FROM THE VTA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

On December 11, 2017, VTA along with the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (“CASAA”), the American Vaping Association (“AVA”), and the Smoke Free Alternatives Trade Association (“SFATA”), issued our Unified Front Letter to the vapor industry advising that the time was close to step up and support our call to action to change the predicate date, as part of the pending FY 2018 Appropriations process.

That same day, the American E-Liquid Manufacturing Standards Association (“AEMSA”) announced that it had taken a remarkable unilateral action that directly conflicted with the will of the overwhelming majority of the vapor industry.  Specifically, AEMSA announced that it sent a letter to House and Senate leaders in the United States Congress, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, directly attacking a legitimate and important legislative strategy that VTA and every other advocacy organization has been pursuing for the past three years.  In so doing, AEMSA purported to speak on behalf of the entire vapor industry in declaring to Congressional leaders that it would be a mistake to change the predicate date, andclaiming that our industry doesn’t need additional short-term relief.  In sending their letter, AEMSA demonstrated a complete disregard of the powerful Members of Congress who have graciously stepped forward to champion our industry.

In an effort to mitigate whatever damage AEMSA’s letter may have caused, we were pleased send a Unified Vapor industry letter, from VTA, AVA, CASAA and SFATA, encouraging our Congressional leaders to do the right thing and change the predicate date.  Here are examples of the Unified Vapor Letter (House) and the Unified Vapor Letter (Senate) that VTA’s team delivered to the Hill on December 14, 2017.

Individuals and groups may disagree on policy and strategy.  However, nothing gives one group license to undermine years of important relationship building and issue building in Congress simply because it has a “strong belief” in another approach.  Similarly, nothing justifies one group tearing down a legitimate legislative strategy that could be enormously beneficial to small and mid-sized companies right now, based on the notion that they have a better idea and might be able to secure something better at some point in the distant future.

So, if someone tells you their way is better, if they promise a “permanent” fix, if they tell you that they can solve your entire problem, or tell you that they are going to take vapor out of the Tobacco Control Act, that’s great.  Just make sure you ask all the hard questions like, what is the strategy, who is the team that will execute it, how are you going to generate support in the House and Senate, and where are the funds coming from to make it happen? Absent answers to these questions, you are just being offered ideas and words.

To that end, our fights are not ideological and not hypothetical.  They are real, they are present, and the clock is ticking.  Effective advocacy requires that we engage in strategies that can bring relief to our industry, engage in battles that are winnable, and that we build on prior success.  Our industry does not have the luxury of hope. We are in a pitched battle and if we are repeatedly distracted from singularly focusing on our real enemies, we’ll wake up one day with a basket full of beliefs but no believers in government.

As we look forward to another year, we invite all of you to join our continuing efforts to level the playing field and secure a bright future for the vapor industry in the U.S. by working simultaneously with Congress and the Administration.  For more information on why this one prong of our multi-pronged strategy is important to small, mid-sized and large companies alike, please read our Changing the Predicate Date Summary and FAQ.

Thank you,

VTA Board of Directors

Here’s the latest from Brent Stafford at Regulator Watch:

No lung damage. That’s the key finding from the first of its kind long-term study investigating the health impacts of vaping.

Conducted by Dr. Riccardo Polosa, world-renowned researcher and director of the Institute for Internal Medicine & Clinical Immunology at the University of Catania in Italy, the study measured and tracked the health outcomes of a cohort of daily e-cigarette users for 3.5-years.

The results shatter the myths promulgated by public health propagandists in the Progressives’ war against vaping.

Get the story in this exclusive interview with Dr. Polosa—only on RegWatch by RegulatorWatch.com.

Produced by: Brent Stafford

Released December 19, 2017

GET THE STUDY HERE!

WEB EXTRA!

Schizophrenia. It’s one of the most challenging mental illnesses to treat as thought, emotion and behavior is held in fine balance and is easily knocked out of whack.

Nicotine and the ritual of smoking play an enormous role in helping schizophrenia patients cope with their illness and experts say nicotine replacement products such as patches, gum and sprays are ineffective treatments.

Could vaping be a magic bullet? Find out in this exclusive interview with Dr. Riccardo Polosa, world-renowned researcher and director of the Institute for Internal Medicine & Clinical Immunology at the University of Catania in Italy.

Produced by: Brent Stafford

Released December 19, 2017

After posting the video with the Stocking Contest, I was contacted by Justin of JJ Vapes.  In addition to the generous additions to the stocking, he has also offered to pay for international shipping should someone out of the US win.  In his own words…

Perhaps someone will enter who otherwise wouldn’t, knowing they couldn’t afford the shipping.

