VAPE Magazine June 2016 by Matt Schramel

JUNE 2016

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NEWS, BUSINESS & CULTURE VAPE Magazine is the only international vaping industry focused magazine with more than 35,000 readership in the United States, Europe and Asia, where vaping professionals find the latest news, products and trends. EDITORIAL Editor in Chief Matt Schramel

letter from the editor:

content@vapemz.com 800-958-6427 x2

Dear readers,

Managing Editor Corey Noles

There were so many different ways I wanted to introduce this issue. Then two days before the magazine went to press, “it” happened. The FDA officially deemed vapor products to be tobacco products. A mad frenzy of reading the 499-page stack of regulations ensued, followed by debate and confusion. In the end, as opposed to helping spread misinformation (as Facebook is filled with), we opted to share what we DO know. More information will be released in the days ahead, and we will be pouring through it slowly and deliberately in an effort to ensure that the only information you get from VAPE Magazine is accurate. Look for much, much more on this topic moving forward.

Contributor Norm Bour tackles the Indiana situation head-first to investigate how it is affecting shop owners, manufacturers and the controversy surrounding the new law. You will notice a couple of other new features in this edition of VAPE Magazine. Sam McClelland, an owner/builder with Clean Builds LLC is penning a new Builder’s Corner column. Writer John Castle will be reviewing one or two pieces of entry-level vaping equipment each month as well. These two writers will offer something special to different demographics, both of which are of equal importance in the community. Also, a quick introduction to another name you’ll be seeing a lot of: mine, Corey Noles. With the April issue, I have taken the reins as managing editor for VAPE Magazine. I’ve worked as a journalist since 2004 covering everything from crime to healthcare to politics to Major League Baseball. During my time with the St. Louis Business Journal, I did occasionally cover the growing vapor industry before leaving my career to open Inked Up E-Liquid Co. While that keeps me on the run, the opportunity to work for VAPE Magazine excites me. By being in the industry, I know and understand the struggles many of us deal with both as vapers and as business owners. I will also be facing the same regulatory struggles most of you will. Feel free to reach out anytime with questions or advice. I hold my ethical principles as a journalist very near and dear. I hope that will show in the issues to come as we continue to roll out new and exciting things! Hopefully, I’ll have the chance to meet some of you in person on the convention circuit in the near future. Vape on!

News Editor Alyssa Stahr Art Director Van Avanzado Graphic Designers Joe Buehner, Laura Camp, Matt Ritzenthaler, Anil Verma Director of Photography Ezra Zuniga Webmaster Axel Gillespie

Now, from the gloomy stuff to the exciting. In the June issue of VAPE Magazine, you’ll find an informative new legal column from attorney J. Jackson Waste on the California legislative situation. He will now be a regular contributor as our industry faces what could be a turbulent year on, well, every front — like in Indiana.

Corey Noles Managing Editor

Social Media Manager Eric Vonheim

Contributors Steffanie Atkins, Nick Bessette, Paul Blair, Norm Bour, Douglas Cambria, John Castle, Alex Clark, Dave Cross, Jenee Fowler, Jacob Gibernick, Nick Green, Patricia Kovacevic, Pedroh Mederos, Chris Mellides, Corey Noles, Leigh Oates, Susan Oser, Tony Ottomanelli, Matt Rowland, Julie Selesnick, Arvid Sollom, Maria Verven, J. Jackson Waste ADMINISTRATIVE Chief Executive Officer Matt Schramel Co-Owner/Vice President Jon Laverde Executive Assistant Erin Aly ADVERTISING Mike Schramel, mike@vapemz.com 800-958-6427 x1 Jon Laverde, jon@vapemz.com 800-958-6427 x4 Jacob Barger, jacob@vapemz.com 949-910-2138 China-based advertisers contact Wingle Group Electronics LTD +852 51759256 dev@winglegroup.com CONTACT Advertising sales@vapemz.com News news@vapemz.com New Products newproducts@vapemz.com Employment jobs@vapemz.com

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/ VapeMZ

VAPE Magazine is wholly owned by Starpixel Marketing LLC 2230 Highland Hill Dr., St. Peters, MO 63376 info@vapemz.com 800-958-6427

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table of contents Columns 18 Ask Grimm Green 31 Crowd Chasers 37 Shops are the First Line of Defense

Mods and Tech

126 Interview with Daily Caller’s Guy Bentley 154 At Home with a Mystic 161 The Tipping Point for E-Liquids

131 CCI Maus Tank Review

for Battery Safety

27 It’s Time for Vapers to Take a Stand

161 131

Events 27

140 The Juul by Pax Review 142 Hohm Skillet Review

40 Orlando Vapor Show

48 Vape the Vote 52 Legal Roundup: California Law Means

Departments 12 Letter From the Editor 21 #ScenicVapers

Big Changes Industry Wide

60 Ballot Initiatives Present

New Threat to Vapor

156 Vaping from the Outside: Some Labels Suck

40 42 Vape Expo Poland 100 Las Vegas Tobacco Plus Expo 108 VPX Detroit 115 SoCal Vape Convention 120 NATO Conference Ends 15-Year Run 149 Vape Jam UK

156

Features 55 FDA Regulation of Vapor Products 65 Interview with a Phantom 69 Heating Elements Have Arrived 74 How I learned to Stop Worrying

and Love the Term Mod

149

145 An Interview with Tia Vapes 14

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81 VAPE Fashion Pictorial 90 Mods on Mods 96 The Juice Judge 98 Southern Steam Vapes 105 Vape Vixen: Sketches 124 Papa Murph’s E-Liquid 135 Just in Juices

DEPARTMENTS

By Nick Green

Photo by Metal Jeff

What was the one device/setup for you that really got you into vaping as more of a hobby than just to quit smoking? Collin Erson St. Louis, Missouri Hey Collin! There was one device way back in 2009 called the screwdriver. It was literally the first “mod” ever created or sold in vaping. I bought one, but didn’t fully appreciate it, so I sold it. After that nothing I used quite gave me that same vape experience. So, I went and re-bought the screwdriver. The Screwdriver was most literally a “mod.” It was modded from a flashlight housing, and was powered by a small 16340 battery. Prior to that I had only been using small stick style batteries, and I consider the screwdriver the device that turned me into a hobbyist vaper

If you had to pick one setup for the rest of your life, what would it be and why? Bobby Weeks St. Louis, Missouri Hey Bobby! This is an incredibly tough question to answer. There are so many different ways to vape, It’s hard to pick just one! But if I had to, I would probably go unregulated. Something like the Titan mod, or the TugLyfe mod — a dual parallel unregulated 18650 box. Topped with a DotMod Petri V2. When I think of an ideal vape in my head, that combo is exactly what I picture. Throw some 0.15 ohm dual coils in that Petri and i’m good to go. Of course, juice is the real difficult part. LaneCove Myee juice, or my own Rainbow Sherbet in the Dark. It’s too hard to choose so i’m going to pick two. Happy Vaping! - Grimm

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DEPARTMENTS

Scenic Vapers : Getting To Know Tyler Price By Chris Mellides

Driven by curiosity and a desire to abstain from combustible tobacco use, Scenic Vapers co-founder Tyler Price (@dripping_balls), 24, turned to vaping as a smoking alternative just over two years ago. While many former smokers like Price are now living a cleaner and more active lifestyle, the young West Virginia native was surprised to have gained something else by making the switch: a budding career in photography. Crediting the vape industry for helping him discover this passion, Price is every bit as excited about taking professional photographs now as he was when the only equipment available to him was the rear facing camera on his smartphone. “When I first started out I would post handchecks, juice, and mod shots onto Instagram but only from my cellphone,” Price said. “I hardly knew anything about photography or cameras, but I knew that it was something I was going to really enjoy.” From that point onward Price says that he “became a sponge” absorbing whatever tips or information he could find in order to improve and ultimately better his work.

Photo Kyle Preston (@realist.state) Terry McLaughlin (@asteryx) at Vance Creek Viaduct

VAPEMZ.COM

“It’s something that you have to put a lot of work into, but when you truly enjoy photography, the pros will always outweigh the cons,” Price said. In continuing his pursuit to improve his craft, the West Virginian stumbled across the work of seasoned photographer Ian Silver (@jedi.visions) while on Instagram, and it wasn’t long before the two were able to connect. “One day I was scrolling through Instagram and I saw a picture of a mod sitting on a rock down by this beautiful river valley,” Price said of Silver’s work. “This instantly jumped out to me because I too was trying to add a different aspect to the normal everyday vape pics you would see.” Not long after discovering each other’s photos on social media, Price and Silver began discussing ideas for a project that exemplified their love for nature and vaping and solidified that bond as it serves to promote healthy and more active living. “I think most all of us started vaping to improve our lives, to feel better, and to lead a healthier lifestyle,” Price said. “Alongside vaping, exercise and [exploring the] outdoors is also a great way of achieving those same goals.” He added, “So we decided we had to start a page to promote the union of the two, thus creating Scenic Vapers.” Price admits that he never anticipated the Scenic Vapers’ Instagram page would receive the kind of positive response and outpouring of support that it has, and that he is grateful for the opportunity to have Scenic Vapers regularly featured as a pullout section in VAPE Magazine. “I’m so grateful to everyone who has helped us along the way and to VAPE Magazine for believing in us so early on,” Price said. “This is just the beginning for us.” The success of Scenic Vapers relies on photo submissions from the vape community that embody the bond between vaping and nature, which Price stresses is hugely important. “There’s just something about going out into nature that clicks with something inside you,” Price said. “We look for unique perspectives and feel that creativity and execution should be rewarded, but most of all, shared with the world.” The Scenic Vapers co-founder says that exciting developments with the project are forthcoming, and that he wishes to extend his deepest thanks to all of the Scenic Vapers supporters, friends, and family that have helped play a role in making the project a success. “My main goal is to ultimately inspire others,” Price said. “Whether it be getting a smoker to switch to vaping or making you want to go out on an adventure, if a photograph we’ve taken or selected reaches someone and speaks to them in some way, I feel that we have done our job.”

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Photo by Jayson Magbanua (@mrpinoykid) Breanna Hulett (@greyvape) at Palouse Falls, Washington

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Photo by Carson Graham (@itscarson) Lauren Chon (@lamoch) vaping at Deschutes National Forest, Oregon

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Photographer on-set: (@cire.mudilos) at Palos Verdes, California

Photo by Tyler Price (@dripping_balls) Logan Wells (@mr_subohm) wearing a Space Jam Juice (@spacejamjuice) hoodie at Ohiopyle State Park Maryland

To submit your photo to Scenic Vapers #CloudCheck for VAPE submission consideration, follow @VapeMagazine @ScenicVapers @Drippin_Balls and @jedi.visions and #VapeMagazine #CloudCheck and #ScenicVapers on Instagram. For the VAPE pictorial column, photos must be in high resolution, but for the IG page everyone has the chance for a feature.

Photo by Tyler Carpenter (@tyycreations) at La Jolla, San Diego VAPEMZ.COM

Features

It’s time for vapers to

TAKE A STAND By Corey Noles

It’s election season. That glorious time of year when people wave their signs and fight for their rights. Well, most people. People fight for civil rights, the right to own and carry firearms, the right to use the bathroom of their choice, but there’s a glaring omission among those who have the passion to stand up and make a change: vapers. While I’m not comparing those causes, the vaping community could use some of that passion.

In an industry under greater scrutiny than it has ever been, the time is now for vapers to stand up. Store owners and product manufacturers can not be the only people fighting this battle, but at local, state and federal hearings, these are the only people who have the passion to stand up for the right of the common vaper — and many of them still remain inactive in issues of advocacy. It has to change.

VAPEMZ.COM

Features Share responsible new articles that tell the true story and struggles of the industry. Also share reports of studies that show the benefits of vaping.

With millions of vapers in this country, if as few as 10 percent made their voices be heard, that would be hard to deny.

Do not purchase e-liquid from companies that are clearly violating intellectual property laws in their names, or those whose labels market to children. Cartoon characters don’t have a place in the vapor industry.

As it stands, we have a slough of presidential candidates who have yet to voice an opinion on the industry. With as many as 10 million votes up for grabs, we need to force the issue. When candidates visit your city, take up an “I Vape and I Vote” sign.

Educate yourself. As cliche as it sounds, knowledge is power.

If everyone just sits down and lets the FDA regulate the vapor industry out of existence, who is really to blame — the FDA or all of us for not putting up a good fight? I’m not saying everyone needs to take up a sign and head for the Mall of America (even though I love the idea.) There are plenty of ways to be active that take just a few minutes and can be done everywhere. Following are a few things EVERY vaper should do: Visit CASAA.org and sign up for their newsletter and Call to Action alerts. They send out alerts when a law of concern is in danger of passage and making contacting the necessary officials very simple. They even have basic form letters you can simply attach a name to and hit send. Register to vote. I realize this sounds simple, but if you’re not registered to vote, many elected officials may discount your opinion. Contact your representatives at every level of government. Tell them where you stand. Be respectful and professional, that goes farther than an angry militant yelling at them over their phone or in their office. Learn how many vapor shops are in your region. Let your politicians know how many small businesses and jobs would be decimated by harmful legislation. Also know how many people have used vaping to quit smoking. It never hurts to explain the concern as “sending millions BACK to cigarettes.”

Ask the shops you visit and the companies you respect what they do for advocacy. Ask them to step up their game and educate their customers and support organizations like SFATA, the American Vaping Association and CASAA that fight for your right to vape every day.

Know your local laws in regard to vaping, and obey them. Being that person in McDonald’s fighting over what is or is not a cigarette does not help our industry. It gives the impression we are all bigots. It’s important to be civilized and respectful vapers as such behavior reflects on the industry as a whole. Educate your friends — smokers, vapers and nonvapers alike. Make sure they understand what is at stake and about the misinformation that is spread regularly throughout news stories. Encourage your smoking friends to give it a try. Every converted smoker is another voice. Visit notblowingsmoke.org and have your photo inserted into a No More Casualties photo that you can share on social media. Share it or make it your profile picture, but at least do it.

Finally, take up a sign! People protest for everything and there’s a reason for that. Politics responds to the masses. If vapers take a stand, we CAN make them listen. If vapers themselves don’t care enough to fight for their rights, why would anyone else? Corey Noles is the Managing Editor of VAPE Magazine. He has worked as a journalist since 2006 covering crime, politics, healthcare and Major League Baseball. He is the owner of Inked Up E-Liquid Co.

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COLUMNS

Crowd Chasers

Being Tasty Isn’t the Only Secret to Tasty Vapor’s Success

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columns Being ‘tasty’ is important to vapers. But sometimes simply being tasty isn’t enough in a competitive marketplace. Tasty Vapor initially took off by virtue of the quality of their products, but ultimately found that marketing would be the ultimate key to their success. The idea for Tasty Vapor started on July 13, 2009, one month after owner/founder Geoff Braithwaite picked up his first electronic cigarette. “After 29 years as a pack-a-day smoker and having tried a number of approved cessation products with little or no success, I was at a crossroads,” he said. “I needed to do something differently or suffer some very severe health concerns, which I was already beginning to feel. After making a complete switch from analogs to a personal vaporizer and marveling at how quickly I was seeing results, I understood what this could mean to people like myself who felt doomed to a life of smoking.”

Nineteen of Tasty Vapor’s most popular flavors are available in 6mg, 12mg and 18mg nicotine in 15ml bottles with 20 or 50 percent VG. Flavorings, propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin are certified USP grade, and nicotine is pharmaceutical grade. But as the vape industry took off like wildfire, vape shops and e-liquid manufacturers began popping up all over. Now that consumers were faced with many more choices, Tasty Vapor had a more difficult time competing. “Like any business that needs to stay relevant and competitive, we were faced with some tough decisions. We ultimately decided we needed a marketing firm,” Braithwaite said. “We knew we needed to step things up, rebrand, revamp and do something that made us stand out.” They shopped around a while until landing on Eventige. “Their people had the skill sets and enthusiasm we were looking for in stepping up our game.”

At the time, most products were coming from China, and “tasted only vaguely like their proclaimed labels.” Braithwaite wanted to create something he had more faith would keep him and others from resuming their former habit. “I knew flavor was a key dissociative tool in the migration from combusted tobacco.” Formerly a prep cook, sous chef and supervising cook in Oakland, Calif., Braithwaite knew his way around flavoring. He decided to try his hand at creating e-liquids. “I’m self-taught in everything I do. At the time, when the flavors on the market were simple cherry, strawberry, chocolate and tobacco, we began making flavors like German chocolate cake, Butterfinger, atomic fireball, pina colada, and so on,” he said. “We were able to successfully translate actual dessert recipes into e-liquid recipes.”

At first, they weren’t quite sure where or how to market. Traditional search engine marketing strategies such as Google AdWords and Facebook ads are closed to vape companies. But the Electronic Cigarette Forum (ECF) was already attracting thousands of vape enthusiasts. Braithwaite began bragging about Tasty Vapor’s flavors and found they were an instant hit. “Customers were finding us through word of mouth,” he said. “We literally didn’t have to do any marketing at all.” Tasty Vapor also differentiates itself by giving consumers lots of options in their e-liquids. Boasting their products are more ‘homemade,’ they allow consumers to choose among dozens of unique flavors and determine the nicotine level as well as the sweetener and PG/VG ratio. They then ‘hand-mix’ the order in an OSHA regulated clean-lab and ship it out within 72 hours.

Based in New York City, Eventige represents dozens of clients, from Habitat for Humanity to Skype, Uber and The Wall Street Journal. But what makes them unique in the marketing world is their focus on the vape industry. Alexei Alankin, Eventige CEO and founder, is a vaper who also understands how and where vape products can be marketed – and where they’re prohibited. With more and more controversy surrounding vape products, marketing strategies must never be interpreted as ‘kidfriendly’ or appear to appeal to a younger age bracket. It can be a challenge for traditional marketing agencies that don’t understand that the focus must be on the community of vapers who already use these products. Eventige first conducted a comprehensive brand positioning that laid out a strategic marketing roadmap for Tasty Vapor’s business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) channels. Eventige essentially took over the marketing side of things, freeing Braithwaite and his internal team up to focus on R&D and manufacturing. One of the first steps was to refine Tasty Vapor’s corporate identity just in time for a busy round of trade shows in 2015, starting with Vape Fest in February. Tasty Vapor’s website, trade show materials, and media kits and social media platforms were ‘Tiki-fied’ with a fun and playful Tiki theme. Each flavor – from Alien Blood to Waffles – was enhanced with visually appealing images.

