New from Steve K's Vaping World:
Hello friends! Welcome to the latest and greatest e-cigarette news roundup for this mid January. Well, it was a big week for prohibitionists it looks like. The second large city to fell. And somewhere in Vermont some villages are missing their idiots because they’re busy at the capitol trying to completely ban e-cigarettes. Read on for all the e-cigarette news that fits the print.
Vermont: Smoke 'em if You Got 'em, But Vaping Ain't Gonna Fly
Here’s an interesting amendment that’s been submitted to the State House of Vermont. The ammendment will literally ban e-cigarettes in the state. Not an indoor use ban like we’ve seen in NYC and Chicago, but honest-to-goodness prohibition. Anyone selling or using e-cigarettes should this law come to pass will be subject to civil fines. In case you’re wondering, death-causing cigarettes are still A-OK.
Download (PDF, 15KB)
I still have some faith in humanity, so I doubt this terrible idea will make it through whatever legislative process they have up there. I’m also proud of myself for not making one single maple syrup joke this entire time.
Crowd-Funded e-Liquid Study Kicks off - How you Can Help
We’ve all seen the various studies, both for and against e-cigarettes. While some of these studies were important in helping us understand if there is any harm in e-cigarettes, this study will directly benefit us as vapers. I’ve always said that the biggest unknown about vaping is the flavors in the e-liquids. Apparently I’m not alone. Dr. Farsalinos and his team are going to take a look at as many popular e-liquids as they can. The idea is to see if there’s any class of flavorings that might be problematic. The team will be raising money for the study via Indie Gogo.
This is Dimitris from Vapeteam introducing Dr Konstantinos Farsalinos, a well-known and respected researcher on electronic cigarettes safety/risk profile. For those not knowing him, he has been involved in electronic cigarette research since late 2011 and has published several studies in peer-reviewed medical journals as well as made several presentations of his work in international medical conferences. He strongly believes that electronic cigarettes are a revolution in tobacco harm reduction and supports that with further ressearch we can develop better quality products.
A recent study performed by Dr Farsalinos revealed the presence of some potentially harmful-to-inhale ingredients in electronic cigarette liquids. In order to define the magnitude of the problem and provide the solution for the safety of all vapers, we decided to organize this fund-raising campaign and obtain as many e-liquid samples as possible that will be tested in an experienced and highly-specialized laboratory.
via Electronic cigarette liquids analysis-evaluating potentially harmful ingredients | Indiegogo.
Please do what you can to share this information. And more importantly, consider a contribution to the project. Sure there’s no T-Shirts being given away or anything, but this study will directly benefit every vapor out there in a very real way.
MA: Confusion over eCigs Forces Governor to Drop Tax Scheme
In a quest to replace the sweet, sweet sin tax money lost to e-cigarettes, many states would love to tax e-cigarettes. So far Minnesota is the only one that’s managed it. At least for now, you can take Massachusetts off the list of states considering driving vapers back to smoking.
Karmen Hanson, health program manager at the Conference of State Legislatures, said policymakers are still trying to determine how e-cigarettes should be regulated because they are relatively new on the market.
“Because the federal government hasn’t acted, states aren’t quite sure what to do with them,” she said. “In the absence of any federal activity or federal policy, states are starting to act just so they know that they’re doing something.”
via Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick drops e-cigarette tax proposal | The Daily Free Press.
Not that the state has experienced any sort of enlightenment. Mass. cities have been on the vanguard of prohibiting e-cigarettes for years now. This seems more like the state waiting for a good excuse. Or perhaps the continued campaigning of the ALA and others to accept no specialized laws for e-cigarettes.
Chicago Puts Another Nail in Windy City Vapers' Coffins
Sadly, this is not exactly an unexpected turn of events. I reported earlier that Chicago mayor Rham Emmanuel has been strong arming the council to prepare for an e-cigarette ban. Today, it was, sadly, made official.
The ordinance, which passed 45-4 after opponents took one last chance to voice their displeasure, will prohibit people from smoking e-cigarettes in restaurants, bars and most other indoor public places in the city. The measure also will require retailers to sell e-cigarettes from behind the counter so it’s harder for minors to get their hands on them.
Emanuel has made tobacco regulations a recent focus, working to frame the discussion over cigarette sales as a question of how willing elected officials are to protect children from getting lured into addiction at a young age.
via Chicago bans indoor electronic cigarette smoking – chicagotribune.com.
It looks like the big cities are beginning to fall. Do you think this will make it easier for other cities to now justify similar bans? Do you think Los Angeles is next?