That is the kind of guy Justin is and his generosity is very much appreciated.

He also offered to send my wife another set of AirPods!  LOLOL!!

Thank you JUSTIN JONES!!

A PBusardo Video – Greece, End Of Year Hopes & How to win the STOCKING!!

In this video we…

• Do some quick Show & Tell
• Talk about the Greece trip and Liquid Puff opening
• We see the new E-Smoke Guru Skyline Drop Kit
• I give you some of my thoughts and hopes coming out of 2017 and moving into 2018
• We make some final and very special additions to the stocking
• I let you know how to enter to win the stocking!

The Links:

Vapeshear
LiquidPuff
CravingVapor/HexOhm
E-Smoke Guru
ModAtty
JJ Vapes

The Video:

*NOTE: Any use of these videos in part or in their entirety without Phil Busardo’s expressed written consent is strictly prohibited.

AVA Announces the Start of VapesGiving™

Welcome to the 1st Annual #VapesGiving!™

The American Vaping Association is proud to host the first annual #VapesGiving™. This campaign provides a unique opportunity give thanks and appreciation for the countless hours and hard work that vaping advocates put in to protect our community and industry.

We have undertaken this campaign because so many organizations — primarily those defending vaping at the state level — have expressed a need for assistance in fundraising to allow them to continue doing their important work.

#VapesGiving™ offers the opportunity not only for you to donate to a spectrum of organizations, but to see your donation doubled thanks to the support of Naked 100 (up to $190,000!).

Many of our country’s leading advocacy organizations will benefit from your participation in this campaign.

Want more information on how the campaign works? Check out the #VapesGiving™ FAQ.

Want to donate? Check out the campaign page.

To all who donate to the campaign or just help spread the word — thank you! We could not do this work without you.

Happy holidays and an even happier #VapesGiving™!

Sincerely,

Gregory Conley 
President — American Vaping Association

Donate Now or Spread the Word!

They are meant only to give you an idea of the risk if a battery is accidentally discharged at beyond its continuous current rating when vaping. You should not consider them as a rating for the battery that you can vape at!

If properly used the MVA limit can help increase our safety. But it has been misused by too many.

Safety is important and must guide us in the recommendations we make. I have decided to remove the MVA limit numbers from my tables and ask that everyone delete any tables they have now and download the new ones that are available. See the links below.

Please do not post or distribute any earlier version of these tables.
Please delete any earlier version of these tables you might have posted.
Please do not recommend the MVA limit as an acceptable vaping level.

I ask this with all the sincerity and urgency that I can muster…please.

Our community is under increased scrutiny and battery and vaping hardware (atomizer and device) regulations/standards are now being discussed and written…very severe ones. I am not allowed to discuss some of what I’ve learned but it could be bad. We must set a good example and self-regulate our community as best as we can. I cannot emphasize too strongly the importance of this.

I realize that many are vaping at discharge levels considerably above the continuous discharge rating (CDR) of their batteries and have done so without incident. But that doesn’t mean it’s done without risk.

Giving the community the tools and data we need to pick the best battery is very important to me though. I have a way to replace the pulse testing I do now. These new tests can be used to directly compare how hard one battery hits versus another and which is the better performer. It will simplify my testing too.

Many battery wrapping companies sell batteries with ratings that are considerably higher than the battery’s true ratings. This is an issue I will continue to devote a lot of my time to.

I realize that many of you will be upset at these changes. I’m not doing this to piss off the high power vapers. 🙂 You will still have the tools you need to pick the best performing battery. I will post about this soon.

But I can only recommend to our community that we never exceed the continuous current rating (CDR) of any battery. These batteries were never meant to be used outside of a battery pack with suitable protection electronics.

Each of us can decide the level of risk we wish to take ourselves but we should recommend safe battery use to others.

Thank you for your time.
Sorry for the long read and the inconvenience of having to replace your tables!

18350/18500 table:
https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/blog-entry/18350-18500-safety-grades-and-pulse-performance-data.7566/

18650 table:
https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/blog-entry/18650-battery-ratings-picking-a-safe-battery-to-vape-with.7447/

20650/20700/21700 table:
https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/blog-entry/20650-20700-21700-battery-safety-ratings-table.7827/

26650 table:
https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/blog-entry/26650-safety-grades-and-pulse-performance-data.7554/

These tests were done only as a preview of a cell that should be available by the middle of 2018. It is just a guide so vapers and mod manufacturers know what’s coming and can make more informed purchasing or manufacturing decisions.

This is a fantastic performing true 30A cell that easily beats the Sanyo NCR20700A at both high and low discharge current levels. At moderate power levels this Samsung 40T even beats the incredible Samsung 30T, hitting harder for almost the entire discharge down to 3.2V and for a lot longer too.