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columns “Until Eventige, we didn’t attend tradeshows because we simply didn’t have the necessary gear that would make us a standout at the shows,” Braithwaite said. “They helped us with all the amenities and products we needed to participate at that level. It’s been our best marketing strategy because we can catch the attention of potential clients and engage them directly.” Eventige overhauled Tasty Vapor’s e-commerce system and deployed an inbound customer relationship management (CRM) system, creating a clear sales roadmap for inbound leads. At the same time, they took the age-to-vape program seriously, and implemented an age verification system from Veratad. Eventige helped triple the number of fans and double the level of engagement on Tasty Vapor’s social media channels by merging several disparate Facebook accounts and implementing social media automation and engagement systems.

What’s the future hold for Tasty Vapor? “Like all companies, we hope to do what is necessary to increase the longevity of our company and our role in this industry,” Braithwaite said. “We do what we can to stay relevant and we continue to formulate new and delicious recipes – the very thing that made us famous.” Tasty Vapor also plays an active role in SFATA, the Smokefree Alternatives Trade Association, by supporting advocacy efforts and educating local, state and federal representatives. “We want everyone to know what these products mean to people like me, who felt doomed to a life of smoking,” Braithwaite said. “While I would like the simple task of running my business, I see being active on the advocacy side as product insurance. So I’m doing my part to be absolutely sure there is an industry to be competitive in!”

Tasty Vapor continued to push the envelope for product development, eventually ending up with some 77 e-liquid flavors.

#VAPEMAGAZINE

The original “Vaping VampTM,” Maria Verven is a 35-year P.R. veteran and owner of Verve P.R, a marketing firm focused on the vape industry.

Shops are

THE FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE for battery safety

DEPARTMENTS COLUMNS

Following are a few simple tips that will take sales clerks only a few seconds per customer: Ask a customer if they understand proper battery care and maintenance. Offer an explanation — explaining the importance of battery marriage, the danger of counterfeit batteries, the importance of smooth, in tact battery wraps. Explain the danger of improperly inserting a battery.

By Corey Noles Among the handful of issues that create negative attention for the vapor industry, accidents stemming from poor battery care are among the most frustrating. They harm the industry as a whole, feeding the misguided image that is painted daily of vapers. The worst part, though, is that they are entirely preventable. When video footage appears of a battery venting in someone’s pocket or venting in a device near someone’s face, the damage done to the industry as a whole grows exponentially. While proper battery care is the responsibility of the owner, the first line of defense takes place at the shop. Yes, many batteries are purchased second-hand, but the majority of sales are still coming from brick and mortar shops. This column isn’t to throw shops under the bus, but to remind everyone. When a store gets busy, it’s easy to rush through or skip the battery safety lecture — but with battery accidents becoming more common, the need is greater than even to insure the public understands proper care. VAPEMZ.COM

Have a sheet to handout with the basics. ZampleBox has excellent sheets and posters that can be downloaded and distributed free of charge. Use them — it’s worth the ink. As the first line of defense, I would argue it should be a responsibility. Offer FREE battery wraps. Battery wraps cost only a few cents and take seconds to install — far less time than a build or changing a coil. If this service prevents even one unnecessary accident, it will be worth the pennies. Explain the proper use of a hybrid connection. With the rise in popularity of such devices, this is becoming increasingly important. 371

columns

DEPARTMENTS

Offer a trade-in service. Shave a percentage off the cost of new batteries for bringing in old batteries for proper disposal. Quite often these batteries wind up changing hands in trades and are the ultimate enemy of safe vaping. Stress the importance of changing batteries in six to 12 month intervals depending on their level of usage. Only order batteries from trustworthy outlets. With countless rewrap companies and counterfeit batteries running rampant, don’t be part of the problem. Be part of the solution.

The most important role for any vape shop employee is that of a teacher. Treat each customer like they’re brand new. When times are busy, at least use the handouts. While the ultimate responsibility falls on the individual vaper, tragic and careless accidents are harmful for the entire industry. If everyone steps up, most of these can be prevented. Our industry garners enough bad publicity without us contributing to the problem. These same ideas apply to vapers themselves, not just stores. When you see your friends taking unnecessary risks, step in. Say something. Do it to protect your rights as a vaper and to ensure your friend — or customer — doesn’t become just another story on the evening news. If we all do our part, the majority of these accidents can be prevented. Corey Noles is the managing editor of VAPE Magazine. He has worked as a journalist since 2004 covering countless topics and is the owner/founder of Inked Up E-Liquid Co.

Adjust your battery prices to accommodate for including a battery box with each pair. The simple, plastic box that holds two is fine and they are dirt cheap at wholesale. The fact that vapers have to buy them separately makes them far less likely to purchase them. Stop selling lousy chargers. Stick with the known and trusted chargers — Nitecore, Xtar and the Efest LUC series. All of these are time-tested and proven chargers. Explain ohm’s law to anyone and everyone who will listen. Offer to check their builds. Show them how to do it themselves. 38

#VAPEMAGAZINE VAPEMZ.COM

Event Coverage

The Central Florida Fairground was the setting for the Orlando Vape Show this past March 2016. Orlando, along with the state of Florida, is one of the hotspots for vaping the US, so it is a natural fit for a top notch vape show. The hall at the fairgrounds is a medium-sized event venue that was easily able to accommodate more than 40 vendors, and the show was organized by vape show veteran Mark Evans Jr. The venue turned out to be a good choice for the show, as it is located within the Orlando area, but far enough away from the area theme parks that the nightmarish traffic could be avoided. This was particularly important with the show taking place during the heart of spring break. Tony Taylor, one of the owners of Potions Unlimited, a premium e-liquid manufacturer, said “This vape show completely exceeded all expectations,” and those in attendance “completely fit our demographic.” Chris, co-owner of Daily Dose, had a slightly different take. He said he would “like to see maybe more of a turnout,” but added that the people he met with were “good contacts.” Markus, the wholesale manager from Lizard Juice referred to the show as “better that I thought it would be — the business to business part was great.” If Evans can build on the successes of the past two Orlando shows, they should only get better from here.

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Event Coverage

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Event Coverage

Thousands of vapers and businesses come together at Vape Expo Poland This international business vaping convention took place on March 4-5, 2016 at the Warsaw Expo International Exhibition Center. The drew in companies from around the world to do business and showcase their latest products. There were plenty of activities for vapers too with cloud competitions and giveaways! Vape Expo Poland’s next event is September 9-10, 2016.

Will Cohen, Executive Director, The Vape A Vet Project. “Vape Expo Poland is incredible, it’s a whole different world. I absolutely love meeting everyone from all these other countries. We have to meet a couple of airmen who are stationed at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. They had heard we were going to be there and came all the way from Germany to see us!”

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Event Coverage

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COLUMNS

Why I Vape By Marty Jones

I couldn’t breathe.

I knew smoking was killing me.

It was the day after Father’s Day and I woke with each partial breath causing me to cough uncontrollably. The desire to cough outweighed the need for air. Pain burned my lungs. My chest felt like it were in an invisible vice.

Mowing the lawn winded me, definitely not typical of a 33 year-old in good health besides being a smoker. I’d tried to stop smoking cigarettes many times before. I tried going cold turkey five times. I tried nicotine patches, gum, and the convenience store e cigarettes like Blu, Premium, and Krave; nothing worked.

That will be two years ago June 16. During my smoking years I caustically referred to myself as a professional smoker. I smoked for sixteen years, and an average week for me consisted of four cartons — more if it were a stressful week. My addiction was worse than any other smoker I knew. Working from home offered more chances to chain smoke than what most people had.

By coincidence, fate, or an intervention by the vaping gods, I learned of vaping through brother-in-law. We had a Father’s Day cookout and he’d stopped smoking a month prior. He invited me to take a trip to a local vape shop, Precious Vapes, in my hometown of Madison, Tennessee.

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columns

... I realized how tobacco was slowly killing me in a way that I could no longer ignore.

I wasn’t impressed because I figured this was the same as what I was buying at the convenience store. When he offered me to take a vape off of his spinner mod, I shrugged and decided why not? I admitted it tasted better and felt more natural than what I’d experienced with the pseudo-cigarette vapes. I also expected that to be the end of it. Yet, that morning I realized how tobacco was slowly killing me in a way that I could no longer ignore.

That morning, after the ache inducing cough subsided, I went back to Precious Vapes. Since I was the only customer in the store I was forward with Steve. I expected sales hype, but instead found someone who understood what I’d experienced. Steve set me up with a 900maH spinner, the KangerTech Micro Pro-tank III, and a bottle of 24mg e juice. My last cigarette ever was lit three hours after that. Unexpectedly, I found that vaping caused me to actually taste the cigarette for the first time in years. When I would try to smoke, it was like licking a stale ashtray. My initial concern when I could no longer tolerate the taste of a cigarette anymore was “am I switching one addiction for another?” I pushed that idea concern aside and I continued down the road that finally took me away from cigarettes. Suddenly, I noticed that 24mg was too strong. I began to go lower, until 6mg became my standard before the end of my first year. Then the concern I’d pushed aside returned to haunt me. After being prisoner of tobacco for so long I had to know the truth. At the first of the year I put down my mods expecting withdrawals similar — if not identical — to cigarettes. To my surprise I only missed the taste. Now three days shy of four whole months without vaping nicotine, I purchased a bottle of 3mg. It wasn’t because of craving nicotine, but because I missed one of my favorite flavors that didn’t taste right without the nicotine. Now as I sit here and close this with my mod in hand, I finally understand what the phrase, “Vape for life” means to me. It means mowing the lawn without being winded. It means being able to hike two miles to the mechanic to pick up your car. It means nature trails, renaissance festivals, extended shopping trips, and different conventions. It means vaping fits your life, instead of making you a prisoner to death.

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Features

By Susan Oser

This year more than ever we seriously need to pay attention this election year. Why?

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Features First, we have to elect a new president. Hundreds of senators and representatives are up for reelection. Governors and state legislators will be seeking new seats or reelection, as well. This would also be the year when some important initiatives are on the ballots ranging from legalization of marijuana to equal pay legislation. You probably have heard all this ad nauseam already. Some of you might also have already voted in a primary for the person you think would be best for the country, your state, and city. However, have you ever thought about the person who might best serve the vaping community? Did you ever ask them the question? Do you know how to do so? The goal of this article is to give you the vapers not only the proper information on voting in general, but how as a community we can make a difference in ways you have never considered: Research and learn about the candidates —Every candidate has a website that not only gives a biography, but also lists what their views are on various issues. Don’t see one on vaping, tobacco, etc.? Contact them directly via email, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Let them know you’re a concerned voter who vapes and that the answer to your questions will help them decide on whether that candidate has your vote or not. If you’re on Twitter, you can find the candidates Twitter account and any one of these (or more) of the following things: @myrepresentative/presidential candidate What are your opinions on #vaping? @_____ please discuss vaping and the e-cigarette industry at your next rally. @_____ if you support #vaping, you got my vote! From my experience and what I’ve seen, some vapers who have already taken to Twitter have gotten blocked by merely stating facts about vaping or who disagree with their rulings on putting vaping and tobacco in the same boat, high taxes, etc. Let’s think about this for a moment: Would you seriously vote for someone who blocks or ignores your voice and opinion on vaping? If you have tried sending a tweet to one of the presidential candidates out there and have not gotten a response, what is stopping you from sending another one? Just be aware that some candidates don’t tweet themselves but have a ghostwriter who gets paid to do it for them. Attending political events—If you know that a politician is going to have a meet and greet, rally, or a town hall meeting, go there. If you are able to ask a question about e-cigarettes and their stances on it, do so. Need ideas for questions to ask? Check out these ideas below: • Would you support legislation that outlaws vaping and e-cigarettes if it affected jobs? • Would you support FDA-deeming regulations on vaping and e-cigarettes? Please describe any action in support of your position. • Would you support a tax increase on vaping and e-cigarettes? • Would you support legislation that requires vaping and e-cigarette products sold to 18+ consumers ONLY? These questions might get some people to ask what vaping is or may peak more interest about it. Depending on their answer and how the crowd reacts to that answer OR your question, it will tell you clearly where vaping stands in the public arena and how much work one must do. If your question gets ignored, then you know where you stand with that candidate. Being a one issue voter—There are some people who vote for someone based on their overall feelings of various issues that they are concerned about. Others will base a vote on their candidate on just one issue. Vaping is definitely one of those only issues that will determine the fate of a candidate. If they are for it, you vote for them. If they are against it, hopefully you can help vote them out of office or at the very least vote against them. If they don’t reveal their answer either way, find a candidate or someone who is running for office who can give you an answer and keep asking it. VAPEMZ.COM

Features Be aware of any pending proposals AF, 12, etc. Are there any possible tax increases, or other proposals that have put vaping bans and/or e-cigarette taxes in the voters hands? If that’s the case, make sure that you understand the wording. The reason this is important is because sometimes the wording can be such that it tries to sway to vote one way when you REALLY want to vote another way. If you’re confused about the wording, you have great members from CASAA that you can email and personally contact who will help you understand the language. Register to vote—It is highly important that you make sure that you are registered to vote. This is where it all happens. Your vote (or non-vote) can make or break the industry. If you are registered to vote, congratulations! Get out there and do it! Make sure your fellow vapers are registered and encourage them to exercise their civil right. If you are not sure how to register to vote, contact your local city government office, log on to your state website, etc. Get the issue of vaping out there in the media Besides social media, podcasting, and blogging, there are other great ways to make vaping a more political issue than it is now (or some feel it is not). If the local news does a story on vaping in regard to who is proposing a vape ban and you feel that you have something to add to the conversation or the story, make sure to write to them. Writing a letter to the editor to a local or regional newspaper or publication can also help because then the issue is out there and those who are interested or care will not only read about it, but just might want to learn more about vaping. Encourage other vapers to—Just as I’m giving ideas in this article about the importance of voting and becoming a strong voting bloc in this year’s election, YOU need to do the same thing. It means taking this article and talking about it on your podcasts, at the shop you go to, with friends and family, etc. This is how Rock the Vote got started to appeal to a generation of young people who were left out in the political process. So, why can’t the same be done for vapers? This is where you can contact and align yourself with CASAA, #IamaVaper2016, Vaping Militia, etc. and tell them that you need help in getting the word out vote. Remember this: If you vote, you are exercising your right to choose and becoming an activist for yourself and the vaping community. If you don’t, then you have no right to complain. I don’t know a more honest way to state it. The following vaping organizations can lend support to those dealing with local issues or looking for ways to motivate voters in your region: CASAA www.casaa.org #IamaVaper https://www.facebook.com/groups/IamaVaper2016/ Vaping Militia http://thevapingmilitia.org/ Not Blowing Smoke http://notblowingsmoke.org/ In Michigan= Michigan SmokeFree Alternatives https://www.facebook.com/groups/msfac/?ref=bookmarks In Colorado: NE Colorado Vapers Society https://www.facebook.com/groups/NeColoradoVapersSociety/? ref=bookmarks Vapers Voter Guide http://vapersvotingguide.com/

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columns The heat is on in California. Two related bills, SB-5 and SB-7, were signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown on May 4, the eve of the FDA’s deeming regulation. These bills will dramatically change the way that the vapor industry is regulated in the Golden State. The headline is that these bills (i.) treat vapor products like tobacco products for regulatory purposes, and (ii.) raise the purchasing age for tobacco products (now including vapor products) to 21. This article digs into the actual text of these bills and explains what it means to treat vapor products, legally speaking, like tobacco products.

Overview of SB-5: SB-5 was introduced by California State Senator Mark Leno (D – San Francisco) on July 16, 2015. Its primary function is amending the statute that defines “smoking” and “tobacco product.” The official state definition of “smoking” would be as follows: “‘Smoking’ means inhaling, exhaling, burning, or carrying any lighted or heated cigar, cigarette, or pipe, or any other lighted or heated tobacco or plant product intended for inhalation, whether natural or synthetic, in any manner or form. ‘Smoking’ includes the use of an electronic smoking device that creates an aerosol or vapor, in any manner or in any form, or the use of any oral smoking device for the purpose of circumventing the prohibition of smoking.” The definition of “tobacco product” will be amended to include “an electronic device that delivers nicotine or other vaporized liquids to the person inhaling from the device, including, but not limited to, an electronic cigarette, cigar, pipe, or hookah.” This bill brings vape shops within the California Business & Professions Code’s definition of a “tobacco store,” which is any store that primarily sells or generates more than 60 percent of its annual revenue from the sale of “tobacco products.” This means that, when SB-5 becomes effective, vape shop owners will need to comply with the requirement that tobacco store proprietors apply for and obtain a license. As proposed in the bill, the fee for this would be $265 annually.[1] Compliance with the licensure requirements, is now an absolute must for shop owners. Section 22980.2 of the Business & Professions Code provides that (a) any person who engages in the sale of tobacco products without a license is guilty of a misdemeanor (including the officers of any corporation that engages in unlicensed sales), and (b) each day of sales after notification that a person must be licensed constitutes a separate violation. SB-5 also amends section 1947.5 of the Civil Code to allow landlords to prohibit vaping when they lease apartments. (How any landlord would ever know that his tenants are vaping in the privacy of their own apartments is anyone’s guess.) Additionally, section 7597 of the Government Code will be amended to prohibit vaping within 20 feet from the entrance of a government building. So, if you were planning to organize a cloud competition outside the entrance to a DMV office, it’s probably best to put that on hold for now. There are a few other minor changes in the bill. For instance, it amends section 1596.795 of the Health and Safety Code to prohibit anyone from vaping in a “family day care home” where children are present. Section 104495(b) will be amended to

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Legal

Roundup

COLUMNS prohibit vaping within 25 feet of a playground or “tot lot sandbox area.” Section 114371(f) of the Health and Safety Code will be amended to prohibit vaping at farmer’s markets, which is something that anyone who sells their e-liquid at swap meets may wish to keep in mind.