Retailers Group Questions FDA's Grounds for Reporting Portal
The FDA recently launched a portal through which consumers and medical professionals can submit issues with tobacco products including e-cigarettes. Retailer trade group NATO raised an eyebrow at this move considering the FDA does not yet regulate other tobacco products.
Why is the FDA allowing consumers and health care professionals to submit reports about cigars, electronic cigarettes and any other products made or derived from tobacco when the agency has not yet exercised regulatory authority over these kinds of tobacco products?
via NATO Asks FDA Questions on Tobacco “Safety Reporting Portal” | CSPnet.
I guess my question is whether this is mere foreshadowing or yet another example of the FDA overstepping its bounds.
Anti-eCig Sentiment Out of Control - Man Assaulted
Here’s a harrowing story of civility breaking down in England. The following post comes from the UK e-cigarette forum Planet of the Vapes. A forum member was accosted and assaulted by a fellow passenger on the tube. No serious injury occurred, but this is clearly a sign of things going too far.
I was on the Victoria line from Highbury & Islington and Finsbury Park happily vaping away after a hard day of work. Then somebody punches me on the shoulder and starts shouting at me to “Stop smoking!”. WTF i am not doing anything wrong and this guy is punching me and shouting at me. i politely inform him that it is NOT smoking and i am perfectly entitled to do it, to which he replies “you do it again and i will knock you out!”. so i ignore him and carry on, i am not being spoken to like that even if i was doing something wrong (which i’m not). as soon as i start again he punches my hand away from my mouth. at which point the girl sat between us runs off as he is clearly scaring her at this point.
via attacked on the tube!.
So, is this what prohibitionists would consider a demormalization success story? Is this what they want all vapers to experience if they dare to exhale their not terribly bad vapor anywhere near another human being?
What did Dick and his Windbag Senators Say About the Golden Globes?
Never ones to miss a chance for a high-profile e-cigarette blasting, Dick Durban and his hardy crew of stuffed shirts are raising a big stink about the e-cigarette’s appearance at the golden globes. Their faux outrage was aimed at NBC and the Hollywood Foreign Press for corrupting our dear poor children. Furthermore they figured they should demand these groups not exercise their First Amendment rights.
Durbin, along with Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, sent a letter Tuesday to NBCUniversal and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association expressing concern about the potential that showing the e-cigs at the awards show will “glamorize smoking.”
The senators ask the two groups to take action to prevent similar appearances by e-cigs at future shows.
via Senators Slam ‘E-Cigs’ at the Golden Globes | The World’s Greatest Deliberative Body.
What better way to make it look like you’re protecting youngsters than by going after potentially life-saving e-cigarettes while doing precisely jack squat about actual cigarettes. After all, even big e-cigarette companies don’t have as much lobby money as the average Pharma or Tobacco outfit.
Shining Light in UC System Extinguished, UC Irvine Bans Vaping
This is one of these things I wondered how it happened in the first place. When the University of California System rolled out its system-wide smoking restrictions, it included e-cigarettes. The Irvine campus seemed to have enough common sense to not include e-cigarettes. But now the school has backpedaled.
Just two weeks after taking effect, a UC Irvine campuswide ban on smoking is being revised to include a prohibition on electronic cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products, the university said Monday.
The ban is being expanded to bring the Irvine campus into alignment with a University of California systemwide directive that prohibits the use of all nicotine products in indoor and outdoor areas, university spokeswoman Cathy Lawhon said.
via UC Irvine reversing course on e-cigarette use – The Orange County Register.
The reason I can’t believe it happened to begin with is because the UC system smoking ban was the brainchild of our favorite prohibitionist. I’m sure when it happened the professor slammed his hand on his desk and screamed “NOT ON MY WATCH!”
Chicago Mayor Has NYC Envy, Pressures Council into Vaping Ban
Despite rejecting strict e-cigarette prohibition just a few weeks ago, Chicago has passed a resolution to restrict e-cigarettes in public. This came about through intense pressuring of holdout aldermen by the mayor and prohibitionists. This was clearly a moral crusade more than any sort of public health push.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel got his way one month after a surprise City Council uprising forced him to settle for the weaker of two ordinances designed to curb teen smoking.
Since then, the mayor has turned up the heat on recalcitrant aldermen.
He has framed it as a good vs. evil battle pitting Big Tobacco and its big money lobbyists against public health advocates determined to prevent young people from using electronic cigarettes as the gateway to a lifetime addiction.
via City panel agrees to ban e-cigarettes where smoking is prohibited – Chicago Sun-Times.
