards the idea of trying an ecig, they could contact someone on this list for face-to-face help and advice.

The list could be kept at the local health centre or Stop Smoking Service – often the first stop for a smoker looking to switch. When contacted, the vapers could recommend what equipment to use, which flavours to choose, where to get them from, and how to maintain the device, while also offering encouragement and motivation when needed. 

The idea might sound a little bit weird, but Ms. Satel is not the first to think of this buddy system and she certainly won’t be the last; and don’t we sort of do it already? I haven’t met a single vaper who isn’t happy to talk about what they use, how long they have been vaping and how they got started.  In every vape shop I’ve ever been in there is always a customer eager to share their story with someone who wants to get started. I’ve never met a vaper, even on the street, who wasn’t happy to talk about vaping.

Then again, she might have a point; if you don’t know anyone who vapes then how do you know it’s a good vape shop, if you don’t know anything about vaping? And who has the nerve to go up to a random person on the street and just ask? If the buddy system is the way to go to help people make the switch then, I’ll happily put my name down to help, whether it’s a formal system or not. How about you?  

In the meantime, until such a list exists you can always head to our Facebook page and ask your question, or if you prefer, pop into any one of our stores and ask us face-to-face. Even if your e-cig wasn’t purchased from us, we will still help; we have a very knowledgeable team of guys and girls working for us.

Filed Under: Information

TPD Court Case – Day One of the Challenge

October 2, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

October 1st 2015 is the day that will change the vaping world forever.  Or maybe it won’t.  We won’t actually find out for sure until early 2016. The challenge to article 20 of the EU TPD (Tobacco Products Directive) has had its first day in court.  But before we get into that, some other fun things happened a few days earlier.

Let’s start with an opinion article on The Times website written by Matt Ridley. Also known as Viscount Ridley, he has been writing for the paper for over 5 years, mostly on science, economics and the environment.

He has seen the light with ecigs and has asked many questions in the House of Lords on behalf of vapers.  In the article, he continues that trend by writing about the forthcoming article 20 case in the ECJ (European Court of Justice). He believes the case against article 20 is very strong and his opinion is:

For a start, it is bizarre to include vaping devices in a ‘tobacco products’ directive at all. It’s like regulating coffee in a hard-drugs law.

Gobsmackingly, the directive specifically outlaws the very vaping devices that are most useful to heavy smokers trying to quit

I think it’s fairly easy to see which side of the fence he comes down on. The full article is a little long but really is worth a read.

September 29th

September 29th saw the big hand over of the article 20 legal challenge petition to the Department of Health (DoH). Organised by the same people who are taking the case to court, the signature collection site has been open for a few months so vapers and their friends and family could also have a chance to show their support to the cause.

Signatures came in thick and fast at the start and numbers reached more than 10,000 after two weeks but after this point the incoming signatures lessened. Despite this, the petition seems to have closed with a furious rush to sign because over 70,000 of you wonderful vapers signed it before the deadline.

Clive Bates, who has supported the ecig cause since the start of this journey over 2 years ago, was in attendance and gave a small speech. He then helped carry the two large boxes of signatures into the DoH to applause and cheers from the vaping crowd who went along to support the cause in person.

October 1st

Then it was October 1st and time for the TPD court case main event and at 2:30pm the article 20 challenge came before the 5 ECJ judges and Advocate General (person who looks at both sides’ evidence and makes a suggestion to the judges).

The legal team had prepared all the briefs beforehand and were given 20 minutes to orally outline the documents and case. The opposing side, which included the EU Parliament, Council and Commission and also any opposing member states (the rumour is that Spain, France and UK were the opposing states) had 15 minutes each to put their side of the case.  It now goes on to the Advocate General who makes a recommendation and once the report is received from the Advocate General the judges deliberate and give their final verdict, which is expected early 2016.

Once their verdict is in, the case will either be null and void or moved on to a full hearing which will have 3 judges. It’s a long way from over, but there may be some feeling regarding which way the judges will go when the Advocate General report is available just before Christmas.  For the vapers, it’s now back to the waiting game.

Filed Under: News

Stoptober 2015 – Stop Smoking this October with a Switch to Ecigs

September 26, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Yes, the great NHS stop smoking campaign known as Stoptober is nearly upon us again. With just a few days to go TV, radio and billboards are filling up fast with great advice on how to stop smoking.   Patches, gums, sprays and tablets are all available to use, alongside the Stop Smoking Service (SSS) support groups. This year, however, there is a change in the wind and it smells like vapour.  After many successful meetings, campaigns and educational briefings, SSS have opened their doors to ecig users too.  You can now be out and proud about your ecig in Stoptober and beyond and still take advantage of the extra support an SSS group can offer you.

Many people agree that no matter the route you take to stopping smoking, the availability of having someone there who can answer questions or concerns can make that journey easier. You won’t receive any free eliquids or equipment but if you feel you need that little bit of extra help or someone to talk to then they are there for you (so are we, but you knew that bit already).

If you are thinking of making the switch to ecigs this Stoptober, the Smokefree NHS website has answers to some FAQs. Here’s one of the questions:

“Will ecigarettes help me quit smoking?”

Evidence from a number of studies indicates that ecigarettes can help people quit smoking, with similar or better results than nicotine replacement therapies such as patches or gum. People who use ecigarettes too little or too rarely have less success at quitting smoking because not enough nicotine is obtained to reduce the urge to smoke. The type of ecigarette used may also make a difference. The findings of a study by researchers at King’s College London and University College London indicate that daily use of tank models that can be refilled with liquid may give smokers “a better chance of quitting.”

I’d have given a very similar answer to that if the smoker were asking me, but I’d have also talked more about peer pressure.  Every smoker has heard from at least one person “when are you going to give up?” or a variation of it. I’ve noticed that so many people are very proud of their loved ones when they do make the switch to ecigs but quite often after a few months of ecig use the question of quitting comes up again. Many people seem to think an ecig is the same as a cigarette, yet very few people question those who have used patches or gum for a few months, often because those are methods people have heard of, are familiar with and which the NHS supports.  When you get pressure like this it can make you feel like you must now quit ecigs too and you can, if you want to, when you are ready, just like with patches and gums.  The important thing to rememeber is that ecigs and Stoptober are both great reasons to leave cigarettes behind.