- California Law

Means

Overview of SB-7:

Big Changes Industry Wide

By J. Jackson Waste

This bill amends the Business & Professions Code to raise the purchasing age for tobacco products (which, thanks to SB-5, now means vapor products) from 18 to 21 for everyone except active duty military members. The bill explicitly directs the California Department of Public Health to conduct “random onsite sting operations” at retail stores, and owners of vape shops can bet that they’ll be hit. This bill will also require “retailers of tobacco products” (meaning, per SB-5, vape shops) to “post conspicuously, at each point of purchase, a notice stating that selling tobacco products to anyone under 21 years of age is illegal and subject to penalties.” These mandatory warning signs must also, per Business & Professions Code § 22952(b), reference a toll-free number where customers can call the Department of Public Health to report shop owners if they suspect sales of tobacco products to underage persons. (Because nothing says “we live in a free society” quite like mandating that vape shop owners post a 1-800 number where concerned citizens can report the oh-so-grievous crime of selling vape juice to a 20-year-old.) Under SB-7, shops that sell to under-21 customers can be hit with civil penalties ranging from $400 to $6,000, as well as potential sales license revocation and additional fines from the State Board of Equalization. Additionally, SB-7 prohibits by-mail sales of “tobacco products” to customers under 21, meaning that companies that sell e-liquid to California customers are suddenly taking a bigger risk.

Analysis of Both Bills: California’s Legislature decided to regulate vaping like smoking because (to the extent there was any rationale whatsoever) it looks a bit like smoking. But regulating vapor products like tobacco products because vaping looks like smoking makes about as much sense as requiring a driver’s license to play with Hot Wheels. But the Legislature’s motives become a bit more clear when one considers the fact that the phrase “tobacco product” appears 127 times in the California Revenue and Taxation Code. These bills are hollow moralist grandstanding combined with a good old fashioned money grab. California voters, whether or not they vape, should be outraged. In a free society, the burden of proof should always be on the proponent of a law that seeks to restrict the behavior of adults. If the Legislature wants to regulate vaping like smoking, then it should be the Legislature’s burden to prove that vaping is, medically speaking, anything like smoking. Not only has the Legislature failed to meet its burden here, it hasn’t even tried. The rights of Californians are being chipped away, and the government isn’t even pretending to offer a reason why. But however ill-conceived these bills may be, vapor industry companies that do business in California would do well to learn the new rules of the road.

[1] B&P Code § 22973.3(d) as set forth in SB-5 VAPEMZ.COM

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Regulation of

Vapor Products

– How We Got Here and What’s Coming Next By Azim Chowdhury

The U.S. e-cigarette industry, in particular open-system refillable e-liquid industry, has grown tremendously over the past several years, with some estimating total sales over $4 billion in 2016. That rapid growth has largely taken place in the absence of regulation. That will soon change, however, as more states enact laws restricting how and where these products can be used, and now that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released its longawaited “Deeming Regulation” that has officially regulated virtually the entire vapor industry as “tobacco” products.

But how did we get to this point? This article summarizes the timeline of how we got to where we are today, and what we can expect in the coming years

The Early Years: 2003-2008 The modern e-cigarette “cigalike” product was developed around 2003 in China by Hon Lik, a 52-year-old pharmacist, inventor and lifelong smoker. Lik was inspired to invent the device, a less harmful method of inhaling nicotine, after his father, who was also a heavy smoker, died of lung cancer. Lik claims to have had a dream one night where

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he was engulfed by vapor. He presented the idea to his company, Golden Dragon Holdings, who began developing the device and changed their name to Ruyan, which means “like smoke.” The first e-cigarettes began being exported to Europe around 2006 and to the U.S. around 2007. Almost immediately, health regulators around the world began assuming these products were just another form of harmful tobacco and began restricting their marketing and sale. In March 2008, for example, Turkey’s Health Ministry banned the sale and importation of e-cigarettes, falsely claiming that the products were just as

Features

harmful as regular cigarettes and that nicotine was the most dangerous chemical in cigarettes. The World Health Organization (WHO) soon followed suit, result in bans in New Zealand, Australia and Jordan.

2008-2009 As these products started to become more popular, the U.S. (FDA) initially sought to regulate them as drug-delivery devices, arguing that they were intended to deliver nicotine, a drug, into the body and were not traditional tobacco products determined to be outside of the Agency’s authority in the Supreme Court decision Food and Drug Administration v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation, 529 U.S. 120 (2000). In March 2009, FDA added e-cigarettes to “Import Alert 66-41” and directed the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to reject the entry of electronic cigarettes into the United States because they were “unapproved drug-delivery devices.” Since drugs can only be marketed after receiving FDA approval, the Agency’s position at that time was that all e-cigarettes that contain nicotine were unapproved drug products that could not be marketed without explicit FDA approval.

What

REQUIREMENTS Will Apply to E-Cigarettes?

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Based on this, FDA and Customs had several e-cigarette shipments from China seized at the border. Those e-cigarette companies (Smoking Everywhere and later NJOY (Sottera)) filed a lawsuit against FDA arguing that their products were actually not unapproved drugs at all, but tobacco products under the new Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Tobacco Control Act), which had just become law. In June 2009, the Tobacco Control Act was signed into law by President Obama. This landmark legislation provided FDA, through the newly established FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), with the authority to regulate the development, manufacturing, marketing, labeling, distribution, and sale of tobacco products deemed subject to the Tobacco Control Act’s authority. The Tobacco Control Act marked the first time that a regulatory agency in the United States was enabled to utilize science-based regulation in overseeing and addressing the use of tobacco by consumers. Importantly, the term “tobacco product” is defined broadly in the new law to include anything made or derived for tobacco intended for human consumption, including the components, parts and accessories of the product.

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Features The Sottera Decision - March 2010 The argument that the court ultimately agreed to in Sottera, Inc. v. Food & Drug Administration, 627 F.3d 891 (D.C. Cir. 2010) is that if an e-cigarette contains nicotine derived from tobacco and is “customarily marketed” for recreational use and not for any intended therapeutic benefit (such as to treat nicotine addiction or for smoking cessation), then such e-cigarette is a tobacco product under the new law and subject to FDA’s tobacco authority.

April 2011 While the Tobacco Control Act defined tobacco products broadly to capture any products made or derived from tobacco, it did not give FDA the immediate ability to regulate all such products. Rather, the law only gave FDA the immediate authority to regulate four specific types of tobacco products, e.g., cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, smokeless tobacco and roll-your-own tobacco. But, the law also gave FDA the ability to use its rulemaking procedures to create a regulation that would “deem” other, currently unregulated tobacco products under its tobacco authority. On April 25, 2011, FDA published a letter to e-cigarette stakeholders on its website stating that it would not appeal the Sottera decision, and that e-cigarettes made with tobacco-derived nicotine would be deemed to be under FDA’s tobacco authority by the “Deeming Regulation.”

The Deeming Regulation – April 2014 Exactly three years later on April 25, 2014, FDA finally published the Notice of

Proposed Rulemaking for the Deeming Regulation, followed by a 105-day public comment period. During the comment period, over 135,000 comments were submitted by consumers, advocates, industry and academics. FDA is legally obligated to review each comment and provide analysis in the final rule. Once FDA finalizes the rule (hopefully taking into consideration many of the helpful comments) it must submit that final rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the White House, who will consider potential economic impact of the rule, as well as whether the public health concerns merit the level of regulation imposed by FDA.

October 2015 On October 19, 2015 we learned that FDA sent its final version of the Deeming Regulation to OMB. From November 2015 through January 2016, OMB has been meeting with industry stakeholders and members of the public health community to hear their concerns about the pending regulation. OMB typically takes at least 3 to 6 months to review new regulations. Some expected the new regulations could be published as early as the first quarter of 2016, but more likely later this year.

May 2016 The FDA officially released its Deeming Regulation for the vapor industry.

What Requirements Will Apply to Vapor Products? The newly covered tobacco products

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subject vapor products to the same regulatory requirements that already applied to regulated tobacco products: a one-size-fits-all approach (with the possible exception that “premium cigars” may be exempted, but that is another story). These requirements include: • Manufacturing facility registration under Section 905(b) • Product and ingredient listing under Section 904 • Harmful and Potentially Harmful Constituents (HPHC) Testing and Reporting under Section 904(a)(3) • Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) under Section 906 • Premarket authorization under Section 910 In addition, all products that contain nicotine will be required to include the following warning on their labels, “WARNING: This product contains nicotine derived from tobacco. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.” Sales to minors (under 18) are banned, as well as distribution of free samples (which could greatly impact how vape shops do business) and vending machine sales except in adultonly facilities. With litigation already pending from NicoPure and trade organizations joining forces, it is possible that the regulations could see at least some changes moving forward. Azim Chowdhury is a partner with the law firm Keller and Heckman LLP, which specializes in regulatory law.

Features

Ballot Initiatives Present New Threat to Vapor Products in the States By Paul Blair

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Features For the last three years, state lawmakers have been on the receiving end of nearly all of the lobbying efforts aimed at raising taxes on electronic cigarettes and vapor products. The efforts have largely failed and as a result, proponents of tax hikes have shifted their attention to the ballot box. In least two states this November, voters may be asked to decide whether vapor products should be taxed like tobacco. This represents a new and significant threat to the industry and its consumers. It should first be noted that the quest by proponents of big government and the Nanny State to subject vapor products to statewide excise taxes has failed in every state where it has been tried, with one exception. When Minnesota changed its tax code to lump the products into the category of taxable “other tobacco products,” the industry was smaller with far fewer consumers and far less engagement by organizations like industry trade associations and consumer groups. Raising taxes on products that few consumers use isn’t as hard as doing so on products that millions use. That is the simple and short story of the Minnesota vapor tax. The remaining three states that currently tax vapor products with a higher-than-sales tax are Louisiana, Kansas, and North Carolina. (Kansas recently passed a tax, but enforcement does not begin until 2017.) Understanding that the only reason excise taxes exist in these states is as a direct result of negotiation and advocacy efforts by companies who actually sell tobacco (and vapor) products is important. Regardless of its merit, the taxes in these states only exist because of tobacco and vapor company lobbying. It underscores the abject failure of the so called public health community and demonizing these products in the effort to raise taxes on them. Which brings us to their new tactic, circumventing state legislatures and putting the question before voters. Ballot initiatives are currently pending in California and North Dakota. If sufficient signatures are collected before each state’s deadline, voters will for the first time be faced with a question hundreds of legislators have faced in recent years – should tobacco-free technology products, vapor products, be taxed like tobacco? For public health and policy reasons, the answer is absolutely not. But the public affairs campaign necessary to convince voters otherwise may be more difficult and expensive than that. The anti-smoking and public health community knows that their targeted misinformation campaigns have taken a toll on the public perception of vapor products. In California, taxpayers have even been footing the bill for the “Still Blowing Smoke” campaign, aimed at convincing people that vapor products are just as, if not more, dangerous than combustible cigarettes. Smokers and nonsmokers alike are confused as hell about what exactly is in vapor products and whether they’re less harmful than cigarettes. The fact that taxpayers, VAPEMZ.COM

Features through public university research grants and government public affairs campaigns, are paying to spread the myth of the oh-so-dangerous electronic cigarette, should offend the sensibilities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike. We know that vapor products are less harmful than combustible tobacco. But even if you disregard the 2015 Public Health England (PHE) study, which concluded the products are at least 95 percent less harmful than traditional cigs, take it from Mitch Zeller, director of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products. Zeller remarked, nearly two years ago, “If we could get all of those people [who smoke] to completely switch all of their cigarettes to noncombustible cigarettes, it would be good for public health.”

Port is absolutely right. Ending cigarette use, which could never be accomplished through stiff taxes and onerous regulations, may be accomplished with an innovative technology product. The fact that the free market and not the government has potentially solved one of the greatest public health problems of all time (smoking) may present a significant conundrum for those who rely solely on government to pursue their policy goals. But, will voters see through the smoke? Only time will tell. Paul Blair is state affairs manager at Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), a nonpartisan taxpayer advocacy organization founded in 1985 at the request of President Ronald Reagan. He can be reached at pblair@atr.org on Twitter @gopaulblair.

Public health pawns, motivated by more than science have persisted in their campaigns, despite this reality. If California’s ballot initiative passes, the state will have to devise an excise tax rate, which taxes vapor products at the same rate as cigarettes, a rate that will rise by $2 to $2.87 per pack. Americans for Tax Reform estimates that this could result in an excise tax of nearly 70% at the wholesale level. Anyone based in Arizona, Texas, or nearly anywhere else in the U.S. would be able to sell their products for 70% less to consumers, distributors, and retailers. For any company that produces e-liquid in California, this would mean lights out and good night. The effort to raise taxes on tobacco and vapor products in California is being pushed by an activist billionaire by the name of Tom Steyer, generally content with steering his unlimited resources towards energy policy activism. It’s a sad state of affairs when a billionaire bully uses his personal wealth to target those who are far less fortunate than himself with higher taxes, especially on potentially life-saving products like vapor products. The next state where a request has been submitted to put before voters a vapor tax is North Dakota. That initiative seeks to lump the products into the category of tobacco products like snus, and smokeless tobacco. The rate would rise to 58% at the wholesale level, constituting a 400% increase in taxes on vapor products. Similar to California, this effort recently failed in the state legislature. Rob Port, the founder of sayanythingblog.com, a North Dakota political blog, hit it out of the park in his commentary on the effort: “What worries me is that these anti-tobacco zealots, in their campaign to inhibit tobacco use (or even just things that look similar to tobacco use), actually are going to hold back progress toward healthier habits.”

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Interview With a

Phantom Mod maker follows artisan family tradition By Pedroh H.

High-end mods. Everyone wants them. Most will never own one. Our industry has transformed the high-end mod market to the point where most can only be obtained by knowing the secret handshake or belonging to the right private group of some social media outlet. Erik Colvin, the man behind the renowned Phantom’s Revenge, is handling things quite differently.

Looking back through Colvin’s familial roots of artisans and wood workers, there is no question why he chose to follow this path. His family built Italian wooden race boats in the 1960s – so it was a natural transition for him. Throughout his life, Colvin has mastered many trades from comic book artist to hot rod restoration specialist, he’s even fashioned an entire Boba Fett costume out of plaster of paris and casting materials.

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Colvin’s passion for his trade is unmistakable and immediately apparent. His eyes lit up with excitement when he began to explain his process. He crafts each stabilized wood blank, has custom C-Frames made to his specifications, and personally wires and solders each Phantom. He has a careful attention to detail and hand wraps the finished mod in parchment paper to be sent to his clients. Colvin was working as a foreman for a construction company when he first began to explore modding. The Phantom V1, his first dive into the modding world, took off quickly after AL “ModMen” reposted him and shortly after @vapeporn reposted AL. Colvin mentioned “it had to been the craziest half hour of my life.” After some time and tweaks he released the Phantom 209, followed most recently by The Spectre. With any mod, what’s under the hood is always as important as what’s on top. Colvin uses the Evolv DNA 200 chip inside his Phantoms 209 mods and the YiHi SX350 J v2 in the Spectre models.

Colvin wanted to do something different. He had noticed that a lot of the high end mods at the time had DNA 40s and that just wasn’t enough for him so he heard about the DNA 200s and got his hands on them. I would say it was a wise choice. Naturally wanting to add variety to his mods he started to use the SX 350j v2 for his Spectres. Both are the DNA 200 and the SX 350j chip set are the best chips on the market and he wouldn’t want anything less for his mods. Colvin also said he prides himself on his customer service – always striving to find solutions to problems that arise in a timely manner. Holding a Phantom’s Revenge mod in my hand I could understand how important his work is and the dedication he has to make each and every design unique. In the beginning, his goal was to create an attainable mod that he would appreciate, own and people would not have to jump through hoops to find. The Phantom mods are one of few high-end mods on the market sporting the power of the DNA200.

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Features Phantoms Revenge is based out of Simi Valley, California, just up the street from where Colvin lived as a child. It’s been an interesting journey for him to come so far from his V1 to the Spectre. When discussing his process and trying to understand how he makes all of those beautiful sleeves that set his mods apart from everyone else, he laughed and said, “It took me about two months to figure out the perfect recipes for stabilizing the sleeves.” With stabilized wood, each mod is unique and has its own style. Colvin always makes it a priority to take consumer suggestions into account with his own techniques. Colvin said his wife, Tara Colvin, has supported him every step of the way. At first it was difficult to balance his fulltime job with his work as a modder. Finding a way to make a living with something you love is no easy task, but having her behind him along the way was a difference maker. He said his inspiration to make the first Phantom mod came

when he began seeing $500 and higher mods, but he never felt they were worth the price. Maybe it was the button configuration, screen placement, the chip set or a variety of other things. Regardless, he just wasn’t seeing anything he felt was truly worth its price tag. So Colvin began with a design and stuck to it, making a few changes here and there. The goal was to make something that anyone at any level of vaping, from the beginners to the most skilled and well versed, could enjoy. And he found it in the Phantom. For more information on The Phantom’s Revenge mods check them out on Facebook at https://www.facebook. com/Tprevenge/, or on IG @thephantomsrevenge. Pedro H. has been involved in the industry for the past 4 years. He now works for Flawless Vape Distro. Follow him on IG @theohmbre.

Photography: Nora De Armas, IG @dnoralens

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Features

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Features

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Features

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Natural chocolate doughnut holes washed down with a glass of chocolate milk.

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Features

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Features

The evolution of the vape world came from very humble beginnings. By the time I encountered my first electronic cigarette in 2009, years of change had already transpired since the modern version of the device’s inception around 2003 in China. The technology started with a battery operated device, which used ultrasound via piezoelectric atomization, to produce the first puffs of nicotine laced vapor. Inspired by a dream of himself drowning in water which then turned into vapor, Hon Lik invented a modern marvel. Now, neither Hon Lik’s invention, nor the much earlier invention by Herbert A. Gilbert in the 1960’s, were heated, flavored, or really resemble our current atomizers, but they both had the same goal — to create a safer, more pleasurable alternative to smoking.