Chicago now joins the ranks of New York City in its efforts to kill smokers and preserve sin tax money because of the actions of a few brave politicians. Politicians who aren’t afraid to use children as human shields.
Get Ready California, Lawmaker Wants to Ban Internet eCig Sales
Guess what? A lawmaker in California wants to limit consumer choice for adults. You know, think of the poor kids! Not being able to think of any alternative solutions to kids being able to easily purchase e-cigarettes and tobacco products online, the lawmaker figures remote sales should be killed.
“Regrettably, the steps we have taken to this point to legally try to prevent sales of tobacco products to minors simply haven’t been sufficient,” Dickinson said. “It seems, given that state of affairs, that the next logical step to truly make a difference here is simply to ban the sales through the Internet.”
“It’s a very simple rule to follow and I think that will make our efforts more effective,” he added.
The bill, AB 1500, does not prohibit online retailers to ship to other retailers. By requiring customers to purchase tobacco products at brick-and-mortar locations, Dickinson says, the state would generate $24 million in sales tax revenue.
via State lawmaker seeks ban on most tobacco, e-cigarette online sales – latimes.com.
Oh, look, what a totally unexpected bonus, it will bring in money for state coffers. Too bad there weren’t alternate solutions like, I don’t know, simply requiring an adult signature for delivery. You know the exact way they solve the problem of kids buying booze in California via online sellers.
UK: e-Cigarette Stall Turf War Erupts in Violence
Sometimes you can’t make up some of the stuff that happens in the news. Take this gem from across the pond in the UK. A woman was arrested at a shopping center after assaulting a man who worked at a competing e-cigarette cart. Apparently there’s been some ongoing tension between the two.
The male victim, who owned an e-cigarette stall, reported to police he was punched in the face and pushed into a glass cabinet by a woman from a rival stall.
He also told police that during the incident the woman, alleged to have been working on an e-cigarette stall on the floor above, poured water on his laptop while leaning over the banister.
via Woman arrested after E-cigarette row between rival sellers (From Your Local Guardian).
Is it me, or does this whole thing sound like the premise of a Judge Judy segment?
Are e-Cigarettes Fertile Ground for Patent Trolls?
An Asian investment and banking firm recently acquired a US patent and several Chinese patents for the basic design of the electronic cigarette. Unlike the Ruyan patents which were bought last year and cover using a sonic method to vaporize e-cigarettes, this patent covers the use of a heated atomizer and automatic battery.
SAN JOSE, CA, Jan. 13, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Soleil Capital L.P. (OTCQB: JOBI) (“Soleil” or the “Company”) announced today that it has acquired certain issued electronic cigarette and personal vaporizer patents, including:
Patent 8,205,622 as issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on May 14, 2012 and;
Patents, Patent ZL2011-2-0096290.6, ZL2008-2-0123801.7, ZL2009-2-0106627.x, ZL2008-2-0124683.1, ZL2008-3-0084421.2, ZL2008-3-0132968.5 for Multifunctional Electronic Inhaler, Electronic Pipe, Electronic Cigarette, Disposable Integrated E-Atomizing Inhaler, Electronic Atomizer, Electronic Cigar respectively, all issued by the Patent Office Of The People’s Republic Of China.
As the market for electronic cigarettes continues to grow, patents covering the underlying technology may become more valuable, as evidenced by the August 2013 sale of Dragonite’s, (formerly Ruyan) electronic cigarette patents to Imperial Tobacco (LON: IMT, OTC: ITYBY) for $75million.
via Soleil Capital L.P. Announces Acquisition of Electronic Cigarette and Personal Vaporizer Patents – WSJ.com.
Looking at the patent filing online, it appears that this one was originally submitted in 2009 and granted in 2012. According to the company’s bio blurb in the press release, it appears that the company also holds patents for other e-cigarette technology as well. So it begs a question of what exactly do they plan to do with these patents.
Yes, I'm Also Going to Cover JLD at the Golden Globes
If you were anywhere near social media last night, you’re probably quite aware that actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus was seen vaping a blu Cigs stick and generally hamming it up at the Golden Globes. I imagine I’d be remiss if I didn’t also cover this, seeing how I do e-cigarette news and the like. So here you go, what the NY Daily News had to say.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus wins the award for the best camera cutaways of the Golden Globes telecast.