With ecigs it’s totally up to you.  If you feel like you might go back to tobacco if your ecig wasn’t available then stay on it, don’t let someone else coerce you into doing something that you aren’t ready for.  Just like when you made the switch to ecigs, you have to want to do it and if you’re not ready then it just won’t work.

If you feel you are ready to take the plunge then there are ways you can do it. Cold turkey is one option but this doesn’t work for many people, for obvious reasons. A much easier and gentler way to wean yourself off is to step down the strength of your liquids, which is very similar to the technique the SSS use.

Then there are those amongst us (me included) who have no thoughts of giving up ecigs and still want to partake of nicotine for as long as possible.  The options are endless.

Whether you have switched already or are thinking about making the change to ecigs, it has to be about what works for you, the support to help you do it your way is out there.

Filed Under: Information, News

Vaping Across Europe

September 11, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

It’s been a busy week across Europe for ecigs. We start in Portugal, who have finally made their version of the TPD public with a target implementation date of January 1st 2016.  They have stuck closely to the European Parliament’s published minimums, but they have taken it one step further by banning almost all vaping in public places. This may sound a little harsh but not when you understand how Portugal will implement this.  They already have the same smoking bans in place as the UK for public places, but they have separate dedicated smoking areas in pubs and restaurants. these rooms will now also include vaping.  Yes, vapers are back out (or in) with the smokers again.  The tax on ecigs that Portugal implemented a few months ago (which is not part of the TPD) will also remain unchanged. At €0.60 per millilitre it’s certainly not cheap to vape over there and the fear is that the ecigarette tax idea will start to spread rapidly.

Still in Europe, the article 20 legal challenge date has finally been set. October 1st 2015 is the big day and the case is scheduled to be heard in the afternoon. The legal team behind it are confident they have a good shot at winning and sending article 20 back to the drawing board. The ECJ (European Court of Justice) has a track record of being political though, so perhaps a little luck on the day is needed as well. You can still help by sending more than just good luck; at this point over 45,000 people have signed to say they support the case and more signatures are still needed with only two weeks left to go. 50,000 or even 100,000 should be achievable if we all tell everyone we know and get them to sign, they don’t need to be vapers themselves just over 18 and proud of you and what you have managed to achieve.

Now on to Scotland; the Health (Tobacco, Nicotine etc. and Care) (Scotland) Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament in June. Built in 3 parts, ecigs are covered in the first section: “Nicotine Vapour Products and smoking in hospital grounds.” The Bill will introduce restrictions on the sale of nicotine vapour products (NVPs) such as ecigarettes and shisha pipes. These restrictions will include: a minimum purchase age of 18, prohibiting the sale of NVPs via vending machines, requiring NVP retailers to register on the tobacco retailer register, prohibit ‘proxy-purchasing’ for under 18s, restrict domestic advertising and promotions, implement an age verification policy for the sale of NVPs and ban staff under the age of 18 from selling tobacco and NVPs. The Bill would also make it an offence to smoke in “parts of hospital grounds”,

I don’t think you will find many people arguing against the under 18s section of the bill but the last sentence is a little confusing, as if it’s just been thrown in there. I remember a lot of news coverage a while ago about banning smoking and vaping in Scottish hospital grounds, do they really mean vaping in hospital grounds and they got their words wrong or has vaping been dropped and it’s just smoking now? I hope they clear that bit up a little more. Currently still in stage 1 of the process they are now reviewing evidence from all sides. First up was FOREST, the Scottish Coalition on Tobacco, Professor Linda Bauld and the New Nicotine Alliance and their meeting was on the September 1st 2015.

On September 8th 2015, the Committee took evidence from Community Pharmacy Scotland, ECITA (EU) Ltd, the Advertising Standards Authority, the Scottish Grocers Federation, JTI UK (E-Lites) and Vapourized.  Still to come on September 15th 2015, the Committee will take evidence from the RCN, BMA Scotland, UNISON, NHS Ayrshire and Arran and COSLA. They will finish on September 22nd 2015 with Patient Advice and Support Services (Citizens Advice Scotland), the SPSO, the Medical Protection Society and Law Society of Scotland.

So it seems that they are really taking advice from all sides on this one and not just listening to one set of views on vaping in Scotland but I’m not sure I’m happy with the way the pro ecig people were put in with the traditional cigarette people.  Again I’m left wondering if they will treat ecigs in Scotland in the same manner as tobacco.

Lastly we are back in England and the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on ecigs met again this week.  The meeting was quite long so this is just a quick summary. Unfortunately there was a poor turnout from our Lords and MPs, but those that did attend were the main players on the side of ecigs.  Clive Bates, representatives from ECITA and various other ecig advocates were in attendance  and the topics covered were broad.

The meeting started with the impact of the PHE report and how important this ground-breaking report actually is for ecigs. They then moved onto e-cigs being available on the NHS and the pros and cons of that. From there it went to an update on the TPD and if there anything that can be done to stop it and then onto the need to involve more MPs in this group.

The conclusion the meeting came to was that more MPs need to be involved. There is already good cross party support but we still need more. The MPs in attendance said they would be raising a few parliamentary questions about ecigs and trying to get more support but we, the vapers, also need to nudge them to get involved.

You can contact your MP through the write to them website and give them a nudge in the right direction. A more in-depth summary of the meeting can be found here.

Filed Under: Information

Vaping News Round-up

September 4, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Most of the big vaping news this week is still around the PHE report, so I thought I’d cover some of the smaller stories with some dates for the diary, things to support, and closing consultations.  We begin with the closings. I know many of you responded to the UK TPD public consultation and probably spent many happy hours filling it in. The deadline date has now passed and the consultation is closed. Now they take a look at our responses and they say that “All responses received by the closing date will be carefully considered. A summary report of consultation responses will be published on the Department of Health website in due course, once the consultation has been completed.  A final decision on the implementing regulations will be made in due course, taking into account all relevant considerations.” But they haven’t said when or how long the due course will be so it’s back to the waiting game to see what the UK TPD will eventually look like.  The Welsh consultation also closed this week, which was much easier to complete than the UK one but far more draconian, however they did also ask for your opinion on public toilets too. Maybe that’s where the results of the consultation will end up!