Dark Encounter

Early devices, like the Ruyan E-Gar, were bulky and produced weak vapor at best. It looked nothing like a cigarette, which kept the the device’s initial popularity low. By 2009, thanks to simplification of the atomizer elements, devices came down in size. By using a switchable battery and a micro coil heating element instead of more complex electronics, devices dropped in size, coming close to actual cigarette dimensions finally. This made them recognizable, comfortable and relatively normal feeling. Their popularity surged. My first encounter with an e-cig happened one evening in the back of a car on a ride to an out of town concert. A pale blue light surged in the dark back seat next to me and I watched in wonder as a near stranger blew out what appeared to be smoke from what was obviously not a lit cigarette. Like most folks on their first encounter, I was intrigued. He showed me the two different devices he had with him at the time, what he called a two piece and a three piece device,

vaguely explaining the differences between them. Both had batteries, both had heating elements. One had the heating element hidden inside the mouthpiece surrounded by liquid soaked material, and the other had a separate cartridge that came out of the atomizer to be refilled. The second one he showed how to remove the cartridge and drip a few drops of liquid into a ‘tail pipe’ to get a better puff. Later, I learned that the first was a cartomizer, most likely an 808, and the second was the 510, which was already becoming the dominant style.

Just Not Enough Power

After 40 plus hours of research and internet sleuthing over the next few days, I had sorted through what seemed like boundless options and decided on the Joyetech 510, as it appeared to have the best performance available at the time. There was a major limitation to the more compact nature though, namely battery life. The first day I received my authentic 510 in the mail I laid down my cigarettes for the next 6 months. I had smoked every day since I was 16, never once trying to quit, and yet I was able to completely put them down thanks to a tiny heater with some flavored nicotine. I was damned impressed. However, upon opening that first vape mail, I sat on my couch for the next 30 minutes, puffing as I “oohed and ahhed,” and suddenly the battery was dead. I was alarmed. Luckily the device came with two batteries. I knew they took over an hour to charge, yet it had only taken me 30 minutes to kill it the first time. I dug back in researching and trying new devices. Finally, I started to understand what was going on in the device. A few adventurers online had started working on their own homegrown solutions and I knew I decided to try my hand at it. Mods they were called.

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Features Mod, a Term Coined

Mod is a term with a very well-grounded reason for being. The devices were, in themselves, modifications; it’s as simple as that. They were not bought whole, but rather created by the hands of the user. My earliest version was a simple modification of a battery box purchased at RadioShack, containing three rechargeable AA batteries in series which produced a much longer lasting and easily exchanged power source. I soon found other Modders using lithium batteries, which didn’t need to be wired in series and tended to power the atomizers much better — though not longer. The little black battery box mod gained a following and one good tutorial gave them a name — NicoStick. It was a single 14500 lithium version, and later the Puckecig.com tutorial came online showing how to build the rechargeable AA version, as well. One of the first suppliers I found online, for ecig building parts, Mad Vapes, sent me a free little flashlight in the package, which was powered by a single AAA battery. And just as the website owner had likely wanted, without saying a word, I modified that little plastic pocket light, put a 10440 battery in it and vaped away.

The Screwdriver and the ENDS

It wasn’t long before there was a demand for higher capacity devices. And where there is demand, there will be supply. Outside of a few random folks making the black box style Mods and selling them unofficially through online forums, there really was no device out there to fill the need. Until Trog came along that is. As I heard the story told, Trog had found a cheap Chinese screwdriver which when disassembled, had the perfect space in it for a battery, switch and connector, and the Trog Screwdriver was born. He was able to produce a large enough number of these simple but wildly popular devices to begin a permanent change to the world of vaping. Suddenly you could own a Mod without doing it yourself, or really having any contact with the builder. It was now a retail device. It was still considered a true Mod since it was reconfigured from components which were intended for other uses, but it was perhaps the first to begin crossing that line. Soon enough though, a near identical looking device called the 905 was released which capitalized on the form factor of the screwdriver but was built specifically, ground up, for use as a vape device. At that point, the floodgates opened and endless versions were created. There were early debates on what qualified as a “mod.” Could you buy a mod ready to go? Did it count if you modified the look only? Discussion threads began separating between aesthetic mods vs real mods vs… well what do we call them? PV or Personal Vaporizer as a term just never caught hold. APV, advanced personal vaporizer, had a run as a term, used for devices that had more complexity such as voltage control, but it just didn’t sound cool. The scientific world tried to call the general devices ENDS (Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems), but the public responded by joking that they were really just a PENIS (Personal Electronic Nicotine Inhalation System) so nothing stuck — except Mod. Now, every vaper, young and old, uses the term or at least recognizes it. Lost in meaning and ill-defined the Mod lives on and is used by millions, even if only few actually know where the term originated.

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lak

columns

Something Crazy Builders corner

By SAM McCLELLAND

If you are an advanced builder or have more than a few months of vaping with the use of an RDA, you’ve more than likely heard, “man, I want something crazy to vape!” “I want a crazy build!” If you have built at or have been around a builder at a convention you’ve heard this for sure. However, a build that performs well as far as production and self-wicking is

plenty crazy on its own. No, they won’t look like a 6 loop slentre. No, they won’t be that build everyone see’s and loses their mind over, but if you have only ever used a set of six wrap macro coils then fused claptons are plenty crazy. Going from a single bare wire with zero self-wicking capabilities to a coil that allows for self-wicking, lower ramp

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COLUMNS time, etc. is CRAZY. When that fused coil begins to go to work heating up and producing vapor, the juice that has been trapped down in between those higher gauge wires is keeping that vapor just a bit cooler allowing for “better,” or a more pronounced, flavor. This is above and beyond anything that a subtank or t3s style tank could ever hope to provide. They come close but there is just no comparison to the vape of well-made coils in an RDA. What is a fused clapton? Well, it is a coil comprised of two low gauge core wires then a higher gauge wire is wrapped on those low gauge wires fusing them together. This lowers the ohms while raising both wattage and voltage. It also increases the amount of amperage load on the batteries. CRAZY!

A clapton coil, fused clapton, or even a tri-core alien is indeed crazy when you compare the vape experience to that of a t3s tank, a sub tank mini, a super tank, or a standard macro coil. So, if you are one of those who feel your build needs to be a lava monkey double back 5 loop slentre braided alien stovetop in order to fit the criteria of “something crazy” fear not, because you more than likely have not yet experienced the vape of a set of fused claptons or the elusive aliens. Which means you more than likely don’t have the time, patience, or means to build for yourself. However, there are plenty of good people/builders out there who are willing to build you something that will perform well while improving your vape experience.

We just went from 1 ohm to subohming in one paragraph! Personally, I did not just stumble on to this innovative concept that ultimately opened up the creative and innovative process for further coil concepts. It was because of folks like Squidoode (on Instagram) and YouTube channels like the Art of Vaping (on YouTube.) These people sat down and explained the process of building and installing these types of coils for free! CRAZY!

The entire point of vaping as an alternative to smoking is just that, an alternative to something extremely poisonous and highly addictive. Building coils is great way to keep those idle hands busy and keep one’s mind off the rituals and habits that are formed after smoking for years and years. This also allows for a possible growth in further understating what is happening when vaping as far as the mechanics are concerned. But feeling the need for something that is built out of experimentation and or has turned into a hobby is missing the point all together. Seek out a way to improve your experience with vaping as a safer alternative to vaping not as a way to impress your friends. Sam McClelland is an owner and builder for Clean Builds LLC. Follow him and his crazy builds on IG @builds_and_ junk and at cleanbuilds.net

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Featuring

Dress: Want My Look Mod: American Made Beauty Rig Mod V2 Atomizer: Rough Neck V2

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Dress: Want My Look Mod: Red Rig Mod V2 Atomizer: Copper Rough Neck V2

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Dress: Top Shop Jacket: Lucy Paris Mod: Cotton Candy Skull Camo Rig Mod V2 Atomizer: Rough Neck V2

Dress: Top Shop Mod: American Made Beauty Rig Mod V2 Atomizer: Rough Neck V2

Dress: In Style Mod: Python Rig Mod V2 Atomizer: Rough Neck V2

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

JON LAVERDE @Jon_Laverde MODEL

ADRIANA HERMOSILLO @serenadriana PHOTOGRAPHY

EZRA ZUNIGA & JEN ZUNIGA @135fotografiks www.135fotografiks.com WARDROBE STYLIST

ALAN MONTES A&D Styling @Amontes4659 ASSISTANT STYLIST

DIEGO QUINTERO @dieggomua WARDROBE PROVIDED BY

Fashion Forwards In Style Lucy Paris Top Shop Want My Look MAKEUP ARTIST

HENRY RASU @henrys_portfolio HAIRSTYLIST

CARINA TAFULU @hairbycarina ASSISTANT

VICTORIA MALLONEE VIDEOGRAPHER

BRYAN GATEB @bgateb MODS PROVIDED BY

VAPING AMERICAN MADE PRODUCTS @therigmod www.vapeamp.com ELIQUID PROVIDED BY

Fur: Fashion Forwards Mod: Python Rig Mod V2 Atomizer: Rough Neck V2

BAMSKILICIOUS @bamskilicious SPECIAL THANKS TO

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Cheri Chagollan Wonderland Studios OC @ocwonderlandstudios

wholesale@pinupvapors.com

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JUN by Jan Halili (@janhalili) and Bryan Gateb (@bgateb) of CaliVapers (@calivapers) Additional photos by Roy Mananquil (@vapingroybot)

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Delta

Kitchen

by Carlos Creation

by Marcin Kitchen

by Andrey Sava

Country of origin: Malaysia

Country of origin: Poland

Country of origin: Russia

Battery: 18650 Chip: DNA40

Battery: 18650 Chip: SX350

CAX1 by Sector One Vapors x Carlos Creation

Derringer by Praxis Vapors

2 1 3

Stratum

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Goodfella

by Made Man Mods Country of origin: U.S.A. Battery: Dual 18650

Cerberus D

by Modders Guild Country of origin: Philippines Battery: Triple 18650 Chip: SX350J

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#ThrowbackMod

Darwin by Evolv Country of origin: U.S.A. Battery: Internal 1600 mAh Chip: DNA12

Kamikaze Tank

Bushido

by Samurai Modz Country of origin: U.S.A. Battery: 18650

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ROOTBEER + VANILLA ICE CREAM =

DEPARTMENTS

THE

JUICE JUDGE

Words and photos by Steffanie Atkins

The Vapor House “Fring’s Blue” 3mg

Blind Lion Underground “Lantern’s Keep” 6mg

VAPE - 2 THROAT HIT - 4 TASTE - 3

VAPE - 2 THROAT HIT - 2 TASTE - 3

So I’m not a huge candy fan, but that doesn’t mean that I hate all candy flavors. Fring’s Blue is a blue raspberry flavor. It tastes like a blow pop, and in that respect it’s pretty decent. However, it’s a very plain flavor. It’s very average and there isn’t much complexity to it. Maybe adding like a cotton candy or a creamier finish or something may give it that extra umph that it needs. It’s not a bad flavor by any means, just very plain. The vapor production was a little less than average which was surprising with an 80/20 blend. However, the throat hit was pretty good and gave it that mouth to lung hit that I enjoy.

The Juice Judge Judges are picked from respected members of the vaping community to give unbiased reviews of e-juice. The VAPE Verdict is reached by an initial blind taste test, and the review is written afterward. Want to have your juice judged? Email jj@vapemz.com. Reviews do not reflect the overall opinion of VAPE Magazine Steffanie Atkins is the self-proclaimed most pickiest vaper she knows. She has to be head over heels in love with a juice before she vapes it regularly. A baker and a foodie, Atkins is particular when it comes to taste and flavor. She loves long walks on the beach, candlelit dinners, tattoos, art and rocking her face off at concerts. She is forever on the search for the perfect Oreo flavor.

Who has a strawberry and banana flavor? EVERYBODY! So does Blind Lion Underground and it’s called Lantern’s Keep. I get it, lots of folks love that blend. At some point I did too, but it’s so overplayed. Everyone has it and it’s time for some originality. It’s a good overall flavor, with kind of a weird aftertaste, but it’s not bad. Just wish it was original, like adding a little something extra or something to make it different than the rest. In addition, the strawberry and bananaas are candy-like flavors and not true fruit flavors. There’s minimal vapor production and really no throat hit. Kind of like air.

Vapage Private Reserve “Drifter” 6mg

Conspiracy Liquids “Bohemian Grove” 3mg

VAPE - 3.5 THROAT HIT - 3 TASTE - 3

VAPE - 2 THROAT HIT - 4 TASTE - 2

When I first began vaping, all I wanted to do was find a blend that tasted like my cigarettes used to. Now that I’ve been vaping for a bit, that’s the farthest thing that I want to try. Alas, there is a market still for a traditional tobacco flavor. Vapage’s Private Reserve line is all tobacco flavors, from menthol to more hearty straight tobacco flavors. Drifter is a blend of tobacco and vanilla with a hint of caramel. It’s an overall OK flavor, but it’s harsh. Maybe because it’s been awhile since I’ve had a cigarette or anything tobacco flavored, but it just felt like a lot of tobacco and not a lot of the ‘blend’. It’s smooth, so that’s pleasant. The vapor production was slightly above average while the throat hit was decent, but at times a bit harsh and I’m not sure if that was because it was a strong tobacco or it was just harsh. Not a terrible flavor overall, but very reminiscent of smoking. I feel like this line would be perfect for folks starting out on vaping that are looking for true tobacco flavors.

Liberty Vapor / Forefathers “Washington” 3mg VAPE - 4 THROAT HIT - 2 TASTE - 3

So I’m a lady, and one thing ladies like are shiny objects. These bottles from Forefathers are pretty sweet. They sparkle and I think that’s pretty rad. Bottling is important in this industry. While not trying to attract younger folks with cheesy cartoons and whatnot, juices need a way to stand out, and these bottles definitely stand out. But that’s about all that stands out with “Washington.” The flavor is a creamy strawberry, but not anything I haven’t tried before. There’s no wow factor there for me. It’s not a bad flavor by any means, but very generic. I look for e-liquids to have that something different, something bold, something complex to the flavor. And this just isn’t it. But I suppose if you like a super sparkly shiny bottle that will garner attention, this could be it. The vapor production was on point. I filled my living room with clouds pretty easily, but the throat hit was pretty weak. #VAPEMAGAZINE

I don’t really have much to say about Bohemian Grove. Maybe it’s a personal thing, maybe it’s not, but I’m just not a fan. It’s a blueberry and peach flavor with a hint of faint cinnamon. Sounds like it could be pretty amazing, but it’s just not. It tastes very artificial and not put together well. There’s something about it that just didn’t do it for me. There was minimal vapor production. There was a strong, solid throat hit, but that didn’t make up for the lack of flavor or enjoyment.

The Vaper’s Knoll “Magic Mangorita” 0mg VAPE - 2 THROAT HIT - 1 TASTE - 2

This flavor, Magic Mangorita, is two-fold. On the inhale, I taste a genuine fruity mango flavor and it’s good. But on the exhale, I’m not sure what I taste, but it’s not very good. It’s almost too sweet. I’m not sure if they tried too hard to give it an added flavoring, but there’s just something that is off. I enjoyed the initial taste. I’m not sure what’s up with the tail end of the flavor and it made me sad. There’s minimal vapor production and even less of a throat hit. I wish they had just left off whatever that extra flavor is. It definitely would have gotten a higher score…

www.vapeluxuria.com

DEPARTMENTS

Southern Steam Vapes

Opened in 2015 on Black Friday

The thought of opening a vape shop came to me when I was with my mother at a mall in Coco beach Florida. I was visiting for the weekend and wanted to go check out the vapor store in the mall that was close to her house. I remember how inviting the employees were to me. They were just filled with knowledge about the industry as a whole. There I was in the mall testing juice flavors and blowing clouds. I was hooked. As we left the mall I turned to my mother and told her that I wanted to open up a vape shop. I loved the experience I had with people who really care unconditionally about your health. The energy absorbed me and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s when I started Southern Steam Vapes. We opened a small shop hidden back from the road but next to a busy Pharmacy. My mother loaned me $7,000 to use on the 500-square-foot building and we were on our way.

I opened after 3 months of researching the industry with only 3 top premium juice lines, some tanks and a few different variable wattage pens. The tiny store looked humongous with the amount of product I started had. Our mission was to only carry will only carry the best tasting top premium juice lines and know what set ups will really work for each person as they are trying to kick the habit. We do not now, nor will we ever carry any starter pens knowing that they do nothing to help a 40 year smoker to quit for good. The delivery of vapor is so important. It was hard enough for them to come through our door. We make it easier and welcoming and put them first before anyone in the store. We make sure that they are well educated with facts about our industry to how each setup works and exactly what it is they are vaping.

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DEPARTMENTS We never left the path paved from day one and that’s why the shop became a success. Word of mouth has been everything for us. So much word that we have moved into a much larger location not far from our first store. It is a 2,000-square-foot location that we completely renovation. It is a gorgeous shop/lounge. A little over a year ago, we had to uproot our family to come to Georgia to live with the kids grandmother struggling from hard times. Now we own a business and have the best job on the planet. We are going to be running a clothing drive for Magnolia House Thrift Shop in the spring. It’s a wonderful service that helps women and children of domestic violence with shelter and therapy and helps pave the way to a fresh start.

We never left the path paved from day one and that’s why the shop became a success.

