FROM CASAA… A THANK YOU (FOR A CHANGE)
In the final days of 2015, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller released a statement in support of vapor products. This is a significant departure from the public statements of his counterparts in other states. CASAA is encouraging Iowa residents to take this opportunity to voice your support for AG Miller’s positive remarks about vaping. Please include your story about how vapor products have made a difference in your life and share why you are passionate about this issue.
Thank you AG Miller – Send a Message
For residents outside of Iowa, we have provided a prewritten letter you can print out, sign, and send via traditional means. (You are also welcome to copy and paste the text into your own word doc and add your story before printing)
Mailing Address:
Office of the Attorney General of Iowa
Hoover State Office Building
1305 E. Walnut Street
Des Moines, IA 50319
Also for residents outside of Iowa, please take a moment to share AG Miller’s statement with your attorneys general. Please remember to include your story about how vapor products have made a difference in your life and share why you are passionate about this issue.
Take Action – Send an Email to your AG
Please share this link on social media:
Thank you,
CASAA Legislative Team
FOR MY FRIENDS IN GERMANY
As you may or may not know, I don’t have a lot of faith in online petitions. I have yet to see them do any good.
It’s the harder, more time consuming, and potentially more expensive things that appear to work better. Letters, phone calls, money, and lobbyists.
But to support my friends in Germany, I’ve been asked to share and support a petition and will do just that.
Please help and sign the petition HERE.
English version can be found HERE.
VAPE WAVE IS COMING!
Looks like a few different movies about the Vaping Revolution are coming our way. Here’s another that I had the opportunity to be a part of. It’s called VAPE WAVE…
The movie is close to be completed and will to go to the next Cannes Film Festival.
VapeWaveTeaser VOSTA vimeo from Jan Kounen on Vimeo.
REGULATION UPDATE FROM DIMITRI AND OUR RETURN TRIP TO CHINA
I still believe that Dimitris’ decision to end the SmokeFree Radio Program is a huge loss to the industry, but I wanted him to communicate some of the things he’s been working on behind the scenes. Here is a little update from him and a mention about our return trip to China…
As many of you should know by now, we are at the final stages of the FDA proposal to regulate electronic cigarettes under the TCA (Tobacco Control Act). We are literally at step 8 of 9 in the rule making process ( http://www.reginfo.gov/public/reginfo/Regmap/index.jsp ) where the FDA has submitted their intended rules to the Office of Management and Budget for review. The OMB has a period of 90 days to review final federal agency regulations, but can extend the review time by another 30 days. If the OMB approves the final deeming regulations, then Step Nine requires that the final regulations be published in the Federal Register. Generally, the deeming regulations would be effective thirty days after the date of publication in the Federal Register.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the White House will consider the potential economic impact of the rule so I requested two meetings with them as stakeholders, one as Executive Director of the Tennessee Smoke Free Association where I represent 75 small businesses in the TN valley and one as Chief Operations Officer for Mountain Oak Vapors my employer.
I tried to present a variety of economic impact with each meeting. As TSFA I had economic figures for our stores in TN and brought with me owners of small and large operations (Vintage Vapors, Nashville Vapor and Mountain Oak Vapors) as well as Rock Bottom Bottles based out of Memphis who even though do not produce a vapor product, supply the majority of e-liquid manufacturers in the US with bottles. Aside from the economic impact the regulations would have in our state we stressed an extremely important fact. We took a survey of individual SKU’s that stores carry and we averaged out 1992 unique products (a combination of devices, accessories and e-liquid combinations & flavors). We pointed out that if rules are enacted based on the pre market application that would cost millions for each individual product they could easily see that all these businesses would be shut down overnight. Another important point was workforce. We estimate in TN alone over 1900 direct jobs to the industry would be lost due to the proposed regulations. Imagine that multiplied by the rest of the states not counting indirect jobs such as those we support for supplying our industry (bottle makers, raw material providers, shipping and logistics etc.).
As Mountain Oak Vapors we took a different approach since we do contract manufacture for other companies as well. The presentation was based on how much we rely on our customers and they rely on us to continue to grow and expand their business. Ultimately all the products we produce end up in the consumer hands which help them stay off combustible tobacco. Variety of flavors was also presented with all the companies that were there stressing that the top selling flavors were NOT tobacco or menthol. Even though a lot of smokers begin their journey with those flavors, quickly they transition to something more pleasant and better tasting such as fruit or bakery flavors.
Lastly we brought up a point that I think a lot are overlooking. International distribution! There is huge demand for US made liquid overseas and honestly I cannot think of another product we produce in the US currently that is as popular. Mountain Oak Vapors alone distributes to 18 countries and we are seeing more and more US companies overtake the space globally.
The proposed FDA regulations are onerous and burdensome. Realistically no electronic cigarette company would be able to comply especially with the 2007 grandfather date that would make every product currently sold on the market non-compliant and effectively ban them. Were the meetings we and other stakeholders had with the OMB effective? Only time will tell. That doesn’t mean we stop here.