Moving on to things to sign and support if you haven’t done so already. On the Parliament petition website there’s one about ecigs asking the UK Parliament to fight the TPD and not bring it into law. It’s not brilliantly put together but as there is now a petition there, no more can be added, so it’s still worth a quick signature. Next up is the petition on change.org directed at the UK Department of Health and the Health Minister, Jane Ellison, asking for the UK to refuse to implement article 20 of the TPD due to the recent PHE report.  The TPD legal challenge is still waiting to have its day in court and  signatures are still being collected so if you, your mum, dad, sister, brother, second cousin and best friend haven’t yet signed it, get yourselves to the website and put your name to it.  Following on from the Welsh consultation, the Welsh Lib-Dems are looking for a bit of support too, this time though it’s money.  You don’t have to be a member or supporter of theirs to pop your hand in your pocket. They think the proposed Welsh laws about ecigs are crazy and are trying to raise some cash to put together campaign packs for their activists to go out and collect signatures of support.  They are aiming for £5000 and all donations from £1 up to £500 are welcome and will only be spent on supporting the ecig cause.

And lastly it’s dates for your diaries. First up is VapeFest Ireland, held at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin on the 14th of November. A good time is pretty much guaranteed at this one, as I found out last time I went. I’ll be going again this year too and I can’t wait. Vape Jam UK dates have now been announced and due to possible TPD complications (if it’s held after May it may not be allowed to go ahead) the dates have been brought forward to April 1st to the 3rd with the 1st for business 2 business only.  Public dates will be the 2nd and 3rd.  The location has also been changed to the Excel London.  The last announcement is the GFN 2016 conference. This is the 3rd time this conference has been on and again it will be held in Warsaw at the Marriott Hotel. Dates are June the 17th and 18th 2016.  This year they hope to address the issues of Evidence, Accountability and Transparency.  Subjects already considered for discussion are:

  • use of ecigarettes in mental health facilities
  • do vape shops have a role as ‘smoking cessation services’?
  • how do we ensure accountability in public health?
  • what is industry’s role in the vape market?
  • what are the characteristics of nicotine addiction?
  • implications of the implementation of the EU TPD and issues for FCTC COP7

If you think you may have a topic for discussion you can tweet them at #GFN16 or email to gfn@kachange.eu.

Filed Under: Information

Public Health England (PHE) Report

August 21, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

The report from Public Health England (PHE) on ecigs has finally been published.  You can’t fail to have noticed the headlines from the last few days about ecigs.  Not only has it made the TV news networks but it’s been on the front pages of the papers too. Finally, someone has listened to the scientists.

The actual report is 111 pages long and can be found here,  however for us non-science types the press release is just as good a read.  The main contributors to the report are names you will be familiar with if you have read this blog before; Professors Ann McNeill and Peter Hajek.  Both have been supporters of ecigs since they first began studying them and their users.

Although most of the media has focused on ecigs being available on the NHS part of the document (something which will only happen once there is actually a medically licensed version available and possibly only to the few who don’t have upfront start-up costs to buy the full kit themselves), the overall endorsement of ecigarettes by PHE comes across very strongly indeed. In fact, it comes across so strongly that a few of the anti-ecig campaigners have felt very deflated by it, with some going so far as to bring up the debunked Japanese study from a few months ago (the one that claimed there was more formaldehyde in an e-cig than traditional tobacco).

This tweet from Simon Capewell (Faculty of Public Health) is a prime example.

#eCigs pose much higher cancer risk than first thought? @PHE_uk @ASH_LDN @SimonChapman6 @martinmckee @UK_HF @CR_UK http://t.co/LxN8D1WumE

— Simon Capewell (@SimonCapewell99) August 19, 2015

I don’t think other campaigners have seen the light just yet but there has been a distinct lack of counter-claims. Maybe they are learning to keep quiet when they can’t win the argument.  Now they can’t make the “ban them because of the children” claim, or the “we don’t know what’s in them” claim, or any of the other rubbish they have been trying to convince us of for the last few years. What will be on the agenda next?  Maybe the juice scent of wild strawberry that comes with some vapers will be next to be attacked. They can’t use the “risk to bystanders” claim anymore either, so who knows? I guess we just have to wait and see what they come out with next and be ready to show them the facts all over again when they try it.

A lot of people are seeing this announcement as great news and in many ways it is, but it won’t affect the TPD next year and although we don’t have it too bad at the moment in the UK, some other countries are really going to struggle.

Others are also wondering if this is the start of the road to taxation. Is the thought going to be that “ecigs may be 95% safer, but they still aren’t 100% safe, so we still better tax them at the same rate as traditional cigarettes (except for ecigs that are medical, of course!)”.  If this information had been published last year would the TPD still be a possibility? I think that the next few months in the lead up to TPD implementation are amongst the most exciting, frustrating and scary times of this whole industry.

The evidence is starting to come through too late to prevent anything changing for the better now and we will have to wait out the next 10 years until the TPD is up for review again. How many lives could have been saved in that 10 years?

Maybe it isn’t too late though; there is still a small chance of change The legal challenge to article 20 of the TPD (the bit about ecigs) is still ongoing.  If you haven’t signed up to show your support you still have time.  Forty-thousand people from across Europe have signed already but more is always better!

Filed Under: News

Vaping This Summer Holiday

June 25, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Home and away with e-cigs, this blog is to help you understand where are e-cigs banned in the UK and when you are travelling abroad. Holiday season is rapidly approaching and most of us will already be thinking about those two weeks in the sun. You may already be planning outfits and places to visit or maybe just looking forward to whiling those hours away on the beach. There are a few things you might need to know about travelling with your e-cig abroad and also in the UK.