Lisa Kimball shop owner

SOUTHERN STEAM VAPES 3437 Hwy 84, Blackshear, GA 31516 912.590.7274 VAPEMZ.COM

Event Coverage

to b a c c o p l u s e x p o b r i n g s i n

e c l e c t i c c row d By Norm Bour

Like the fictional Mos Eisley Cantina in Star Wars, the March version of Tobacco Plus Expo (TPE) brought in a unique variety of vendors and exhibitors. Tobacco, hookah, vape, CBD, Kratom, and assorted miscellaneous smoking devices were all on display for thousands of attendees. TPE is one of three events that I consider to be a traditional “trade show.” There is a notable lack of ear splitting music,

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less vapor in the air, and usually, a better mannered audience. No educational programs were offered, but the sheer variety of different businesses and introductions to new people make this an annual “must go” for many. According to Edward O’Connor, President of event host TMG, “We had close to 400 exhibitors, which was up, but attendance was down from prior years. Some of that was due to

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Event Coverage

having this event in March, when it is normally held in January or February. This year we ran up against other events as well as Easter holiday and March Madness.” Vapor Beast, one of the largest distributors in the US, was a sponsor and I asked Kyle Kurtz, Director of Operations and Purchasing, about their best-selling liquids. In this hypercompetitive market, the title of “best-selling” juice is a moving target, but Kurtz responded with: “’Cosmic Fog.’ It’s the best-selling brand and Liquid State’s Apple Butter is their number one line. Pretty much all the Cosmic Fog flavors sell well,” he replied. He also shared that Hall of Fame, which is a recent collaboration between Cosmic Fog, KILO and Ruthless, is also strong seller. See April’s article in VAPE for the story behind that unique partnership. We talked about price wars that are creating downward pressure on many vaping products, including liquids. “Prices are soft with newer lines, but holding firm with established ones.” He held out a 60 ML bottle of a relatively new and unknown brand which retails for $25.

One Hit Wonder is another of their best sellers and currently the liquid leader. We caught up with them as well.

Getting to Number One — and staying there

Tony Tellez sits atop an enviable throne as his Muffin Man is the number one selling liquid in America according to many reviews. Their battalion of “men” presents a formidable army with Muffin Man in the front, followed by Milk Man, Police Man, Rocket Man and My Man. These men are more than one hit wonders. Though they only started in 2014, they have become formidable and are manufacturing in excess of 100,000 bottles per month. That is impressive by any standard. Like many “masters of vape,” Tellez is modest and humble about their flavors and accomplishments. They are also contract manufacturing for others, but Tellez confided, “It’s not really want we want to do. I do it for special lines and special situations.” This show, along with the three others I attended in the month prior, were heavy with contract manufacturers. The

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Event Coverage vape space is shifting and many existing liquid brands are outsourcing and new brands are starting off right with third party professionals.

Where it all started: Tobacco

The tobacco industry is seasoned and has been with us our entire lives. They have fought battles similar to what vape is fighting currently and have been under pressure for decades. The TPE was founded in tobacco and even though the show has expanded into other product lines, tobacco will always be their main focus. And tobacco products are still a strong seller. Barton Laws from Wind River, one of the exhibitors, held up a one-pound cluster of fire-cured tobacco leaf that could make hundreds of cigarettes. It wholesales for about $10, but would usually be used in snuff or some types of chewing tobacco rather than analog cigarettes. Laws is a twenty-year veteran of tobacco and has been attending TPE for a long time. When asked about the transition of the market and the influx of new products, Laws shared, “It’s not just vapor products that have diluted the market. The huge growth of e-cigarettes and hookah are also significant.”

Variety galore

Trade shows like this offer lots of eye candy and fodder for the imagination. The comments from attendees was that this show seemed less organized than in years past since they previously grouped many “similar” products together. This show was more scattered with no specific organization of the vendors.

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Two observations from Tobacco Plus Expo, 2016. Many vape shows are dominated by liquid manufacturers and offer little hardware. That was not the case here as dozens of hardware manufacturers were represented. Also significant was the Chinese presence, which is always stifled by language and communication barriers. It’s always a good idea to know your competition, whether it involves the shop down the street, online retailers or different market segments. One of the topics of conversation we had with O’Connor was the challenge of trying to be “everything to everyone.” With so many market segments in attendance it becomes difficult to offer education that will appeal to the masses. He did say that they are looking to offer a more organized layout next year and possibly group like industries together in pavilions. O’Connor shared that the 2017 show will be held on January 25-26 in Las Vegas, which is back on schedule as being one of the first of the year. But before then TMG will be hosting Vapor Expo International in Chicago on June 15-16. That event has positioned itself as the top B2B vape expo in the industry. Norm Bour is the founder of VapeMentors, which offers online educational programs, services & resources for anyone in the vape space, including vape shops, online stores and e-liquid brands. He’s also the host of Vape Radio, the largest vaping radio show in the world with more than 1.2 M downloads. Norm interviews the masters of vape and thought leaders in the vape space. Contact him at norm@VapeMentors.com.

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DEPARTMENTS

VAPE Vixen Sketches:

Seasoned Artist And Vape Advocate By Chris Mellides

Photos taken by Neojungle

Sketches created by Yamilalee “Sketches” Tomas

At a very young age it became apparent to those around her that Yamilalee “Sketches” Tomas was destined to be an artist. Growing up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the 34-year-old recalls picturesque buildings towering over her with vibrant street art sprawled across the brick and concrete that served as her inspiration when she was a child. At home and in the company of her family, a young Tomas was fascinated with the Saturday morning cartoons, particularly the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. She would often try to capture the likeness of those goofy and often offbeat characters from her favorite shows and recreate them on sheets of paper. “When I was young I think what inspired me was that I wanted to mimic all of the cartoons that I saw on TV,” Tomas said. “I didn’t always have the opportunity to get them as toys, so I wanted to make them on my own.” That often meant that she had to improvise and fuel her creative spirit with whatever household materials were available to her. “If I was watching My Little Pony or something I would draw, and then if I had some Play-Doh I would create the eyes or the tail or whatever, and that was just my way of creating it for myself at home,” Tomas said. When she was just four years old, Tomas’ mother entered her in a drawing competition organized by the Educational Alliance Head Start program, which she won. Realizing her budding talent, Tomas’s mother actively sought to enroll her daughter in art classes and would submit her illustrations to art competitions. As she got older, Tomas’s teachers noticed her artistic ability and wanted her to use her talent to become more involved in school. VAPEMZ.COM

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“In high school I had wonderful teachers who also noticed that I had a passion for art,” Tomas said. “They would put me to draw school banners, things for events like Black History Month, Valentine’s Day and anything that was going on in the school.

During and after college, Tomas befriended a few well known street artists who would travel the world showcasing their artwork. They proved to be instrumental in lending her a hand with researching how to get her work out to the public, and would often help with artist calls and gallery events, according to Tomas.

“They would always have me participate and make some type of flyer, poster or whatever it was that they needed.”

“I crossed my fingers and sent in my submissions and I got called a lot of times,” Tomas said. “I’ve been included in a gallery out here where I live in Chelsea, and I’ve sent in my submissions for galleries out in Brooklyn where I’ve been showcased. It’s been a good ride.”

Taking her passion to new heights, Tomas enrolled at the School of Visual Arts in New York City where she studied cartooning and illustration before graduating in 2010.

Between five and six years ago, Tomas created a character that appears in several examples of her work called Sketches, whose name she adopted for herself. Tomas says she’s always been shy, and she’s able to break through that shyness with an illustrated character that borrows traits from herself.

She says that studying there enhanced her skills as an artist and gave her a better understanding of the fundamentals of illustrating while helping to further her appreciation for traditional art. “I’ve always been completely on the side of traditional art, so I use pencils and ink pens,” she said. “I do dabble a little with water color and I’ve used acrylic as well, but I’m definitely dedicated to the pencil.”

“It was a way of communicating through my artwork by showing this little character who wants to be seen, wants to make friends, and wants to do things, but is always too shy to,” Tomas said. “She always looks like the shy, odd one, but she just always wants to be involved somehow, so that was a way I used different pieces of myself in my artwork. I kind of live through her.” In addition to working as an illustrator, Tomas is also an employee at Urban Vape, a premier vape shop located in Bronx, New York.

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Tomas considers herself to be a “passionate vaper” and credits vaping for helping her kick her cigarette smoking habit. Long before she made the switch to vaping, Tomas began smoking when she was 14 years old and continued to smoke on and off well into adulthood. “When I became an adult and was old enough to buy a pack myself I was smoking about a pack every two days,” Tomas said. Four years ago one of her friends passed away and Tomas’s cigarette consumption increased to almost two packs a day. After developing bronchitis several times, and dealing with the ill affects smoking had on her asthma, she knew she had to stop smoking and began using vapor products. A dual user for three years, Tomas had her last cigarette two years ago. It wasn’t long before Tomas began incorporating her love of vaping into her artwork, with illustrations depicting personified vape hardware drawn in a style that incorporates New School tattoo elements. Tomas then began uploading her illustrations to Instagram, and the flood of support from her followers was overwhelming. “It was completely surreal, and I would have never thought at all that it would take off the way it did; it’s an amazing feeling,” Tomas said. “It just feels great that I can actually do something I love so much, and that people find it amazing and actually want to own pieces by me.”

“It’s the most amazing feeling and it’s just so hard to describe.” With a growing number of followers on social media, Tomas has been receiving private messages, phone calls and e-mails requesting commissioned artwork daily, and says that she receives anywhere from 2030 requests per week. A common theme with the vape characters in her art is showing that they have a purpose and that raising awareness is ultimately what she hopes to provide for the community in the characters she creates. “I kind of wanted the vapes to look like they were out for a mission,” Tomas said. “There are only so many things you can do in this community to help people understand that vaping is something that works, that it is lifesaving.” She added, “I wanted to create something to ease the path towards making people understand that vaping does save lives; it’s had a good response so far and I’m happy with it.” As for what the future has in store for the vape industry, Tomas remains wholly optimistic and views the vapers as being part of a larger family that she believes will continue to grow as the industry continues to evolve. “I want people to understand what [vaping] really is and I want them to understand that it’s not about the money, and it’s not about who has the better sponsorship or who has the cooler device,” Tomas said. “We’re all here to love each other, to save lives and to tell cancer, ‘You are not welcome here.’ ” Find Sketches Online Website: http://sketches.portfoliobox.me Instagram: @Sketches81

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Event Coverage

Motown Welcomes VPX to the

Motor City By Norm Bour

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Event Coverage Detroit during the first week of March would normally not be a “go to” destination in winter, yet the crowds did throng into the Cobo Auditorium in downtown Detroit to attend the first VPX vaping event in that city. Along with this event they hosted the first “ECC Vaping Academy,” educational program, which was sponsored by Electronic Cigarette Convention (ECC) and VPX. ECC is a giant and leader in the vaping event space and the founders of the still largest vape event, ECC Southern California, which will be held this year in November in Pomona, CA. Founder Steve Mack and his board launched the first ECC in 2013 and it has continued to grow from there and has expanded to other cities.

“We use the ECC brand only in Southern California, but we have launched a series of events in smaller regions using the VPX brand. We are officially called ‘VPX, by ECC,’” Mack shared. VPX was originally a shortened name for the ‘Vapors Exhibit’, per Mack, with ECC being the parent company.

In 2014 they held their first event outside California, in Niagara Falls, NY. “Why there?,” I asked and Mack responded, “We have a huge demand from the Canadian vape market so we’re trying to accommodate them and still engage our American crowd.” That was one of the motivators behind this recent Detroit show since Detroit is just one bridge away from Canada and just hours from Toronto. As the event space evolves we are seeing more regionally focused events. These are designed to bring in vendors and attendees from localized areas within a 500-mile radius. The VPX shows in New Orleans, Las Vegas, and now Detroit, do that. Mack confirmed that VPX is not designed to be a “mega event like ECC in Southern California” but is a smaller version that offers ECC high standards.

Education is Important to the Industry Like many events today, the promoters attempt to engage the B2B crowd during the first and second days, followed by the consumer crowd. The Detroit show made a serious effort to put “butts in seats” by offering a variety of speakers on a large and well- designed stage. Mack and his crew are serious about education and on opening day they offered a two-hour educational platform known as ECC Vaping Academy. With eight speakers having just 15 minutes to speak, the quickly moving series offered talks on improving cash flow, protecting yourself through insurance, ways to maximize your mailing list, and the

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Event Coverage 2016 Vape Industry Survival Guide, offered by this author. One entire row on the show floor was dominated by one major company and 14 of their offshoot brands.

“We’re looking at the Virginia market, possibly Richmond. One of the biggest restrictions is finding a venue that allows us to vape inside.” The next VPX event will be held in Las Vegas in May, 2016 and after that the ECC crew will be taking a break until the biggie in November.

Independent Vapor Company, from Madison Heights, MI, started in May, 2014 and became an immediate success. They were approached by others to partner up and have now done so with several brands, including their most popular line, Nillionaire, which accounts for up to 30% of their cumulative sales according to Jessica Hill, a mixologist at Independent. All of the flavors were created by co-owners Ryan Wagner and Jerret Kirouac and 11 of the flavors are all made in house. Independent is a great example of an e-liquid company that has dominated a state and region rather than trying to rule the entire nation. This show was not the largest or most attended of the many shows I have been to, but the manageable size allowed lots of time for everyone to talk business and to make the weekend effective.

When asked about other markets that VPX is considering, Mack shared,

Norm Bour is the founder of VapeMentors, which offers online educational programs, services & resources for anyone in the vape space, including vape shops, online stores and e-liquid brands. He’s also the host of Vape Radio, the largest vaping radio show in the world with more than 1.2 M downloads. Norm interviews the masters of vape and thought leaders in the vape space. Contact him at norm@VapeMentors.com.

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Event DEPARTMENTS Coverage

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Event Coverage The SoCal Vape Convention rolled out their second edition in March, 2016, and proved that it is possible to produce a small show, have it be engaging, and provide value to the attendees. Led by Local Vape E-Cig Supplies as the organizer, and sponsored by Ruthless and a host of others, the event was held at the Town & Country Resort and Convention Center in Mission Valley, just outside San Diego, CA. Though events are usually held at a stand-alone convention center this choice is a good one as the Town & Country offers 32 acres of rooms, convention facilities, and restaurants. This event, like many, opened on B2B Friday with many vendors slow to arrive and set up. The floor was open until 8:00 p.m., which is later than most, but the timing worked out. The following two days of B2C was notably more crowded, but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Chantix side effects started a positive ripple Laura McCollum has been with Local Vapes since late 2015, and runs their San Diego operations. Prior to joining Local Vapes she worked for Orbit Vape, and as the marketing director kept asking herself: “How can I put Orbit on the map?” She came up with the idea of an event since San Diego had none of their own, yet hundreds of shops and businesses were everywhere. After developing and submitting a solid business plan, management went all in and the first SoCal Vape Convention took place in spring, 2015. Orbit teamed with “The Switch SD Vape Shop” since The Switch sold mostly authentic hardware and Orbit mainly offered clones. In year one they had 84 vendors with about 5000 attendees, and proudly donated half the net proceeds to SFATA, the Smoke Free Alternatives Trade Association.

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This year they sold about 110 spots and expected more than 5000 attendees. McCollum’s entrée into vaping is a significant lesson since she was a smoker for 30 years and was unsuccessful in her efforts to quit. When she realized that Chantix (a prescription medication used to treat nicotine addiction) was “zoning her out” to the point of risking her children’s health, she discovered vaping. Ironically she was a former nurse. And she also had a small motorcycle track behind her San Diego home. One day McCollum’s mother found her six-year old grandson riding his motorcycle out back without a helmet, and that’s the day that Laura stopped her Chantix dosage. When asked why they chose Town & Country she replied: “We like this place for two reasons. One is because our larger San Diego Convention Center is not vape-friendly and never showed us much love and the other is because we like the on-site rooms and group packages.”

What it takes to be Different Exhibitor Wes Brown with VOAK, which stands for “Vape of a Kind,” calls himself “The Visionary” of the company rather than “founder.” His self-proclaimed title may be appropriate since his shop is one of the few combinations of vape and hookah anywhere. Their San Jose, CA lounge is called “The Abyss” since “you will find yourself in there for a long time,” as Brown told us. Clever and original messaging, for sure. Hookah Lounges, like many businesses, are changing with the times as this shop uses electric hookah heads which adjust from 3.2 to 6.0 volts and offers a 8 ml tank which can vape any liquid available. It acts similar to a hand held unit but with individual tubes which can accommodate one or several persons.

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The VOAK liquid line comes in three flavors and are named after the birth years of Brown, his mother and his wife. This is all part of their “personal story,” which helps create solid relationships with customers. They offer some of the classiest packaging I have ever seen and with Brown and his team decked out in suit jackets, they stood apart from the mostly t-shirt clad crowd. “You don’t need to drive a Bentley to have a classy product,” Brown claims, “and we specifically do not call ourselves ‘premium,’ which is a lightning rod for litigation. We say that we sell ‘the finer things in life.’” They sell a 50ML bottle, an unusual size, along with a 12ML refilling container for $35.

Fighting Warner Bros Film Studio- and winning! Beetle Juice Vapors owner and vendor Abdel Aboabdo got a cease and desist from Warner Bros. studio in 2014 and was asked to stop using their trademarked “Beetlejuice” name for his e-liquid product. The 1988 dark comedy starred Michael Keaton in the title role, along with Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Catherine O’Hara, and Winona Ryder, and was directed by Tim Burton. The movie grossed $73 million and became fodder for a new black and white stripped Halloween costume. “They had Beetlejuice trademarked for clothing, movies and film, but not for e-liquids,” and that was the argument that won his case he told us. When asked if he was “scared shitless” by the suit he replied “of course,” but he is not the only person sued for copy write issues in the vape space. Aboabdo consulted friends and attorneys but responded “pro per,” which means he acted on his own without an attorney. His initial logo design used the distinctive Beetlejuice font, which he was asked to change, and Aboabdo explained that “he cannot create any characters or represent anything related to the movie.” David beats Goliath again. The San Diego show vendor list included a surprisingly high number of hardware manufacturers and wholesalers, which was a pleasant surprise since most show sponsors are liquid companies. Let’s hope that year three offers more of the same. Norm Bour is the founder of VapeMentors, which offers online educational programs, services & resources for anyone in the vape space, including vape shops, online stores and e-liquid brands. He’s also the host of Vape Radio, the largest vaping radio show in the world with more than 1.2 M downloads. Norm interviews the masters of vape and thought leaders in the vape space. Contact him at norm@VapeMentors.com.