We still need to get support for HR2058 which changes the grandfather date. We still need to contact our representatives as often as possible as users of the products and business owners. We still need to go back to the basics and help smokers transition, effectively increasing our numbers. We still need to register to vote even if we are one issue voters. We still need to get the industry funding to the various organizations fighting for their rights, which brings me to my last point.
I have been working hard for the past 6 months to get the Chinese manufacturers aware of the situation. I do believe they now realize that this lucrative market could be shut down overnight.
We (Phil and I) are headed back to China in January to meet with SEVIA (ShenZhen Electronic Vaporizer Industry Association) and present the current status of US and EU regulations. I feel confident we will be successful in creating an overseas organization that will help us in the fight.
This is an effort that requires everyone to get involved. Electronic cigarettes play a valuable role in public health. They help smokers quit. Period. To me that alone is the drive behind what I do every day to help keep this product available and affordable. And I know my partner in vaping Phil feels the same way.
Phil is traveling with me to support the effort, to continue to stress the importance of devices geared not only the enthusiast, but also the smoker, and to show you some more behind the scenes looks at additional factories and operations.
No matter in what capacity you are involved in the industry (consumer or business), will you join us in the fight?
The time is now!
THE DIABLO MODS FULGORIS & THE STOCKING CONTEST WINNER!
A PBusardo Review & Stocking Contest Winner – The Diablo Mods Fulgoris
In this video we give some e-liquids a mention that was supposed to happen in the buh-in award video. Oops. 🙂 We take a look at the Diablo Mods Fulgoris, and we announce the winner of the STOCKING CONTEST.
The Links:
Diablo Mods
The Video:
The Photos:
SOME OF MY THOUGHTS FOR 2016…
I’m not so sure I want to call this My “Thoughts” for 2016, but rather my “Hopes” for 2016.
My biggest hope is that the electronic cigarette industry and vapers alike are able to work with the FDA and other governing bodies to come up with regulations that are fair across the board to both manufacturers, shop owners, and themselves. These regulations shouldn’t be so impossible to deal with both financially and administratively that we put people out of work and make it more difficult to get the kinds of products we use and enjoy.
I think it important that our industry unites to fight these regulations… and I’m talking everyone! Vendors, shop owners, hardware manufacturers, liquid manufacturers, vapers… ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE! Regardless of where you are in the world. Imagine the power we would have if we were unified under a single organization in both in our voices and our money.
Collectively we have a lot to lose if this goes the wrong way… jobs will be lost, businesses will close, money earned and invested will be lost, but most importantly, LIVES WILL BE LOST.
Let’s just hope we’re not too late here. My fear is that we are.
I am optimistic for the future of vaping, but I certainly don’t think things will remain the same. I don’t think everyone will be able to play in the sandbox anymore. If you’re involved, I encourage you to be prepared for whatever may come (if that’s even possible) if long term sustainability is your goal.
There is a very selfish and narrow-minded view out there. “I have all the mods I’ll ever need and I can just make my own juice.” Sure that may work for you, but what about the smokers? They need access to devices and liquids to make the transition to vaping… the transition to a healthier lifestyle.
From a product review perspective, I believe this will be the year of the “gimmicky” as we hit a wall with the current tech. I can see the release of more and more gimmicky and “me too” products doing anything they can to push themselves to market and getting you to spend your money.
I will do my best to avoid these and look at innovative products with fresh new ideas.
I continue to believe temperature control, even with all of its hassles and headaches to be one of the most important advancements in vaping, but I still don’t think we’re there yet. I’d like to see this get easier to deal with, work with all wire types, not require manual setups, become more accurate, and put in an interface that the smoker can understand and not just the tech savvy vaper.
When my mother can use the tech without issue… we’ve arrived. 🙂
I’d like to see more research into the materials we use and the ways we use them. I’m tired of “I don’t know”. I want to know. I want to know if kanthal is better than nickel is better than titanium is better than stainless. I want to know if cotton is better than silica. I want to know if vaping less liquid at higher nic levels is better than vaping more liquid at lower nic levels. I want to know just how bad DI and AP are and how much is too much? I want to know if vaping at 400 degrees is safer than 500 degrees. I want to know if vaping mouth to lung is safer than direct lung. I want to know how the different ways we vape affects harm reduction. Finally, I want it presented to us in an easy to understand format always comparing it to the traditional tobacco cigarette.
There are two words I’m very tired of in this industry… “sub” and “clouds”. I’m not saying there isn’t a place for it, nor am I condemning it, but I am saying this is not what I want to focus on, nor do I think it’s going to win us any popularity contests.
I’m going to continue to move away from these words and focus more on words like “harm reduction” and “smoker”, which have ALWAYS been my drive to do what I do. I feel we’ve lost sight of the most important vaper out there… the smoker who does not know they’re a vaper yet.