Although in the UK we have quite relaxed rules about using your e-cig, not everywhere is accommodating.

Even just getting to your destination in the UK might be problematic; from July 26th 2015 a huge amount of UK train stations and train operators will be banning e-cigs from the platforms and the trains.

Southern Railways plan to ban vaping from all their 156 stations and 2500 train services, however they are at least giving us some notice! Many other owners and operators have just silently included e-cig bans into their policies.

Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive of Ash UK, believes this policy needs more thought:

“There is no evidence that the vapour produced by electronic cigarettes is harmful in the same way as tobacco smoke. For that reason ASH does not support a blanket ban on the use of these devices in all enclosed public places. However, it’s up to individual organisations, including train operators, to choose whether or not to permit their use. We’d suggest that before doing so they think about the potential health benefits of these products, which are mainly used by smokers trying to quit.”

If you’re planning a UK break at one of the many Haven sites, they have also now introduced an e-cig policy. Vaping in the bar is now a ‘no no’ just like smoking.

The wording of the notice is slightly misleading, however. Haven seem to have an issue with the nicotine and not the actual vapour. This makes us wonder if anyone wearing a patch, chewing gum or using an inhaler or spray will also be asked to chew, spray or keep an arm outside. What if you’re using 0% nicotine liquids? They haven’t really thought this one out too well, have they?

If a plane is involved in your travel plans then be aware they have changed the rules regarding batteries on planes. For a while now, UK flights have advised that you keep your batteries in your hand luggage, but this is now to be implemented worldwide.

ICAO, which sets guidelines and airline safety standards for 191 member states, made the decision based on the potential fire hazard of exploding batteries. This is not a ban on taking your e-cigs, liquids, spare tops or coils with you, they can all go in your checked baggage if you want to put them there. It is only your batteries that must go in your hand luggage. The new rules are there as a ‘just in case’ measure. If anything does go wrong with a battery in your hold baggage, it will be a lot more difficult to get to it to deal with the problem. Also in the new rules are bans on charging your e-cig on board and using it, although many airlines have had rules on on-board use for a while now.

You might also want to consider taking enough supplies with you, as there’s no guarantee you will be able to get your favourite juice or a replacement top/battery once you arrive at your destination. Some countries have very few vape shops, even though it may be perfectly legal there. There are also a small minority of countries where just using the device may be problematic; please check in advance with the local tourist information board for the country you are visiting to check if this might affect you.

As an alternative for use where you are unable to vape, we highly recommend the new Nicoccino mouth strip.

It effectively provides a hit of nicotine by placing the strip on the gum where it dissolves over around 2 minutes. You can purchase them here.

Filed Under: Information

E-Cig Inventor – Hon Lik Speaks Out At #GFN15

June 9, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

The 5th and 6th of June 2015 saw the second Global Forum on Nicotine #GFN15 convention take place in Warsaw. Friday’s welcome address was made by the inventor of e-cigs, Mr Hon Lik.

He started by welcoming everyone to the convention and went on to speak about events that had led him to create the first version of the e-cig.  The trials he had to overcome and the doubts that his invention would ever work and if it did would anyone use it.  He spoke about how pleased he is that e-cigs have taken off the way they have and how, given a chance, they have helped millions and will go onto help many more.

“There is still much suspicion of the growth of this technology, which was neither ordered by a government nor propelled by a big corporation. As vaping becomes more widespread, so investigation increases. The value of this product as part of tobacco harm reduction is being questioned.  We, who are so passionate about e-cigarettes will have to be ready to pursue our cause and ambition.  Tradition and customs need to develop so as to create the progress which will finally push our societies forward.”

Hon Lik on his concerns for the future of vaping

I think what he means by that is not to let old methodology, theories and rules put you off new ways to do something with new technology, just because in one form something is bad for you doesn’t mean in a new form it will also be bad for you, we need to open our minds and use reliable research to help tell us the difference.   And don’t be scared to stand up and tell someone they are wrong about e-cigs and point them to the evidence to prove it.

The speech he made sounds like he is very proud of the work he did (and quite rightly) and just as proud as those who came after him, picked up the baton and are still running with it.  The conference is ongoing as I type this so not much in-depth information about the topics has been released yet but I’m hopeful that by next week more information and some recordings of the presentations will be available. If Twitter is anything to go by, I’m guessing there will be a lot to get through!

An article appeared in The Scotsman this week about the tabling of the Scottish Government’s e-cigarette bill.  They haven’t provided a direct link to the actual bill on the Scottish Parliament website and they also don’t cover many of the details of the bill but from reading the article the only things the bill seems to cover are the ban of sales of e-cigs to under 18’s and the ban of others buying to give to under 18’s.  Which if that is all it covers, it is the same ban that was recently added as an amendment into the Families and Children’s Act and set to become law on October the 1st 2015 in England and Wales.  The Scottish bill will probably be timed to come into force on or around the same date.  The other detail included in the bill is measures to make it a statutory offence to smoke within hospital grounds, which could be punishable by fines of up to £1,000.  As all except one Scottish hospital recently banned e-cigs from the grounds as well, they don’t explain if this £1000 fine on smoking will also include e-cigs, meaning e-cig users could also be fined.

Filed Under: Information

ASH UK & Denmark Electronic Cigarette Law (TPD) Update

June 9, 2015  By Joy Turner 1 Comment

As promised, it’s ASH UK and Denmark (Action on Smoking and Health), and an article from Reuters this week.

Let’s start with ASH Denmark.  A few weeks ago I covered the subject of Denmark’s introduction of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD).  Well the news is, for now at least, it’s being postponed.  The law was supposed to be in place by November this year, but due to campaigning by the Danish Vapers and their Consumer groups the Danish Ministry of Health have decided to postpone the processing of this proposal until the next parliamentary session which would also be after the next election.  According to the Danish Union of Vapers this means that e-cigs will not be included in the “smoke free environment” law in November, the Ministry of Health say that this delay will help them to gather more knowledge and information.  So it may well be that vaping will get its own laws or included into the “smoke free environment” law at a later date,  I hope it will get its own bespoke law that would fit vaping and all it’s forms much better than being strong-armed into current legislation.