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DEPARTMENTS

NATO Conference Ends Its 15 Year Run

By Norm Bour “All things must pass” is a popular cliché as well as a song title, and after 15 years the annual trade conference known as NATO is calling it quits. The National Association of Tobacco Outlets was founded in 2001 and initially included tobacco companies of all shapes and sizes. Over the years they added hookah and most recently, vape. Don Bores, the original founder of NATO said in a 2014 interview on VAPE radio, “They thought I was crazy when I took an e-cigarette out of my shirt pocket, took a puff and put in back in my pocket.” This was in 2008 and as recently as 2015 vape companies represented as much as one third of their vendors. Frank Armstrong is the current NATO president, and has been a board member since 2003. He is the owner of Blue Ridge Tobacco, a chain of eight tobacco stores in North Carolina and Virginia. They have been ahead of their fellow smoke shop competitors and have been carrying cigalikes and vaping supplies for several years. The association has 51,000 members, a powerful force, and consists of tobacco outlets, convenience stores, wholesalers and manufacturers.

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This recent show was significantly smaller than in years’ past with just over one hundred vendors and several hundred attendees. As the speed of communication has increased, many business owners feel less need to learn from live events since they get information much quicker from other sources. There is no question about it: the competition for attendees at tobacco shows is just as challenging as for vape shows. Since 2013 when I started VapeMentors, I have attended dozens of shows and each year the numbers increase, which results in smaller attendance for everyone. When asked why they are ending the 15 year run of live events, Armstrong stated, “When we look towards the future, which could be just a handful or years to many times that, we have to acknowledge that one of our primary missions is to protect our members- and not orchestrate conventions. Threats come from many places including new deeming regulations, but more from state and local issues which have increased over the years.” He confessing that NATO reached a major decision and determined that their time and resources were best spent on those state and local regulatory issues. “That will help us do best for our industry,” he concluded.

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Event DEPARTMENTS Coverage

The Vaping Presence at NATO Of the 105 vendors, just a handful were vaping companies, mostly liquid sellers, as is common. There were a few familiar names, but the biggest was Lost Art, here for their first-and last show. In just two years they have become a significant presence and when we asked cofounder Ryan Thomas why they exhibited he responded: “We decided to attend NATO because it was something different, and a possibly untapped market.” Overall they were pleased with the level of interest though most that visited their booth were not familiar with their company. They also took advantage of one of the most unique sponsorship offerings I have ever seen: a phone charging station with Lost Art logos plastered on every side. Judah Arama was on the floor representing Helium brand e-liquids. The Florida-based company has been in liquids since 2008 and their parent company, VPR Brands, is one of the few publicly traded vape industries. They initially manufactured for others but launched the Helium brand with a new twist. In an effort to keep consistent texture and flavor they decided to offer coolers to their retail sites which keeps their bottles at 20 degrees below room temperature. “The intent is to keep the liquid between 70 and 75 degrees,” said Arama, “and we found this kept the flavors more consistent.” He specifically said that the end purchaser is not required to chill their liquids since that time lapse would be insignificant. This does bring to light an issue for many manufacturers since it can take many months to consume a finished product that was made up to one year earlier.

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The Importance of Education NATO will be missed since they held a unique educational place in the world of conventions. This event covered just 15 hours over two days, but six of those hours were dedicated to educational programs and the balance for exhibitor hours. This year they brought in Bonnie Herzog, Managing Director Beverage, Tobacco & Convenience Store Research, Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, as well as Don Burke, Senior Vice President, Management Science Associates, Inc. (MSA), one of the market leaders in tracking c-stores and product sale. Some data they shared included: • Last year, 2015, was a banner year for the sale of analog cigarettes. WTF?? • Vapors, tanks and mods (VTM), plus e-cigs, are in 27 percent of all convenience stores. • The potential market and upside for vape products is huge, as estimates show that the worldwide tobacco market is a $900 billion business, yet vape is just one percent. But in the US, vape is estimated to impact 52 percent of the tobacco market. Yes, that is why overseas manufacturers are seeking our US dollars. • The top liquid flavor category is fruits with a 96 percent approval rate, followed by deserts at 86 percent. Tobacco and menthol continue to drop in popularity at 36 and 34 percent respectively. • The ages of vape consumers was higher than they expected with ages 31 to 40 being the “sweet spot” followed by Gen Y’s close behind. • Most vapers start because they want to get rid of tobacco addiction and less than 10 percent vape just for fun. The closing speaker was the man everyone loves to hear, but few believe: Mitch Zeller, Director of FDA Center for Tobacco Products. He told the audience that the final deeming regulations “would be released soon,” and assured everyone that they listened to the feedback and concerns from “tens of thousands that offered their thoughts and opinions.” By the time you read this his words of solace may be real or possibly not. NATO will be missed.

Norm Bour is the founder of VapeMentors and creator of the VAPE U online programs. They offer services & resources for anyone in the vape space, including vape shops, online stores and e-liquid brands. He’s also the host of Vape Radio, the largest vaping radio show in the world with more than 1.2 M downloads. Norm interviews the masters of vape and thought leaders in the vape space. Contact him at norm@VapeMentors.com.

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Features Ever tried or heard of Papa Murph’s Premium E-Liquid? Held in unicorn style bottles, Papa Murph’s has certainly become a favorite for many vapers residing in the state in which it has derived, Colorado. Brendan Murphy previously worked construction, and if it were not for vaping, he would still be working those long hours of exhausting work, a job that certainly takes its toll on anyone’s physical condition. However, all because of the technological breakthrough of nicotine delivery by vaping e-liquid, Murphy now has a successful premium e-liquid brand. The line gave his career a true purpose, something that provides for his wife and three children, something he can call his own. Of course, like most vapers, Murphy is a former smoker who found vaping as his answer to quitting smoking. After a while, he was so fascinated with the effectiveness of vaping, he quickly transformed himself into an advanced vaper, learning more and more about the hobbyist side of the vaping culture. He quickly became curious about how e-liquid was manufactured and processed. So, Murphy watched a DIY video and began experimenting.

Premium E-Liquid:

‘Murphy said the shop, VapeWize, established in the Denver area with two locations, is basically responsible for ultimately assisting in what changed everything for him. A lot of other vape shops would initially sample his e-liquid and for whatever reason, eventually just pass on it. Yet, for Murphy, VapeWize was the main shop who was seriously the first to tell him their honest opinion about the juice he was making. They told him he might have something special happening with his product. That’s when Papa Murph’s was born. VapeWize was one of the first shops to carry his juice line. Murphy is extremely grateful for the relationship he has developed with the proprietor’s of VapeWize, Shaune and Sarah Walter.

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Do It Yourself at the Start & Build a Community in the End Photos & words by Tony Ottomanelli II

He also spoke very highly of his distributor, Underdog Vape Distribution. He refers to them as family. Scotty and Ben from Underdog Distribution are not similar to any ordinary distributor, they are more focused on developing close positive relationships with their clientele. According to Murphy, amongst them, “it is essentially family-based. We’re in this together. We are like a family. At least that’s exactly how it feels for me.”. The vapor industry is amazing in every way to Murph. It has truly turned his life around and given him opportunities he may not have been able to gain prior access to otherwise. He is very much impressed by the advocacy movement that

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Features has sprung up ahead of the looming FDA regulations. How does he feel about the future of the industry? “Deep down, I’m very optimistic,” he said. “All these stats people are throwing out there about 99% of the vaping industry potentially being terminated — I just think we’ve come much too far and have dived so deep into building a culture around the industry that for anything that drastic to occur is difficult to imagine becoming a serious reality.” Murphy highlights the message vaping sends and the symbol it stands for by mentioning the highly successful and largely admirable action of establishing beneficial agendas like the Vape-a-Vet Program — Murphy expands on this topic by asking, “When have you ever a tobacco company do anything for veterans?” On the Vape-A-Vet program’s website, it states, “The primary focus of the project is to help Veterans “conquer” tobacco habits by providing a healthier alternative at no cost to them. Both active duty and prior service members are eligible (vapeavet.org).” There is no doubt, this is a program where the character that defines the culture of vaping is full of strength and passion. The vaping community is certainly amazing in that way, we are here to help and that means, help for anyone who needs it. “The business is entirely unpredictable, some days I’ll have zero orders, other days I’ll have over 20 orders to process.” Murphy said. “Not just the business, but the industry as a whole is completely unpredictable.” He continues to clarify, “there is always some new locallydriven legislation opposition to vaping that we have to fight, whether collecting signatures for petitions, writing your state representative or the introduction of some new bill you have to support...it is continuous.” Murphy said that is the reason activism is a necessity for all vapers. “There is no other choice but to fight for your right to vape, we’re not just gonna give up,” he said. “We’ve all come too far, no matter if you own your own business or if you are merely a beginner to vaping. We’ve come too far, they can’t force us to go back to tobacco products after this huge impact vaping has had.” Murphy also believes in giving back to his customers — the ones who ensure that his business can continue feeding his family. He regularly hosts events where he gives away 30-40 bottles of product as a thank you to the community. “I’m in complete awe of how much this vaping phenomenon has had on my life. Vaping turned my life around towards a direction that is more healthy - physically, mentally, emotionally, professionally,” he said. “I own my own business, I can spend more time with my children and my wife, I can provide for them and I can help make a positive difference

in the community and the vast amount of amazing people I’ve had the chance to meet — it has all been so rewarding. “I want to build more than just a random business relationship, I want to get to know all of my customers personally.” Murphy often delivers local juice orders himself, rather than simply sending a package, he prefers to meet his customers face-to-face, greet them and thank them. He said however, that one of the biggest hurdles in the industry is finding new and creative ways to market his products in an industry that has become quite saturated. “It can make things slightly more difficult to build your brand,” he said. The line consists of three flavors. First, there is Granny’s Custard which “is the indulgence of granny’s most delicious graham cracker custard with a creamy finish that will leave you wishing it was endless.” The second flavor is Getaway, which is “packed with tropical fruits and infused in a way that is sure to leave your mind at ease like your perfect Getaway!” The third flavor in the collection is Wake N’ Vape, “a delicious hot cup of cappuccino with nodes of smooth vanilla and a hint of caramel that are bound to wake your taste buds up.” Each flavor comes in 0, 3 or 6mg of nicotine. My personal opinion is that what ultimately makes Papa Murph’s stand out among many other juice-lines is the positive attitude behind the owner and founder. Murphy is by far one of the most generous, honest, down-to-earth, and professional entrepreneurs and well-rounded vaping business innovators whom I’ve met.

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A chat with

The Daily Caller Reporter Guy Bentley By Tony Ottomanelli II

The Daily Caller news organization reporter Guy Bentley has written countless articles on vaping and E-cigarettes. If you’ve ever read an article on vaping that has been shared across social media, you’ve undoubtedly read his work. Bentley believes vaping to be very fascinating, for many reasons

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— first and foremost that it is likely the best option for those who wish to quit smoking. So, rather than choosing to create head-turning headlines, Guy simply covers stories and logically breaks down the facts about vaping because he believes in it. “The only valid research data is truthfully based on the proper statistics,” he said. Thus, studies summarized on inaccurate data are not valid research results.

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Features What he finds interesting about E-cigarettes and vaping is the Public Health factor involved. He noted how people have not had success using all of the smoking cessation alternatives. For instance, nicotine gum, the nicotine patch or even the pharmaceutical solution known as Chantix have all been highly suspect in their efficiency.

In essence, he is fascinated by the phenomenon of the vaping industry. He said that e-cigarettes and vaping devices “are voluntarily being used by individuals trying to quit smoking, they’re not a burden on anybody and they’re not causing an economic drop either.” Bentley is motivated by the fact that there are so many questions surrounding the topic.

“Vaping is something completely born of the market,” Bentley said. He said that he became intrigued by the vaping industry due to the giant “wave of innovation” and how vaping has been “proving to be a very effective solution” for those who are trying to quit smoking.

“What we need to find is why is there so much misleading research on the subject,” he said. “Who is interested in that research? And why is the media being so complacent?” Within his profession, many of his colleagues are under pressure to receive attention by garnishing sexy headlines. Reporting on something far more dramatic is a great temptation for a lot of reporters.

“Vaping is a brilliant private sector mechanism for a public health need,” he said. “I’m interested in it from those aspects.” A life-long interest in technology only served to further his interest in the industry.

“A lot of people within the media will simply glance over a press release without looking at any other bits of information or do any other types of independent research or try to listen to any other types of opinions, ultimately sensationalizing the negative stories about vaping and e-cigarettes,” he said. “When considering stories about research studies, the media members are not looking into how these studies were conducted or whether they are credible, they simple gaze over the bullet points and report them as facts.”

“This is an absolute textbook example of the baptists and bootleggers problem (meaning moralists and merchants)” Referring to the public health community as the Baptists and the pharmaceutical industry as the merchants. “There are those in the public health community that seem to be militantly against nicotine use,” Bentley said. On the moralistic side, the public health sector, the “baptists,” believe they can take the abstinenceonly approach, claiming these nicotine delivery devices are hazardous.

Bentley believes the people suffering the most from the mass amount of misinformation floating around are those who have been smoking for 20, 30 or even 40 years — because they are the ones asking “Why should I switch to vaping?”

Then on the merchant side, the “bootleggers,” we have the pharmaceutical and tobacco industries who see vaping as a threat to their business. Bentley said that he doesn’t consider his work necessarily “PRO-Vaping,” yet he believes ”we need evidence on these products and in a free society, grown human beings should be able to choose what products they consume.”

“It is unquestionable that vaping is safer than regular cigarettes and for the FDA to clamp down on the independent industry is absurd,” Bentley said. “The fact that someone will still have the ability to pick up a pack of regular cigarettes at the gas station, but the vape shop down

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Features

the street will be shut down is entirely counterproductive.” The biggest fear is that smokers who are desperate to quit smoking could have their right to seek out a healthier alternative completely taken away from them.

“There will be an obvious economic impact with thousands of people affected from not being able to bring paychecks home, jobs will be lost, small businesses will be closed down, people who may not be able to work any other type of strict background requirement occupations will have their businesses stripped out from under them,” he said.

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“There are a number of ramifications, but now is not the time for vapers to lose hope or give up. If vapers can mobilize themselves into a coherent constituency, then they can make a huge impact. So, now is the time to mobilize. Contact your legislators, make your voices heard in a reasonable, rational, and positive way. If vapers want to defend their right to vape and protect the industry that is helping them to quit smoking, this is what they need to do.” The public health movement has been very skeptical and outright hostile towards the private sector and the free market. One reason is that vaping remains unregulated by any public health bureaucracy. It is clear that there is a general hostility and skepticism of free enterprise and private sector solutions to address a public health issue. The public health movement, in most aspects of lifestyle regulation, in regards to what you can vape, eat, drink, smoke is essentially an anti-choice movement. The vaping phenomenon could very well be one of the most significant public health advances in human history.

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DEPARTMENTS MOD TECH

CCI Maus tank hits the mark â&#x20AC;&#x201D; hard

By COREY NOLES

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MOD TECH

DEPARTMENTS

As a longtime dripper, I was reluctant for months to make the switch back to a subtank as I wobbled between the countless options. I have them all. Then I found the Maus by Cloud Chasers Inc. (CCI), of Highland, Illinois.

Airflow on the Maus is easily adjustable and in four weeks of use has yet to leak. For me not to make it leak is quite the accomplishment, because my tanks are used and quite heavily abused (I tend to drop things.)

Few sub-ohm tanks on the market have managed to capture the all around experience in a way that would please the average dripper. The Maus changes that.

As far as the tanks overall features, one stands out above all — it’s top-fill system. The stainless steel cap comes on and off with only a simple quarter-turn. It’s a snug fit, but not so snug that it’s difficult to remove.

The 66mm tall tank, available in stainless and black, manages to not only be a cloud beast (as CCI is known for), but also offers what I consider the best flavor available today from a modern tank. It’s coils, available in 0.2 and 0.5 ohms, nearly resemble the SMOK TFV4 in size, but it’s the massive inlets that make the difference. In fact, they are large enough that through four coils, I have yet to drip a single drop of juice in a coil prior to priming. While the 0.5 ohm coil offers a pleasant vape, to truly see the capabilities of the Maus, one must drop in the 0.2. Cloud production and flavor of the 0.2 rival the VCMT, only from a production coil — not an RTA. The 0.5 coil is rated for 30-80 watts, while the 0.2 is rated for 80-130. The second week I had the tank, somehow my device was bumped to 200 watts and I got a full pull from the 0.2 coil. After gathering my senses, I took four pulls (at a less moronic wattage, of course) and it vaped clean again. I used that same coil for six more days.

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The Maus also offers a 510 pin that protrudes significantly. The website advertises it as safe for hybrids. It ran flawlessly on my VCM, but it spends most of its time atop my HexOhm V2 set between 100 and 120 watts. Coil life is about average for my style vaping — meaning I get about a week out of a coil. There was a time when four days was a standard for me, so it’s an improvement in my book. The tank is packaged with a SS chuff and a different cap for 510 tip users. Both offer the same quarter-turn option. Also included is a spare Pyrex glass, one of each coil and an assortment of spare parts. Overall, the Maus is a clearly well-machined subtank that fires on all cylinders. At its $44.95 price point, a vaper can’t go wrong giving this beast a chance. For more information, visit cloudycollabs.com.