At high power levels though the lower internal resistance of the Samsung 30T allows it to hit harder than the Samsung 40T for most of the discharge down to 3.2V (about 3.6V resting voltage). The 40T still runs for longer though.

This is a classic tradeoff, the 30T’s higher performance and current rating versus the 40T’s higher capacity. The 40T still performs better than the Sanyo NCR20700A and would be an amazing cell for high power regulated vaping. Even for mech’s if the 30T wasn’t available.

This cell delivered 3962mAh and 3985mAh in my capacity tests. Judging by Samsung’s “40T” designation for it I am sure its nominal/typical capacity rating will be 4000mAh. However, its guaranteed/minimum rating is always lower than the typical/nominal rating and will probably be 3800mAh or 3900mAh.

I am rating this Samsung at an estimated 25A-30A and 3900mAh.

Two cells were donated for the purposes of testing by Enercig (www.enercig.com). Thank you!

Cell photos: https://imgur.com/a/YSq2m

Ratings graphic: https://imgur.com/a/rQrkB

Test results, discharge graph, photos: http://bit.ly/2BULNMe

All my test results to date: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/list-of-battery-tests.7436/

December 11, 2017

We write you today as a united front because the vapor industry is under attack and the future remains uncertain. We are all focused on the critical mission of making sure that Americans will continue to have access to the full range of vapor products that millions are using to quit smoking and improve our lives. We need your help to achieve this mission.

We all agree that there are short term and long term policy changes that must be made to ensure a robust vapor product industry in this country, but we are focused today on a near-term step – Changing the “Predicate Date” in Congress – which will allow all products on the market before 8/8/2016 to stay on the market and remain available to consumers.

The US House of Representatives has passed an appropriations bill which contains language that would modernize the 2007 predicate date for products newly deemed to be tobacco. But the Senate has not included similar language in its version of the bill. These two conflicting pieces of legislation will be negotiated in Congress in the near future, and we are going to need EVERYONE to weigh in!

In the coming days and weeks, we will be reaching out to our respective members with additional opportunities and guidance on how you can engage with your two Senators and your Representative and urge them to modernize the predicate date for vapor products. We hope that when we call on you, you will take a few minutes to ACT to save the vapor industry.

Thank you!

UNITED FRONT

Today, leaders of the vapor community came together to present a unified front on the next steps for moving our agenda forward in Washington, D.C.  The Unity Letter, signed by the leaders of the American Vaping Association, the Consumers for Smoke-free Alternatives Association, the Smoke Free Alternatives Trade Association and the Vapor Technology Association asks every member of the vapor industry and broader community to get ready to act!

Dear Members of the Vapor Community:

We write you today as a united front because the vapor industry is under attack and the future remains uncertain. We are all focused on the critical mission of making sure that Americans will continue to have access to the full range of vapor products that millions are using to quit smoking and improve our lives. We need your help to achieve this mission. 

We all agree that there are short term and long term policy changes that must be made to ensure a robust vapor product industry in this country, but we are focused today on a near term step – Changing the “Predicate Date” in Congress – which will allow all products on the market before 8/8/2016 to stay on the market and remain available to consumers. 

The US House of Representatives has passed an appropriations bill which contains language that would modernize the 2007 predicate date for products newly deemed to be tobacco. But the Senate has not included similar language in its version of the bill. These two conflicting pieces of legislation will be negotiated in Congress in the near future, and we are going to need EVERYONE to weigh in!

In the coming days and weeks, we will be reaching out to our respective members with additional opportunities and guidance on how you can engage with your two Senators and your Representative and urge them to modernize the predicate date for vapor products. We hope that when we call on you, you will take a few minutes to ACT to save the vapor industry.

Thank you!”

DOWNLOAD THE UNITY LETTER HERE!

Here’s the latest from Brent Stafford at Regulator Watch:

Forget about the morality and look only at the science and you come to the conclusion that vaping is categorically safer than combustible cigarettes. This is the medical opinion of Dr. Gopal Bhatnagar, Head of Cardiovascular Surgery at Trillium Health Center and one of the leading practitioners of ‘beating heart’ surgery in North America.

In this extended edition of RegWatch we sit down with ‘Dr. Gopal’—just minutes after he finished surgery and as we rushed to the airport to head back west.

We do a deep-dive into the complexities and contradictions of the public health war against vaping; how public health lobbies such as Heart, Cancer, Lung misinterpret or misuse data in an effort to mislead the public about the potential health risks of vaping; And, much more—only on RegWatch by RegulatorWatch.com.

Produced by: Brent Stafford
Released December 7, 2017