ASH UK would like you to know you are not alone, they don’t mean in a scary stalker kind of way either, last year they reported that 2.1 million vapers existed in the UK, there’s another 500,000 of us now.  Yes, according to ASH there are now 2.6 million Vapers in the UK.  If every one of you come to VapeFest it will be brilliant! They say that 1.4 million are “Dual Fuellers” which means that some of you are still using the occasional tobacco cigarettes alongside your e-cigs.  However they don’t say how many tobacco cigarettes counts as a duel fueller, is it 10 a day, 1 a week, or 1 a year?  Either way, if you have cut down or given up totally it’s a massive achievement, so well done all of us!

Just remember the mantra, “count the ones you don’t smoke, not the ones you do”

If you would have smoked 20 a day but now its just 2, that’s 18 you didn’t have,  that’s something to be proud of if you ask me.

ASH has found yet again that use amongst never smokers is still negligible. But rates from 2014 that 17.6% of smokers using e-cigs have remained unchanged and are still at 17.6% in 2015.  ASH think that this may be due to e-cigs being demonised in the press and the growing false belief that e-cigs are worse than tobacco cigarettes for you.  They also noted that e-cig preference has changed too, as time moves along and the next generation of devices becomes more effective they also seem to become more popular.  In 2014 55% of vapers were using cig-a-likes and just 41% were using a tank style or something more advanced.  In 2015 those numbers have reversed with tank styles being used by 66% of users and cig-a-likes at only 32%.

“The number of ex-smokers who are staying off tobacco by using electronic cigarettes is growing, showing just what value they can have. But the number of people who wrongly believe that vaping is as harmful as smoking is worrying. The growth of this false perception risks discouraging many smokers from using electronic cigarettes to quit and keep them smoking instead which would be bad for their health and the health of those around them.”
Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive of ASH

For the full details of the survey you can read the ASH UK PDF document here.

Lastly Reuters had an article recently that’s worth a quick read, entitled “is nicotine all bad?” They start by talking about nicotine gum and then move on quite quickly to e-cigs and how disruptive they are proving to be within preconceived ideas.  They raise the idea that some people just can’t get their heads around the fact that nicotine might actually not be as lethal as we have been told for years it is, now technology has moved on enough to be able to separate nicotine from smoking, you can have your nicotine and survive it, in fact some studies have shown it might be beneficial to some groups of people, nicotine may possibly be able to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease or help sufferers of ADHD.

Whatever the final outcome this debate is bound to rumble on for years into the future until one side or the other can prove without doubt if nicotine is positive or negative.  Until then though, its defiantly very interesting seeing what could be.

Filed Under: Information

Smoking: What’s The Alternative?

April 13, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

The health risks associated with smoking tobacco are well known. Every year, millions die worldwide from smoking and approximately half of all smokers will die prematurely because of a smoking related disease. If you are a smoker, you need to quit. That much is clear. But quitting is easier said than done, and smokers need help to stop the habit. Fortunately, there are a range of options to make that process more manageable, from electronic cigarettes to gum, lozenges and hypnotherapy. The info graphic below looks at ten such alternatives. 10-Smoking-Alternatives-Infographic)

Embed This Infographic On Your Website

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Flavour Of The Month: Nana’s Custard

April 1, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Think of your grandparents’ kitchen and a few glorious sounds and smells are conjured up. You probably visited in mid-morning, say around 11am, which was just enough time for breakfast to have finished and the early morning baking preparation to have started. You’ve visited thousands of times but you still take a look at the little trinkets and ornaments on the sideboards and shelves. There are several china teapots, only one of which is ever used, nestled in a room boasting thimbles, plates, and other nice-looking porcelain. There’s a photo of the lady herself in her heyday, a black-and-white mirror to the past, and other pictures of holidays in the UK and Spain. In the cupboards and fridge are some ingredients that you’ve never seen anywhere else, in measures that never seem to get lower. Traditional herbs and spices, dairy products that only seemed to appear in her fridge, and other items that you just don’t get anymore. The oven is on but the room already has a homely, humble warmth, of yellow and cream, of aprons and teacloths and pots and pans. What’s on the sweet menu today? Is it her legendary scones or biscuits? Perhaps a savoury little treat or two, or maybe even a full roast, complete with Yorkie puds and golden roast potatoes. Or is it her classic, beautiful custard – a true work of art, that just makes you close your eyes and suck in that perfect aroma? You first tried it when you were really little and just couldn’t get enough – a thick, smooth and golden pool of loveliness, perfect for blanketing anything and everything from rhubarb to mince pies. You sometimes took a cheeky teaspoon while it was still on the hob, well before its smooth journey into your bowl. A couple of minutes’ contemplation while it cooled, and then in – and all too soon it was gone. Time might have moved on, and you might only have the memories. Well imagine bringing that smell back into your life again, as a vape e-liquid. Nana’s Custard is the Phoenix flavour of the month, and brought to you by the same mind that created Nana’s Kitchen. Moreish, creamy and fresh, this is one that you won’t be able to put down. Unsurprisingly, this is a much requested creation, just as the original was back in your Nana’s house all those years ago. It’s been made with a thicker VG ratio for thicker, larger clouds. For the best experience try in a dripper or a sub-ohm clearomizer. Nana’s custard is made in the UK by Phoenix E-liquids using UK and USA sourced pharmaceutical grade propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine, and flavouring. It may contain trace of nuts, and is only for use in electronic cigarettes. It will be available in 10ml bottles at 24mg, 18mg, 12mg, 6mg and 0mg. Nana’s Custard is one of several new products which are coming soon to our pages, including the equally delicious Rice Krispy Squares, and Mango Iced Tea e-liquid.

Filed Under: News

Flavour of the Month: Holy Smoke!