When the twice-nominated “Enough Said” star, 53, was acknowledged by hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as “too cool” to sit with the television actors now that she had a film nomination, Louis-Dreyfus hilariously played up her elevated status by donning sunglasses and puffing away on an e-cigarette.
via Golden Globe Awards 2014: Julia Louis-Dreyfus puffs on e-cigarette, scarfs down hot dog in hilarious camera cuts – NY Daily News.
I do find it interesting that e-cigarettes were so prevalent at the globes (Julia wasn’t the only one vaping). Last year, there wasn’t much there, because a certain prohibitionist pulled some strings to get the DA to sternly disapprove of their use at the Golden Globes.
Fox News Serves up Double Helping of eCig Cancer Panic
Leave it to Fox news to take idiocy found in mainstream media and turn it up to 11. In this case, it takes the oft exaggerated nitrosamines thing from the 2009 FDA report and fries it up with some bacon fat. Literally, in a post about 5 things that will give you cancer, the e-cigarette piece oddly enough wanders off into bacon territory.
It’s amazing how similar e-cigs are to the real thing–some can even boost cancer risk. The FDA found nitrosamines, a carcinogen in tobacco products, in some electronic cigarette brands. Even if you’re not a smoker, you still may be taking them in: They can form when stomach acid reacts with nitrates and nitrites in hot dogs, bacon, or other cured meats.
Shield your cells: If you smoke any type of cigarette, it’s time to quit cold turkey. In a University of Wisconsin study, smokers who cut back before a set quit day were more likely to relapse than those who simply quit. Also trim your intake of cured meats, or change the way you cook them. Boiling or microwaving is better than frying.
via 6 sneaky cancer culprits | Fox News.
Also on the fear mongering hit parade, french fries, Styrofoam cups, brown rice, laundry detergent and dress shirts. It’s like someone swapped Fox News with Michael Bloomberg.
Was it Really an e-Cigarette Fire That Injured This Man's Eye?
We’ve sadly seen a few reports of e-cigarette explosions and fires (I addressed the idea of safety in an article not too long ago). This one has me scratching my head because even though the headlines blame an e-cigarette explosion, this one sounds more like an e-liquid “popping” incident to me.
Joe Vecchione, 54, of Sneads Ferry said the incident occurred at approximately 11:45 late last year at his home on CCC Road in Sneads Ferry. The pipe-shaped device, which uses a battery to dispense the smoke, “erupted” in his face and left him temporarily blind and in pain, according to Vecchione.
“My eyes were burning,” Vecchione said. “It was like a bunch of hot oil hit my face.”
via Man injured after e-cig blows up – Local – The Daily News, Jacksonville.
According to the picture in the story he was using an EVOD, but even if you end up filling a bottom coil tank down the air tube, it shouldn’t output as much liquid from the mouthpiece as this man claimed. If it was a true catastrophic battery failure while in use, e-liquid in the eye would be the least of his problems.
Researcher: EU Completely Misinterpreted eCig Nicotine Studies
While we’ve been focused on the US as of late, the EU prohibition machinery is grinding on to severely hamstring e-cigarettes in Europe. One of the many limitations that is likely to get railroaded through parliament is the upward limit of 20mg/ml of nicotine in e-liquid. This decision was based on research by Dr. Fasalinos. According to a recent blog post, the EU got it all wrong.
SANCO recently decided that 20mg/ml nicotine levels should be the highest level present in the liquids of e-cigarettes. To justify this decision, they have released a document (reference 1) where they have cited two medical studies performed by me as principle researcher (references 2 and 3). The Commission suggests that my research shows that 20mg/mlnicotine limit is equivalent to the nicotine delivered through the use of tobacco cigarettes and is sufficient for most smokers to completely substitute smoking.
Since my studies are the only scientific evidence quoted by SANCO, it is my duty to inform you that the interpretation of my research is completely wrong.
via The European Commission has misinterpreted my scientific research on nicotine in e-cigarettes.
Turns out the actual equivalent is 50mg/ml. That’s quite a bit more than many vapers use, but may be what’s necessary to help smokers make a transition.
Deal of the Moment
BOGO eGo and EVOD Kits at Apollo
Apollo is blowing out their holiday eGo kits. Now through the end of the month, you can get two of the special holiday eGo or EVOD kits for the price of one. Just add two kits (I think they have to be the same kind) then use the coupon code RESOLUTION at checkout to get the deal.
Click here to check it out.
Originally posted: e-Cigarette News Roundup Jan 17 – We’re not gonna take it
Steve K's Vaping World - The Electronic Cigarette Supersite