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Compiled by Chris Mellides

FRUITS

1 Strawberry Burst from Smiley E-Liquid Experience the bold flavor of fresh sweet red strawberries picked at their peak and put in a bottle for a vaping experience you won’t soon forget. “Strawberry Burst” is available in a 50 VG/50 PG mix. http://flavorstrainer.com/

2 Melon Icey from Top Hat E-Liquids Top Hat’s best seller, Melon Icey, is an amazing mentholated mix of cantaloupe and honeydew. It was created to resemble the famous Filipino dessert drink, “Melon Juice.” With the excellent mixture of the sweetness of both melons, iced with menthol, it’s perfected to be an all-day vape for menthol-loving vapers! http://MKT.com/TopHatEliquids/

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DESSERTS

3 Strawberry Munchies from Munchies E-Juice

“Strawberry Munchies” is a rich and doubly flavorful vape, reminiscent of a deliciously decadent cake-coated frozen strawberry shortcake dessert bar! http://instagram.com/munchies.ejuice/

4 Blueberry Cheesecake from Mazervapes Premium E-juice A delicious creamy cheesecake with fresh blueberries on the exhale. Mazervapes’ “Blueberry Cheesecake” is what you’d expect from an e-juice made with only the highest grade ingredients and organic blueberry flavoring. Whether you love dessert or lean more towards crisp fruit flavors, this blend combines both for a true all-day vape. http://mazervapes.com/

5 Precedent from Paper Street Vape Co.

A luscious lemon gelato with a perfect pairing of crumbled shortbread cookie make up the critical components of this outstanding e-juice. http://paperstreetvapeco.com/

6 Bane from Savage E-Liquid

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One of three flavors from Savage E-Liquid’s new Advocacy Line, “Bane” is a lemon funfetti pound cake with strawberry icing that takes the standard pound cake flavor a few notches above the rest. The funfetti cake flavor is well pronounced, and the strawberry icing offers an incredibly smooth finish to round out the overall flavor. http://savageeliquid.com/

7 Sunday Brunch from Voop Juice A Bavarian cream stuffed French toast with a delicious blueberry sauce make up this 80 VG/20 PG dessert blend. http://juicelot.com/

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DESSERTS

8 Tortoise Blood from Shijin Vapor Titillate your taste buds with an amazingly sweet and tart blue raspberry green apple sherbet! http://shijinvapor.com/

9 Lemon Breezy from Abstrakt An astonishingly accurate Italian lemon meringue pie. This profile boasts a dynamic complexity with every pullâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;utilizing low pressure and temperature extraction to achieve an ultra-crisp lemon and citrus blend perfectly balanced on the palate; while bright meringue, rich filling, and savory crust envelops the rest of your taste buds. http://millennialvape.com/

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10 Ethos Crispy Treats from Ethos Vapors

Warm, sweet and gooey. An enticing blend of delectable, sweet marshmallows baked into an exquisite homemade desert! This 75 VG/25 PG e-liquid is everything you loved about a crispy treat packed into a bottle of pure savory perfection. http://ethosvapors.com/

11 Rico from TURNT This 70 VG/30 PG e-liquid is a bright key lime blend rounded out with the decadence of Bavarian cream. http://turntvapeco.com/

12 Kettle from Popped E-Liquids This 70 VG/30 PG e-liquid gives off a savory flavor akin to an old-fashioned kettle corn thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been lightly coated to perfection with creamy caramel. http://poppedeliquids.com/

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CUSTARDS

13 Albino from SpiderMonkey Juice

Enjoy a special blend of creams and light custards with a spot on “yellow” banana flavor and just a pinch of sweet cinnamon that makes this juice the star of the show. http://spidermonkeyjuice.com/

TOBACCOS

14 Lucky Bastard from Cafe Racer “Lucky Bastard” by Cafe Racer takes everything you love about the company’s signature “Lucky 13” blend, but with double the smooth tobacco finish—creating a bolder, richer RY4 flavor served with a hint of toasted almonds. “Lucky Bastard” compliments any high ball and pairs well with your favorite craft beer, especially hoppy IPAs. Get ready for the best tobacco vape experience of its kind! http://caferacervape.com/

CANDIES

15 Sour Puss from SHE Vapor Pucker up and vape a terrifically tart and oh so sweet e-liquid made with the highest VG ratio possible, without compromising flavor or vapor production. This piquant perfection truly shines with its sweet, slightly sour, juicy, and fruity flavors that will have your mouth watering for more! Just one inhale will take you back in time to those fun, tasty trips to the candy shop! http://shevapor.com/

WILD CARD

16 XXX from Lions Den Elixir The quest for an all-day vape was realized with Lions Den Elixir’s “XXX” e-juice—the company’s first flavor offering and arguably its most popular. “XXX” is a mix of pomegranate, acai and juicy blueberries that round out a mouthwatering vaping experience that’s sure to tingle your taste buds! http://instagram.com/lionsdenelixirs/

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45ml for the price of a

30ml

Liquid Art inc. maryland - usa #410.582.8035 sales@liquidartinc.com

#g2vapor @g2vapor facebook.com/g2vapor www.g2vapor.com

MOD TECH

The by Ultraportable, Not Cig-alike By John Castle

When I first switched from smoking to vaping, I started with a “cig-alike”—a Blu. It was… and unfortunate little thing. Battery life was dismal — it took longer to charge it than it did to deplete it. Additionally, with only 12mg nicotine strength liquid in each cartomizer, and with such a skimpy battery powering a very weak little atomizer inside each cartridge, there was simply no way for the pack a day smoker that I was to derive enough satisfaction to take me away from that pack a day habit. Cigarette-lookalike devices were something I would never have recommended to a smoker who wanted to quit. They didn’t have the power, the battery longevity, or the nicotine satisfaction it would take. My opinion has changed. The device sitting on my desk right now is the device that changed my it. That device is the Juul by Pax Labs. Presentation and Package Contents The Juul arrives in a stylishly minimalist and extremely user -friendly box as pictured above. Opening the box, you’ll find the bare necessities: the battery, a charger in the form of a

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USB dongle (more on that shortly), one Juul Pod cartomizer, and some instructional materials. Overall, the presentation here is very simple and clean. Features and Specs In keeping with the presentation, the user-facing features are absolutely minimal in nature. There are no buttons and only a single LED indicator for the battery charge remaining. The device is operated identically to most cig-alike vaporizers, which is one reason, in combination with its size, that the Juul could even be categorized in that class of devices. In the specs department, information listed on the Juul Vapor FAQ doesn’t disclose the hard numbers. It does say that the Juul battery is LithiumPolymer (with overcharge protection) rather than LithiumIon, and claims a battery charge lasts approximately a day, equivalent to the longevity of a Juul Pod. The Juul Pod cartomizers are advertised to contain 0.7ml of liquid with a nicotine strength of 5% (which would otherwise be listed as 50mg/ml in open-system e-liquid). While this may seem extremely high, we’ll touch on why that strength is actually a good thing in just a moment.

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MOD TECH Aesthetics and Ergonomics The minimalist theme only continues when we get to the dimensions of the device. The Juul, with a Juul Pod attached, is about the width and length of a stick of chewing gum, if that; in thickness, it’s equivalent to perhaps 3/4 of a pack of chewing gum. This device is actually smaller than any cig-alike device I’ve used, with the possible exception of the Blu.

When it comes to longevity, however, it’s my opinion that Pax actually under advertises the capacity of the Juul. I received my test unit on February 20th, and have used it as my secondary vape since then. (Had it been used as my primary vape, my results would certainly have been substantially different; we’ll get to that.) Using it as a secondary vape, a single Juul pod lasted me just over two weeks. The battery, on the other hand, maintains a charge for 2 to 2 1/2 days under that usage scenario.

It’s finished, as you can see in the above image, in a lightly brush-textured matte black. The result of its size, shape, and finish is that it is an extremely discreet device. This is both a strong pro as well as potentially a serious con — because it’s as diminutive as it is, you won’t stand out much while using it unless you choose to. On the other hand, if the user isn’t very mindful, I can easily see something this small ending up lost. And a device you can’t use isn’t of much benefit no matter how good its performance is.

Pricing and Availability To my knowledge, Juul and Juul pods are available only online at this time, through the Juul web site. The starter kit itself runs $49.99 and includes one Juul battery, one USB charger, and one 4pack of Juul Pods in assorted flavors. For purposes of comparison, a Halo G6 starter kit currently goes for $44.99 and includes 2 batteries, 1 USB charger, a wall outlet adapter for that charger, and a 5pack of cartomizers.

Speaking of that… Performance Let me make a callback to the Introduction — my first vape, that old Blu, was absolutely unsatisfying. The Halo G6 was leaps and bounds better, but it still didn’t quite kill my smoking habit — it got me about 95% of the way there, but it still came in just shy of doing the job completely.

Packs of Juul Pods come in at $15.99 for a four-pack in the following flavors: tabaac (tobacco), miint (mint), fruut (fruit), bruule (creme brule), multi (one of each of the preceding), or coco miint. Meanwhile, by comparison, pre-filled cartomizers for the Halo G6 go for $9.99. (All prices above exclude tax+s&h.) Recommendation and Conclusion Would I recommend the Pax Juul? I’m surprised to answer that with an unqualified Yes. Not only would I recommend it to a smoker who is looking for the simplest and most effective device to make the transition from smoking to vaping with, I would also not hesitate to recommend this device to someone who has been vaping for quite a while already.

But now here sitting between my index and middle fingers as I type this is a device that would absolutely have gotten that job done all by itself. There’s no doubt in my mind of that. No doubt owing to its high nicotine strength and the superior battery the Juul works with, this device outperforms any other vaporizer in its size class on every metric I can think of. Flavor from the tabaac (tobacco) Juul pod I received with the test unit was excellent both in presence and fidelity. Visual vapor output was nowhere near what I get from my box mod and sub-ohm tank — but, reasonably, I wasn’t expecting it to be. Throat hit was very strong, and I suspect that the PG/VG ratio is strongly leaning toward high PG. And finally, that high nicotine strength comes in combination with the way the airflow on the Juul pods is designed to enable comfortable lung hits. The entire affair adds up to a full-size mod vaping experience in a cig-alike size.

I intend to continue to use the Juul in the following way — if I’m going to a function at which a box mod just won’t cut it, that doesn’t mean I want to go without a powerful vape. If I’m just going down the street and don’t feel like filling a pocket with a box mod, the Juul will fit in a pants pocket and still deliver. Vaping is what smoking should always have been; I firmly believe that. And now, to me, the Juul is what the ultraportable vape should always have been. Thanks for reading. Until next time, do good work and be good to yourselves and each other.

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DEPARTMENTS

SK IL LE T

This technology is what sets the Skillet apart from competitors like the eGo One, enabling it to deliver big time safety and performance in a pocket-friendly package at a budget-friendly price point.

SIMPLE ENOUGH FOR THE NEWBIE, TOUGH ENOUGH FOR THE AVERAGE VAPER

However, it’s not all roses and clover; every device has its pros and its cons, and the Skillet is no exception to this rule. The first issue I ran into with the Skillet came in the combination of its 0.5 ohm coil head installed in its 2.8ml tank. The 0.5 ohm coil goes through e-liquid rapidly; with a 2.8ml tank capacity, that makes it a must that the user carry a bottle of liquid along with the Skillet in order to keep the tank filled more often than one might be accustomed to doing.

By JOHN CASTLE For many vapers, starter kits are simply where we, well… start. But it’s important to remember that a starter kit can be the most important kit we will have ever owned. It’s the kit that either will, or won’t, convince the smoker to become the vaper. It will be either a launching pad or a gatekeeper. But starter kits aren’t just for new vapers; they also occupy a solid spot in any vaper’s kit as a more discreet alternative to more powerful (and generally less pocketfriendly) APVs. My overall impression of the presentation of the Skillet is that it’s exactly how a starter kit should be presented — informative, secure, and above all convenient. Nothing is worse than to discourage a smoker from the start.

Specs & Features The 2200mAh Duralife battery is fitted with what Hohmtech has dubbed an FSK chip, which automatically manages the wattage output depending on the resistance of the attached atomizing device. When it detects a subohm coil, it steps up the wattage; when it detects a higher resistance coil, it adjusts the wattage output to a level appropriate for that device.

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Construction The construction of the Skillet is tight and clean, but largely unremarkable with the exception of a couple of design choices that should be mentioned. The first is the airflow control on the tank. Many times I’ve tried to unscrew a tank with airflow control from a mod, only to have the tank wall unscrew from the tank base instead. That won’t happen with the Skillet tank, thanks to a simple but clever design choice on Hohmtech’s part. The airflow control on the Skillet includes a small protrusion that stops the rotation of the ring. That’s a first on any airflow equipped atomizing device, as far as I know. Worthy of note, when using the 0.5 ohm coilhead in the tank, the vapor tends to make Hohmtech’s included drip tip more than a little uncomfortable. Fortunately, it is removable, and the Skillet tank will accept other 510 drip tips.

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DEPARTMENTS MOD TECH How does it perform in the real world? Nothing in my experience prepared me for using the Skillet. I had read about the innovative internal technologies, but I expected, at most, a marginal improvement over the eGo-style starter kits of yesteryear. And to be fair, on its very first day out of the box, that’s what the Skillet delivered. But I hadn’t figured on the breaking-in period. When the Skillet’s coil and battery are broken in, it goes from “acceptable” to quite impressive. I tested it with Bradley’s Brand “Dreamboat Float,” a 3mg 20/80 e-liquid, which the Skillet handled flawlessly. Battery life is an impressive 6 to 8 hours of nearly continuous use, making the Skillet ideal for a vaper’s first kit and as a backup kit for those with more powerful devices at home. There is a con to the battery, however — the battery charge indicator works as follows: • Blue light: Indicates a charge between 40%-100% • Green light: Indicates a charge between 20%-39% • Red light: Indicates a charge between 0%-19% In my opinion, the range for the blue light indicator is more than a shade too broad. Additionally, the device’s performance begins to decline quite a bit before the charge indicator flips from blue to green.

Affordability The Skillet sells for $39.99 — a price on pace with its notable competitors. Of note, the Standard Edition and the liquid-ceramic coated Limited Edition come at the same retail price. Replacement “CKCC” (Combed Ko-Gen-Doh Cotton) coils are available in 0.5 ohm and 1.0 ohm resistance for $12.49 per 5-pack from various retailers.

The Verdict Would I recommend the Skillet as a new vaper’s first starter kit? Absolutely. While there are the minor drawbacks mentioned above, none of them are dealbreakers. I would recommend this device as a backup or “errand running” solution in lieu of a bigger mod. The Skillet is light-years ahead of its starter-kit forebears, overcoming almost all of their limitations at a very attractive price.

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DEPARTMENTS Features

An Interview with Vaping Vlogger

VM: What does a typical day-in-the-life of Tia look like?

By Matt Rowland

VM: Sounds like a lot of work. Do you work 9-5? 7-days a week?

TV: A typical day is really just a normal day like anyone else. I have errands to run, bills to pay, and animals to take care of. But instead of going to the office, I work at home on the Internet. I answer a lot of emails, respond to lots of YouTube and social media comments, and spend lots of time on Twitter. A couple of times a week, I might spend the entire day filming videos followed by a day or so of editing.

Tia Vapes

It takes a certain something to be a successful vlogger, an almost indefinable quality that makes viewers stand up and take notice. Whatever this quality is, TiaVapes has it in spades. In just a little over three years, her YouTube channel has generated over 10 million hits and almost 100,000 subscribers. She’s the bubbly blonde with a non-nonsense attitude that really knows her stuff. VM: So, Tia? You’re all over the web! Your YouTube channel is a big hit. And you are always posting on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. What’s it like to be one of the most popular vaping vloggers on YouTube? TV: Being a vlogger is really fun and exciting, and sometimes it’s a little overwhelming! There’s a lot of pressure to stay relevant. In the vaping world, sometimes a new, hot product comes out, and within a month, it’s completely obsolete. And if you review it too late, then your social media fills up with a lot of haters posting nasty comments.

TV: I don’t work 9-5. And while I don’t always film a video every day, I guess you could say that I work 7-days a week because my business depends on social media. And that’s pretty much an everyday thing. For the YouTube Channel, I try to post six or seven videos per week, and there’s more time involved behind the scenes than what you see on film. Experimenting with the different vendors’ products, setting up the products for the video shoot, and editing the videos afterwards takes more time than you might think. So, I really never have a “day off” because there’s always a Twitter message, a YouTube comment, and an email to answer. But when you love what you do, it’s never really “work,” is it?

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DEPARTMENTS

VM: That’s a great way to look at it. Do you have a support team of writers, video camera operators, or other staffers? Or do you do everything on your own? TV: My friends and family, including my parents, grandparents, and especially my wonderful fiancé, always support me in everything I do. But professionally? I handle all business matters related to TiaVapes on my own. If a fan gets an email or sees a Tweet by TiaVapes, I’m the gal who wrote it. However, if I happen to have a question about some product or issue that I am researching, my longtime friend, fellow vlogger IndoorSmokers, is always ready to offer tips, advice, or anything that I need.

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VM: I’ve seen some of your videos where the two of you partner together. I always think that’s so cool that fellow vaping vloggers can also be friends, which reminds me. I seem to remember you tweeting last year about an online stalker situation. Care to elaborate? TV: That person wasn’t a stalker. He was a hater! He just wouldn’t leave me alone. He kept posting derogatory comments all over the place, on my Twitter feeds, Instagram, my website, and, of course, my YouTube channel. But he hasn’t been an issue for over a year now. Luckily, if someone starts to get a bit aggressive online, many of my fans who really like me will sort of manage the situation for me before it gets out of control. But the Internet is filled with trolls. That’s just a part of doing business online.

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DEPARTMENTS Features

VM: That’s a great attitude. So, what’s your procedure for taste-testing multiple e-liquids in a single sitting? I assume you drip vape? TV: Well, I used to use these 510 dripping attys, which are cheap, disposable, little tubes with a bare coil and wire mesh. Now, after so many fans suggested that I get an RDA, I drip vape using the Troll RDA. I just change the cotton with each different e-liquid. VM: Speaking of your fans, you seem to have a huge fan base from all over the world. How do vapers from the U.S.A. compare to those in other countries? TV: You know, I really don’t notice any differences. Everybody vapes the same, likes the same vape mods, and shares the same trending e-juices. UK Vapers fight for UK vaping rights. German vapers fight for German vaping rights. And everyone helps each other regardless of their country of origin. We share each other’s petitions, and give each other advice. It really is one big, happy, Vape Family, a global community of vapers. It’s kind of nice, really. Vaping is one of those things that really does break down all cultural barriers. VM: With so many fans, have you ever considered starting your own product line, like TiaVapes E-juices or VapeQueen Box Mods? TV: I have considered doing an e-liquid line, but I don’t have any plans in the works, if that’s what you mean. And I don’t think that I would ever make some sort of vaping hardware, simply because I don’t think that I have the resources for something that ambitious. But, I don’t even know if it’s a good time to begin a new product line, with all of the anti-

vaping legislation being proposed around the world, especially here in the U.S.A. We need to make a big breakthrough in the vaping community and secure our vaping rights before I would jump into marketing my own e-liquid. VM: Do you have any advice for people interested in becoming a professional vlogger? TV: The most important thing is “consistent content.” You don’t have to post 7 videos a week like I do, but you have to maintain some sort of schedule. You can’t post two videos one week, and then wait a month before posting your next. You have to be consistent because YouTube changes so fast, and vaping videos become irrelevant so quickly because the technology is advancing so rapidly. Another tip would be to involve your audience. Ask them questions. Get them to help you rate vape mods and eliquids. My audience of viewers is like my extended family. Sure, we talk about vaping, but we also talk about lots of other silly things, too. And my third piece of advice? If you want to make a living on the Internet, then you have to have a thick skin. You have to be able to ignore the trolls who leave those nasty comments. If you’re starting a vaping business to help people quit smoking, which is why I started TiaVapes, then you need to focus on that. You’re helping people improve their health and maybe even save their lives. And for me, that makes everything worthwhile.