March 9, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

List as many expressions of surprise or happiness as you can: Goodness me! My word! Blimey! By gum! All good, but this month the only exclamation you’ll be uttering, providing your throat can cope with the intense flavour, is Holy Smoke! This is the newest and coolest of Phoenix Cigarettes’ range of e-liquids, and it’s cool in more ways than one. Now of course, it isn’t actually smoke, because e-cigarettes don’t produce that. But what it actually is, is a new and exciting throat hit – a true bad boy for you to try to tame, with a double blast of spicy heat followed by sub-zero power. Holy Smoke! was one of the great catchphrases from Batman’s sidekick Robin, and we like to think that this new sensation is our own superhero. The taste is described as ‘Fiery Cinnamon combined with icy menthol to make for one hell of a vape.’ That’s a pretty sweet combination, we’re sure you’ll agree – our two reviewers on the product page certainly did. One said: “It’s the only liquid I’ve found so far that produces a billow of vapour out of my e-pipe. A must-have liquid if you like a strong satisfying vape!” With flavour as intense as that one has to be careful to use the correct equipment. That’s why we have to issue this warning if you’re thinking of ordering this brute: This liquid is a tank cracker. You must use a pyrex or steel tank for the e-liquid. There’s also something else to take into account: This liquid is VG heavy (70/30), and you may find your atomizers do not last as long. If you have trouble handling the power of Holy Smoke! then try adjusting the nicotine level; from none at all through to the high strength of 18mg. There are several levels of strength for you to try, so give it a go – we’re confident that the two temperature extremes in one burst of flavour are bound to be a big hit. Of course that’s not the only menthol/mint product we stock here, and there’s a real likelihood that you might wish to move onto some of the other hits. They include cherry menthol, peppermint, spearmint, and even strawberry menthol. And if you can’t get enough then we’ve got a fantastic treat coming soon: our brand new Mental Menthol, which will provide enough of a blast of cool eucalyptus for even those with low nicotine doses. Don’t forget our other great non-menthol flavours, such as fruit, traditional tobacco, and our sumptuous sweets and puddings. Also, keep an eye on this blog for more Flavours of the Month, throughout 2015. Holy Smoke! is available at £4.99, with discounts available for bulk buying. It is made in the UK by Phoenix E-liquids using UK and USA sourced pharmaceutical grade propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine, and flavouring. May contain trace of nuts. Only for use in electronic cigarettes.

Filed Under: News

10 Reasons To Try A Phoenix E-Cigarette This Year

March 5, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

We’ve got hundreds of reasons why trying a Phoenix e-cigarette in 2015 is a great idea – but here are ten of the best

Great Flavours

You could try a different flavour every month and there would still be plenty more to go. From blueberry to Tropical Storm, maybe peppermint or cherry menthol – or maybe something crazy such as Gummy bears or Jagerbomb, there’s a whole host of exciting and explosive tastes to go for.

Less Smell

There’s no smoke in an e-cigarette process, as there is no tobacco burned. Therefore they won’t attract the attention of people nearby to the same degree, and won’t leave your clothes smelling of stale burning that has a horrible habit of clinging to dresses, handbags, hair, clothes, and everything else.

Better Than Cigarettes

The long-term effects and benefits of e-cigarettes has not been fully established, but what we do know is that harmful effects of cigarettes, which put users at a higher risk of various cancers, heart attacks, strokes, and many other issues. From that point of view it might be worth trying an alternative

No Fire

From a pure health and safety perspective e-cigarettes are far safer. Discarded cigarettes are one of the number one causes of house fires, as all it takes is a lack of attention or a quick nap for disaster to occur. With e-cigarettes, once the initial lighter is extinguished the chance of danger goes up in smoke, as you’re not using an open flame.

Scientific Testing

Our e-liquids are produced by our sister company at EL Science, and go through a stringent testing process. That means that the chemicals themselves and the machinery that they are produced are rigorously examined in our dedicated eliquid laboratory, before they find their way to the consumer. You can find the results online at www.elscience.co.uk

It Looks Cooler

Vaping is still new and funky and fresh. There are some people who have no idea what they are, particularly the tried-and-tested traditionalists, but it seems that they soon come round to the idea of e-cigarettes once they see how sleek and stylish they really are.

Cheaper – Once You Get Going

There’s an initial outlay for a starter kit of anywhere between £25 and £40. According to the TMA the average cost of a pack of 20 cigarettes is £8.47. However once you’ve got used to the kit all you need do is replace the e-liquid itself, at a far more economical long-term level.

More Sociable

We’ve already established that there’s no smoke involved in vaping, and as such there are no laws prohibiting vaping indoors. That means you don’t need to go outside in the cold weather and you can spend more time socialising indoors.

No Staining

The health and social benefits have already been discussed, and what it also means is that there’s no staining of skin and nails that give away the distinctive signs of a smoker.

Experimentation

Have a look around our website at the various modifications and fittings that you can get for your e-cigarette. As well as the flavour you can easily moderate the level of nicotine, the voltage, and fit a generous number of accessories. These are exciting opportunities – what are you waiting for?

Filed Under: News

Five Essential Products To Get You Started With Vaping

January 26, 2015  By Joy Turner 1 Comment

Millions of people around the world are making the switch from traditional cigarettes, tobacco and cigars to vaporisers. But for the veteran smoker who has grown up with a favourite brand and lights up the same source of tobacco that they’ve enjoyed for 30 or 40 years, the thought of swapping to what appears – and that’s important – to be a complex and less intuitive alternative is quite intimidating. There’s also the initial outlay for the various components, although the veteran vaper will tell you that you actually save money after a very short period. There really isn’t any need to be concerned about swapping over to the world of e-cigarettes, although you do need to be familiar with these five products.

1) Power source/battery

You’re using an electrical device, so clearly you’ll need some form of power. There are many different battery and charger types which can be powered through the mains or USB cable. The battery is held in a housing called a ‘mod’, and the system helps heat the coil. As you get more experienced you may wish to move onto variable voltage systems, which allow you to regulate the strength of the taste.

2) E-liquid

One of the best things about the world of vaping is the diversity and range of flavours that you can experience. Phoenix Electronic Cigarettes offers fruity flavours, minty and menthol versions, and even adventurous variants such as tropical storm, Green Monster, Jagerbomb and peanut butter. If you want to hold the traditional taste of tobacco with far less nicotine, then the option is there in the form of classy options such as American Red and Desert Blend. It’s worth keeping an eye on our website for any new flavours that our expert chemists at EL Science create.