This was once a game of saving or extending lives, creating healthier alternatives to tobacco cigarettes, and tobacco harm reduction. I now feel there is too much emphasis on the cloud and not enough on the previous items mentioned. I would like to focus on the former.
The mouth to lung experience is being overlooked and I think this very sad. Not only for the vapers who still vape the way they used to smoke and enjoys that experience, but more for the smokers. I believe in my heart of hearts that a quality, trouble free mouth to lung experience is imperative for the success of the smoker transitioning to vaping. Where you go from there is all up to you. I personally find no joy or satisfaction in the direct lung vaping experience and even when I do, I’m concerned by the increased consumption of e-liquid required to give me the satisfaction I’m looking for. I’m unwilling to drop my nicotine level at the expense of increasing my exposure to and usage of e-liquid.
I don’t feel the current trend of hardware and software (e-liquids) is conducive to the smoker transitioning to vaping. This may very well be my driving force to move more into the industry with the thought and goal of helping the smoker, and endorsing and/or branding hardware and liquids with that thought and goal in mind.
This will be seen as negative by some in the community. Haters will hate. There’s nothing I can do about that. But I will gladly be labeled a “sell out” if that means helping people move away from traditional tobacco cigarettes into the world of vaping and providing them the support, products, and liquids they need to get there.
Others will understand my need and want to be part of something I am so passionate about.
The one thing that will not change is the information you get from my reviews. I will continue, as I have always done, to provide you with an honest look at the gear we use to vape… and NOT SMOKE.
Wishing you all my best for the New Year. Vape Happy everyone!
A NOTE ABOUT THE “FREE ATOMIZER” FROM VAPE FORWARD…
In the “Buh-In” award video, I mentioned that on the Vape Forward site, you get a free atomizer when you use the coupon code “1ISNOTENOUGH”, I need to clarify that the coupon code is valid if you purchase more than one device.
Ok Charlie, you can relax now. 🙂
SOME SHOW & TELL, THE “BUH-IN” AWARDS, & HOW TO WIN THE STOCKING!!
A PBusardo Video – Some Show & Tell, The Buh-In Awards & How To Win The Stocking!
In this video we do some Show & Tell, give out the end of the year “Buh-In” awards, and let you know how to win the stocking.
Some notes about the contest:
Some people are getting delivery errors. Not sure why this is as hundreds have entered successfully already. I’m working on it.
Note that the auto-responders are set to 4 hours, so you can try again after that time.
You can try to enter as many times as you like. It’s the final step that you can only do once. In the event you feel you’ve entered MORE than once. No worries. Duplicates will be removed, but one will be kept.
The Links:
Juice Ragz
VaporShark
HotFireTech
Guerrilla Straps
Efest Power
Good Karma Vapor
Innokin
Vape-Forward
Geek Vape
The Video:
From CASAA…
Thursday (12.17.15)Late Tuesday night, an agreement was reached regarding the final language of the omnibus budget bill. Sadly, the provision that would have protected consumer access to vapor products was not included. However, this is by no means the end of our efforts to prevent the harm that will result if the FDA deeming regulations are finalized in the spring of 2016.
In fact, this is a great opportunity to urge Congress to
Even if you’ve already participated, please take a moment again to send a message to your lawmakers.
As we move forward, CASAA members and vapers everywhere should keep in mind that even in the worst case scenario of FDA deeming regulations being approved, there will likely be a grace period of two years (21 months) before the agency promises to start enforcing the rule. In that time, we are anticipating many threats to consumer access to e-cigarettes and other low-risk, smoke-free products at the state and local levels.
In advance of the 2016 legislative season, please urge your friends and family to join CASAA. Please urge your favorite retailer to display CASAA materials and educate their staff on the issues we are facing. There are millions of vapor consumers in the US, all of whom must become engaged if we hope to preserve access to these life-saving products.
We are asking consumers to express strong support for HR 2058 and urge your representatives to cosponsor this bill.
- Support HR 2058 – Send an Email
Please also print out our flyer and ask if you can post it in your local/favorite vapor shop:
Please share this link on social media:
Thank you,
CASAA Legislative Team
THE VAPORESSO TARGET 75VTC KIT & CCELL COILS & THE LAST CONTEST WINNER(S)
A PBusardo Review & Last Contest Winner(s) – The Vaporesso Target & cCell Coil
In this video we put a very special edition into the stocking, we take a full look at the Vaporesso Target and more importantly the cCell coil, the first ceramic coil heard that I’ve actually been satisfied by and happy with. Finally we find out who won the last contest for the Innokin Endura.
The Links:
JJ Vapes
Vaporesso
Heaven Gifts
Innokin
Vanguard Smoke (another vendor recommended by the manufacturer for purchase)
The Video:
The Photos:
Store