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Event Coverage

Eventâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Second Year

A HUGE DRAW By Norm Bour

Vape Jam UK brought out another massive showing this year. This recent show was their second run and the crowds and exhibitors came out in droves. The three-day event in April brought in over 10,000 attendees and exhibitors from over 40 countries. More than 300 brands were represented by 185 exhibiting companies. VAPE JAM was held at the ExCel Convention Center in London in anticipation of greater crowds than last year, which was about half the size. The Modders Gallery by Vape Summit took up much of the floor space and brought in many of the attendees. The GalVAPEMZ.COM

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lery was a showcase for new products and high-end devices and was sponsored by more than 25 companies. Along with new and exciting products, three of the top American vape world celebrities from the United States were also invited to speak.

What went wrong? Yes, the latest version of VAPE JAM UK had issues. They both acknowledge it and apologize. Well-known vape reviewers Phil Busardo and Nick (Grimm) Green were scheduled to talk, along with high-profile advocacy supporter, Dimitris Agrafiotis, AKA “the Vaping Greek.” Maria Borissova was one of the original founders of VapeJam UK and who is now in charge of promotions and PR, said “they were severally understaffed.” As a result, the highly vocal celebs were bumped for more traditional convention events — a rap singer, giveaway contest and cloud comps. The usually outspoken Busardo released “The “Busardo Rant” which went viral from his initial Facebook posting and has been shared worldwide by dozens of social media sites.

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“Why was I butt-hurt?” Busardo asks in his video review. (http://www.tasteyourjuice.com/wordpress/archives/12622) “I was butt-hurt not because we didn’t get our stage time, but because many came up and asked ‘when are you speaking?’ and we had no answer. Some came long distances specifically to hear us and were disappointed,” he said.

What did we learn? Jon LaVerde, a representative from VAPE magazine, shared his thoughts of the event and how it differed from those in the US. “Not only was it substantially better than last year, but I thought the configuration of the arena was professionally organized. The layout was nice and clean and all the booths fit together better than what we usually see here in America.” “The exhibitor that really stood out this year was Charlie’s Chalk Dust,” LaVerde said. “They were totally unique and I give them a thumbs up for their efforts.” Our hope here at VAPE magazine, the official media sponsors at VapeJam UK, is that this past event was an aberration and a learning experience. The major sponsors of this event, including Ruthless Vapor, Penguin ejuice, Liquid State

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Event Coverage Vapors, and Charlieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Chalk Dust and many other noteworthy companies, should not let this negative experience overshadow any positive ones for the next event in 2017. Even with the progress and advancements over the past few years, the European vape space is still in itsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; infancy. Technology and quality have improved, as well as the number of liquid companies and their products. The Wild West is still pretty wild, and the number of events and people in the business has exploded since the earliest events just a few years ago. Many promoters are novices and trying to learn the right ways to do things. Some promoters are focused on fun, while others are focused on business. Neither is totally right or totally wrong. We can all do our share and represent this industry as professionally as possible and be mindful of how the rest of the world views us. Norm Bour is the founder of VapeMentors and creator of the VAPE U online programs. They offer services & resources for anyone in the vape space, including vape shops, online stores and e-liquid brands. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also the host of Vape Radio, the largest vaping radio show in the world with more than 1.2 M downloads. Norm interviews the masters of vape and thought leaders in the vape space. Contact him at norm@VapeMentors.com.

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Features

At home By Susan Oser

Mystical Mods is an at-home business run by Michael Thomas. He was a 5-pack a day smoker who got into vaping by merely making these beautiful creations. He started by working on pin blanks and Mod Blanks. It then blossomed into what he is doing today (and this business continues to grow). Michael really did not like the taste of the vapes he had started out vaping. That was because when he first started, he did not have the right juice or the right nicotine level. After some adjustments, he took to vaping and is now a 3mg vaper. He feels grateful for making the change and with his business feels as if he can contribute to the vaping community. So what makes these mods so special? First, they glow in the dark. Everything he makes is self-taught as well as tested. The blanks Michael makes are highly unusual as well as the mod itself. Thus, this is the reason it is a Mystical Mods.

Michaelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s journey into modding is kind of an interesting one. With the advent of 9-11, he felt like he needed to do something, especially when it came to safety. Thus, he came to develop a glow-in-the-dark safety product and patented them. He did this for 10-12 years while his father was fighting a battle with emphysema. When his father died (which was 3 years ago), he lost his interest in safety and decided to return to automotive body repair work. However, he even lost his passion for that as well and quit. When Michaelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s father died, he left some woodwork tools behind. Michael was never really into them but after his father passed away, he felt as if he needed to do something that would make him feel close to his father. Therefore, he started playing around and of course, the rest is history. Of course, when he started, many people thought that he was a little crazy and that he would never make it. That has never stopped him and with the helped of an Indonesian-based company who has helped him with inspiration and knowledge. Thus, Mystical Mods is not only an art, but it has also become his lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s passion.

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with a Mystic

site at www.mysticalmods.com and get an general idea of the styles of mods that are available. You can also order directly from the website of mods that are already pre-made.

Thus, Mystical Mods is not only an art, but it has also become his life’s passion. Pricing wise, Mystical Mods range from $350 - $600. Generally, Michael can churn out 20-30 mods per week. This would surely make sense since the demand for his Mystical mods has been so high as of late. While the prices may seem a bit high, they are worth it because they are not mass-produced and each mod is cared for individually. Thus, the big attraction is not only the individuality of the product but also the unique glowin-the-dark novelty. However, you need to be careful and aware that Michael cannot honor all requests on designs or materials you might want him to use. In fact, he has had to turn down certain wood block materials because of his unfamiliarity with the product. They have included rare tusks, human remains and ashes of pets. If you are remotely interested in buying Mystical Mods, you can do several things. First, you can go to the Mystical Mods web-

Since he started vaping, Michael has stated that he does not have the smoker’s cough as he used to in the morning and feels young again. Business wise, Michael has gotten and continues to get great advertisement for his work from the VOV channel on VapeTV and now here in Vape News. He has only been at it for 4 short months and feels that the true philosophy of his mod work is doing what he loves and to survive while doing it. In fact, if anyone has a passion in something, they can accomplish it besides what the naysayers say. Michael’s products and his company are a perfect example of this fact.

For more information on Mystical Mods www.mysticalmods.com; Facebook pages www.facebook.com/groups/mysticalmods/, https://www.facebook.com/mysticalmods/; Contact Michael directly at: 502-222-3187 or email: michael@ mysticalmods.com.

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om the Outsi r f g n i de Vap

Some Labels

SUCK By Susan Oser

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Labels: We all grew up with them when we were in school. We still live with them now. While most people scoff at labels and put up their middle finger to those who impose them, for others labels are sources of identity. This is especially true with various juice makers that are out there who are trying to make a buck and stand out in the crowd. The ones who look professional are the ones who will keep being successful and know what they are doing. They have fancy labels, look high class, and look (as well as taste like) they know what their product is and what they are doing. They don’t have to try hard, because they let the product speak for itself.

me, I’m fun and fruity and kids can like it, too!” What does that mean exactly? Advertising or having labels on products that look cartoony or look similar to products that children and adults alike already consume can lead to something called a cease and desist letter if enough people complain to the company that they are “copying.” An example of this is a juice company in Michigan that got a nice letter from Nintendo about the name of their product looking and sounding similar to Super Mario Brothers. Because of it, that owner has had to totally rename, revamp, and remodel their product. Not only is it costly to essentially go back to square one, but he’s lost a pretty decent reputation because of the ordeal.

If you want to be a respectable company, do it right the first time — be creative and original with your names and your labels.

There are several companies I respect, order from, and offer my support to for this very reason. Not only are they proud of their product, but they use that money to put back into the growth of their company and make it better. They are also proud to label themselves and encourage others to become an activist in the community. Some even are deeply involved in advocacy themselves.

Then you have those companies who look like they’ve hired a freelancer to do their graphic design. The label looks like it’s a take-off of a name-brand company (such as Airheads or Popsicles), and insert their own name on the cheap so they can save money in order to make more for themselves. These are the companies that have no reason being in the industry because all that label is saying is “look at

So, if you are a company that has a name or label that looks and sounds similar to Willy Wonka, Pop Tarts or Fruit Loops, don’t be surprised if you end up with the same fate. You have no reason to complain to us, the consumer or the activist about it when you were told up front how bad this looks on the community.

If you want to be a respectable company, do it right the first time — be creative and original with your names and your labels. Frankly, the way you are coming off to the consumer and those who are finicky about their juices, it looks like your company and your product lack originality. It’s no different from the annoying Hollywood reboot and sequel trends. We know you don’t care about the community. We know you think it is a money grab. The question is, do you have the common sense and basic business sense

to change your name and reputation before Kellogg’s or Nestlé tells you to do so? You probably don’t. Believe me, I have already written to a big company about a juice company that has a possible trademark infringement on one of their candy products. I sent them the website as well as photographic proof I took. As a result, I got a simple thank you know for letting them know. Trust me, any CEO or HR person wants public/customer feedback. It’s how their brand reinvents themselves and flourishes. It’s why social media becomes such a powerful tool for change.

We’ve seen you at those big trade shows and events. The organizers really need to be held accountable for letting them in doors in the first place. And at the show, that vendor was NOT the talk of positive review but negative ones based on the labelling alone. Remember folks, it only takes a few seconds to make a first impression (good or otherwise).

If any of these companies are reading this and they are truly aware of the labels they have for their juices — bite the bullet, go back to the drawing board and start over.

So, since this topic is a hot issue on Facebook and Twitter, hopefully this raises your awareness that perhaps you didn’t think it through when it came to creating the concept, label, and name for your company that looks like it could be candy or a popular soft drink.

Yes, my dear company with the label that looks like you are child enabler selling to kids and not an actual adult, your brand name is being slandered online. While it could be good marketing for your product, it’s leaves a black eye for the whole industry. In the Facebook groups where I’m involved and active, it has become a hot topic lately. Many online podcasts and vape tubers have been using this issue as content fodder, are currently talking about it or are just now becoming aware of how much of a problem this really is.

If any of these companies are reading this and they are truly aware of the labels they have for their juices — bite the bullet, go back to the drawing board and start over. If you can’t think of anything, have a naming or logo contest. You’d be surprised at the mass of creative minds that are out there who are salivating at the opportunity to get their name out there. They get it. They understand why you are selling your product and want to make the dollar. So, why not utilize those resources and make your product better. You already read of one example that’s doing that (as well as many more that are in the process). So, what’s stopping you?

What do you think makes a good juice label? What can you suggest to those companies who dropped the ball on their marketing and advertising of their product? Do you have an idea that could slow this trend? Contact me at angelwritercreations@gmail.com. I’d like to hear what you have to say. Find me on Facebook, Twitter and my personal website http://www.angelwritercreations.com. If you like this rant and want to hear more, I currently host on VapeTVLive on Thursday nights from 11pm – midnight EST.

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DEPARTMENTS Features

The

“Tipping Point”

in E-Liquids By Norm Bour

The FDA decision has recently been handed down, and everyone in the vape space is on the firing line. But one of the most prominent targets of regulation and restrictions are the manufacturers of e-liquid.

Liquid companies can spring from nowhere and suddenly are everywhere you look. Propaganda E-liquids is a recent example. They have made an impact on the liquid market in just two years. How? Why?

From an industry with 300 to 500 (estimated) companies in 2013, to approximately 7,000 to 9,000 today, there has been a shift in the industry as we approach what I call “The Tipping Point.” Those that do not reach that point may not be around for very much longer.

Co-owners Nick DeNuccio and Nicholas Bull started the company in Feb., 2014 when DeNuccio was 18 and partner Bull was 21.

Malcolm Gladwell, a prolific author and observer of societal patterns, identified in his first book in 2000, the point “where things change” and “how little things can make a big difference.” He identified events, situations and products that suddenly shift, which brings previously unrecognized products or concepts into wide view. We see it all the time. What was unknown or little recognized can become an overnight event or sensation in the blink of an eye. Thank you Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Many products grow in popularity until they reach a point where they either go big or go home. Products or ideas; television shows, or movies come from “nowhere” and are soon everywhere. We see the same thing in the vape market.

“Amazing Juices Without a Market” The full quote was, “I have never seen such a huge selection of amazing juices that cannot find a market,” and it was shared by a well-known owner of a popular e-liquid company. And most would agree.

They started with just “a few hundred bucks, then got a loan from their parents for $5K,” DeNuccio said proudly. When asked, “How did you take $5,000 and grow to manufacturing 100,000 bottles per month with that small amount of money?” His reply: “Extreme dedication. We didn’t spend a dime on anything personal for the first year and lived on PB&J. Everything went into marketing or hiring another salesman or attending a trade show.” That response did not satisfy me since that is the route that most entrepreneurs take to launch any company. We drilled it down and he came back with: “We were on the phones all the time

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and networked wherever we could. And what really bugged us was that most of the juice companies out there were trying to be like everyone else and attempting to ride someone elses’ coattails. We swore to not do that.” It’s called Competitive Positioning and very few brands do it properly. “It’s so annoying to see all these flavors that are committing direct copyright infringement and trying to be someone else,” he added.

weeks. They shook hands with everyone and made friends with some powerful people. The majority of liquid companies never break through the 10,000 bottles per month barrier. “The hardest part was getting from 60,000 monthly units to over 100,00,” DeNuccio confessed, and shared that this challenge has been echoed by others as well. DeNuccio says they crossed the Tipping Point at the ECC (Electronic Cigarette Convention) show in Southern California in August, 2015. Their booth had lots of traffic and many said that the Propaganda flavors were so good it kept them off tobacco. Loyalty like that is encouraging and powerful. Everyone wants to know the secret and there may not be any. Good flavors, hard work, networking with everyone you can. And a bit of luck, too. We’ll be watching to see if they maintain their position.

“What makes you unique?” I asked and DeNuccio replied, “We target the all-day vape users. We found that many people like the samples they try in the shops, but when they drip with it all day it gets old. With Propaganda you can finish a 30 ML bottle and still want another one.” They normally use a 60/40 PG/VG mix which they found the best combination for longer term satisfaction, and offer four flavors on their primary line plus the newly released “Hype Collection.” The new addition has been well received and is pushing their monthly volume to over 125,000 bottles per month. They launched at Vape Summit in 2014 and were able to reach 10,000 bottles volume within two

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It Can be Summed up in One Word: Community At the other end of the Tipping Point spectrum is the story of those that long ago crossed that threshold and can breathe a sigh of relief. Or can they? Austin Hopper in just a few years has positioned himself as a leader in the e-liquid world. A former smoker who “laughed when I was asked to work for a company called Space Jam,” took that job and led them to become a market leader. “The pressure never lets up,” he said. “You can never relax and never get comfortable.” Hopper started with Space Jam in September, 2013 and “back then a 5,000 bottle order was huge,” he said. “Today you see orders many times that size. I’ve picked up checks of almost a quarter million dollars for just one shipment.” The times and the volumes have indeed, changed. One of negative changes Hopper mentioned is what he calls “hype products.” They can be here for just a few months at a time, but never get any traction and never create any longevity. They also never reach that Tipping Point. When the struggle to the top eventually takes you over the top, something “shifts.” In a few words Hopper shared what happens when you take the easier ride back down. “When customers start seeking you out instead of you chasing them, it’s a great feeling. When they are glad to take your call, it makes the struggle all worthwhile,” he offered.

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A good word that captures that place is “community.” When people want to be part of your community and culture, that’s when things change. When they continue to talk about you, you’ve made it. For now. Another company that crossed over the crest is Cosmic Fog Vapors, the next company that Hopper worked for. “It seems we worked our asses off for thirty days and then suddenly-BAM!- we crossed over and people wanted to carry us. I believe that Cosmic has some of the best branding out there,” he said.

time we surpassed their volume and ventured out on our own,” Crossley confided. Hopper concluded with a few observations based on experience. “When people get your logo as a tattoo, that means you touched them and they will tell everyone. They will share your posts and tweets and that will carry you a long, long way.” With regulation you will see most brick and mortar and eliquid companies closing. Those that got in for the “fast buck” can take their full or empty wallets and move on to something else. Only the strong (and smart) will survive. The ones that remain must strive to be market leaders and cross over their own Tipping Points.

Current Cosmic Fog CEO, Rob Crossley, continued: “This industry is way too fickle and there is always someone looking to take your place, which is exactly how we got here.” He was referring to his position as one of the top selling e-liquids that some estimate sells more than Space Jam, Cuttwood and other lofty names. When Crossley reached the 100,000 monthly volume they had a celebration to remember the moment. “We started out in partnership with a larger e-liquid player and in just a short

Norm Bour is the founder of VapeMentors and creator of the VAPE U online programs. They offer services & resources for anyone in the vape space, including vape shops, online stores and e-liquid brands. He’s also the host of Vape Radio, the largest vaping radio show in the world with more than 1.3 M downloads. Norm interviews the masters of vape and thought leaders in the vape space. Contact him at norm@ VapeMentors.com.

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