3) Tank

The e-liquid is placed in the tank, which comes in different colours and broadly different designs based on a tube shape. The tank holds around 1.6ml of e-juice. Some flavours taste better at higher voltages while some, such as fruity are thought to be better at lower voltages.

4) Atomizers

The vital piece of equipment that turns the e-liquid into the vapour mist, using the heat from the coil. Your first few puffs of the e-cig might not be great as they are supplied with a protective fluid that prevents oxidation, but after several uses the e-cigarette will feel and taste amazing.

5) Accessories

Colourful and cool, drip tips are popular with veteran vapers and starters alike. And maybe you’d like some added protection or security for your new electronic toy, such as a case or a lanyard. The various parts and pieces might look like some complex and bizarre contraption, but vaping is a lot easier than it seems. Many people combine smoking and vaping for a while until they are comfortable with the process, or alternate between the two permanently, depending on their mood. And with the probable health, cost and social benefits it’s surely worth investigating the option.

Filed Under: Information

The UK’s Favourite E-Liquids

January 23, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

As well as the social benefits of not producing smoke, the savings in cost, and the lack of a yellow tar colour that clings to teeth and nails, there’s another great plus point to vaping – flavours. Think about it; we all have to eat and drink, and there are some things that we know are healthy for us but don’t taste good, and others that taste wonderful but are dripping in fat or sugar. Therefore the perfect balance is to get something that has health benefits but also tastes wonderful and allows us to express our personalities. In the world of the smoker-turned-vaper, e-liquids give all those benefits. And across the planet experimenters are blending different tastes and sensations into a truly satisfactory experience with no smell, smoke or stain. Professional chemists are synthesising every taste from the savoury to the sweet, from the bitter to the bizarre. Fruity, funky, feisty and fantastic flavours are all possible, and while it’s interesting to do your research and investigate the process thoroughly you can rest easy that our chemists at El-Science have done all the hard work! For example, let’s say you’ve climbed into your car in a hurry in the morning, and forgotten your early-hours pick-me-up to give you the boost you need. What next? Well, why not try our barista coffee e-liquid, as smooth and satisfying as a fresh cup at an Italian café? Maybe you fancy something a little more fruity? We’re constantly adding to our array of sweet flavours, which currently boasts exquisite offerings such as blueberry, black cherry, cocktail cherry and kool grape. If the choice is too much to bear the fruit medley grabs a little chunk of each and throws it into one perfect taste. For those who love the smell of food slowly baking in traditional kitchens then our banana bread and chocolate praline options may titillate your taste buds. Nana’s kitchen is described as cakey, doughy, caramel, sugary and cinnamon, but with far fewer calories than that list suggests, we promise! More unusual flavours include Vaping the Rainbow, Smurf’s Blood and the wonderful Gummy Bears – worth a go if you fancy something outside the box. As discussed, the major plusses of the world of e-liquids is a reduction in the smoke and nicotine of normal smoking. But many smokers actively like the taste of tobacco – it’s satisfying and comforting, and perhaps something they’ve known all their life. Fear not, as out tobacco range of e-liquids stands up to scrutiny against the real thing. The American Red is the top-selling tobacco-style liquid with a ‘woody’ flavour, while Drum Roll is a darker, smokier little affair. For something on the other side of the taste spectrum try the RRYY44, which is mild and sweet, with a hint of caramel and vanilla. We’re also a fan of hosting guest e-liquids and our Gorilla Juice e-liquids have proven to be very popular. That’s a whistle-stop tour of some of the eclectic e-liquid experiences we have at Phoenix, and of course there are many more elsewhere. But we don’t think you need to leave this website to investigate the very best the vaping world has to offer.

Filed Under: Information

What Is The Right E-Cigarette For You?

January 21, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

So, you’re thinking of trying e-cigarettes for the first time. Or maybe you’re an established user, but are interested learning more about the options out there. Our helpful infographic below highlights some key things you need to consider when choosing the right e-cigarette for you. E-Cig_Final-590px

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Filed Under: Infographics, Information

The Beginners Guide To E-Cigarettes

January 21, 2015  By Joy Turner 2 Comments

This bite-size guide to e-cigarettes shows you all you need to know about how e-cigarettes are put together and how they work. E-Cig_Anatomy-590px

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Filed Under: Infographics, Information

Phoenix Blog 08/08/14

January 8, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

Last weekend was the event of the year in the UK vaping calendar. VapeFest 2014! Did you go? I did, I had a great time wandering round looking at the mods, tasting juices, meeting up with friends and winning nothing as usual in the raffle. While I was wandering about enjoying all VF had to offer the i-Vapo team were there too and you guys had the poor fellas run ragged. Did everyone get their free juices and battery box? Good, we hope u like them! What did you think of the new juices? Dan loves hearing all your comments (the good and the bad) while he’s trying to perfect the ultimate juice so do tell us what you thought. If you have a flavour you want him to have a crack at then let us know that too. Maybe he will get you on the taste testing panel. vapefest pic Apart from giving away thousands of bottles of juice i-Vapo also launched something else at VF. The new El-Science website. Everyone has a different reason for moving to e-cigs, for some its health, for some its money and the list goes on from there. No one wants to end up in a worse position after they switch so we want your e-liquid to be as safe as possible while still tasting great, just as I’m sure you do. Hopefully this site will go a long way towards reaching that goal. There’s a lot of information on there about smoking and the effects of smoking and the best ways to go about giving up or switching to e-cigarettes. You can even email your MEP/MP through the site (to tell them how great e-cigs are of course). The best bit though is they are offering e-liquid testing to every manufacturer. Big or small. Hoping to create a massive database of test results for customers like you and me. So if us customers want to check if our e-liquid is what it says on the label we can type in the test result number (available from the vendor or on the bottle label) and get the results in seconds. We can be confident the liquid has no diacetyl or any other nasty stuff that shouldn’t be there and the nicotine is what it’s supposed to be. Or in the case of nicotine free has no nicotine at all. Getting the results is very easy to do, just pop your batch number into the box on the top right of every page and you get instant information about the liquid including the name and date it was tested and which of the fully qualified analytical chemists tested it. There’s a diagram of analysis for those of us who are technically minded but if you’re like me and it just looks like a pretty picture scroll down a little and it’s all in an easy to understand format. There’s still a little bit of work to do on the El-Science website but that should be fully finished in the coming days. As you can imagine it’s been a massive undertaking but bear with us and once more results start coming from the liquids and the forum is active then I’m sure it will be a very useful resource. So start spreading the word to your vaping friends and vendors, we want the whole industry and every customer to be able to benefit from this site. Every juice can be safer and we can prove it! If you’re feeling left out that you missed the event of the year that is VapeFest then don’t worry, next week I’ll have details about VapeFest Ireland.

Filed Under: Information

Phoenix Blog 25/07/2014

January 8, 2015  By Joy Turner Leave a Comment

So far you have had to read me go on about the EFVI campaign, the House of Commons event and the Tobacco Products Directive. This week it’s time for some fun stuff. The biggest event in the UK vaping scene is about to kick off and everyone is invited! 1 year in the planning and now the day is growing closer. (Drum roll) Saturday the 2nd of August is Vapefest day! (Cheers) So what’s it all about I hear you ask, well, this is the 5th year of the event and it’s organised to bring vapers around the UK together. The day is a free family friendly event with the ethos being on fun with prizes and getting to know other vapers as an added bonus. The last few years it’s been organised in Tamworth at the Moat House, a very nice venue and centrally located for everyone to get to. Unfortunately the Moat House has now been outgrown slightly, as the numbers of attendee’s increases every year a new bigger location has had to be found. This year the location is the Shrewsbury showground in Shropshire. The showground should be big enough to house us for quite a few more years. The event is open from 10 am until 10pm. The cost of admission is as always free, yes I did say free! If you would like to stay overnight either the Friday or Saturday or both then camping in the grounds is again free. Myself I’m only a camper if it comes with hot and cold running water and room service so I’ll be staying in one of the local hotels just a few minutes away in the town center. This year I-Vapo will also have a stand there. If you want to say hi to us in person, tell Dan how good his juices are, meet the bosses and staff from other stores or just see some friendly familiar faces and have a chat with us then please come on over and say hello. What to expect from Vapefest? Well fun obviously! Last year the attendance was in the thousands, with people from around the UK and sometimes further afield. A lot of people use Vapefest as a social gathering but if you’re a shopper there are the Vendors tents so you can try the liquids or hardware and ask any questions before you commit to buying anything. There’s usually plenty of special Vapefest only deals available and new stuff that’s not hit the shops yet. A Bar (do I need to say more?). Lots of open space so the kids can run around and tire themselves out. And the raffle, and what a raffle it is, with prizes ranging from £100 vouchers to hardware to liquids and even a tablet. Overall it’s a fun, friendly day with likeminded people who love to share their knowledge and experience and listen to yours, and I’m so excited already. Hope I see you there! If you can’t make it to Shrewsbury you can still pop along to your local I-Vapo try out the juices, bring snacks and have your own mini Vapefest.

Filed Under: Information

Phoenix Blog 17/11/2014

November 18, 2014  By Joy Turner 1 Comment

There has been a lot in the press lately about e-cigs, a lot of it about the electrical safety of them.  The government, fire service and trading standards have some advice for us.  With it being electrical safety week they have issued a small statement on how to be electrically safe with e-cigs.  Hopefully you were told all of this when you bought your kit but it doesn’t hurt to be reminded.  
  • Follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer carefully
  • Take notice of any warnings supplied with the product
  • Ensure that e-cigarettes are not left charging for long periods of time
  • Do not leave e-cigarettes plugged in overnight or when you are out of the house
  • Look for the CE mark that indicates chargers comply with European Safety standards
  • Do not overload plug sockets
  • Check that your electrical products have not been recalled
  • Avoid buying counterfeit or substandard goods
  • Switch off appliances at the socket when not in use
Now that you have found a safer way to consume nicotine the last thing any of us wants is for the safer way to end up damaging your property or yourselves.  Especially when it can be so easily avoided, so please do be aware of these points.   YouGov also released some survey information this week.  The survey was completed on behalf of the Sunday Times and the results state that 60% of the UK population would like to see e-cigs banned in public places, just like tobacco.  As we have covered before, second hand vapour has little to no effect on anyone near a vaper and any effect that it may have is of no risk to them.  So I can only assume that the misinformation the media likes to spread is having an effect on the general population.  Especially as they aren’t asking for nicotine patches and gums to be banned in public places.  It must be the exhalation of the vapour that causes the problem for them.  I find we are back to the same argument we started at, it looks too much like smoking.  Unfortunately that’s one of the parts that help people switch easily.  The only way I think we can eventually win this argument is with the science.  We need to be telling people they are safe around us and showing them the proof of it.   Unfortunately it seems even some “scientists” (I use that term very loosely on this occasion) can’t see the good for the bad.  Our favourite researcher Dr. Farsalinos has been under attack this week for his research results from someone who claims to also be a research scientist, Prof Stanton Glantz.  You can read more about what Dr. Farsalinos thinks of this situation by checking out his blog post. He also links in his post to what he is replying to, the blog post by Prof. Glantz.  Let’s just say that Dr. F doesn’t agree with Prof. Glantz’s opinion of him and even uses a word I had to look up (I do hope it’s not something I do.)  “the arguments presented by Prof. Glantz are another collection of scientifically irrelevant logorrhea”.  I know whose side of the argument I will be on!   Next week I should have some news on the e-cig summit that was held this weekend in London.  It’s going to take me a week to trawl through it all to bring you the highlights, but we might have some inside thoughts on it for you though as one of our MD’s was in attendance.  Hopefully he’s managed to get us a few little snippets. Joy

Filed Under: Information

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Latest Blog Articles

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