FUD Korean Style
Our friends over at the Ashtray Blog ran a piece analyzing a recent study out of Korea that examined youth adoption of electronic cigarettes.  The study took an objective look to determine if e-cigarettes are actually a thing kids these days do.  Oh, who am I kidding?

image: E Cigarette Direct

Of the 4341 respondents, 444 (10.2%) had heard of e-cigarettes and 22 (.5%) had vaped at least once. Now the average reaction to this would be “gee, very few adolescents have heard of e-cigarettes and hardly any have ever tried one”. But wishing to justify their salaries, these intrepid researchers delved into those 22 people to analyze them ten ways from Sunday.

From that half a point, the researches tried to paint e-cigarettes as some sort of hot new trend amongst teens.  It seems like the study was trying to find a boogy man out to get “the kids.”  It’s a good thing nobody here in the US does that.  In related news, I’m actively scanning the news feeds to find the first US-based prohibitionist group to pick up the Korean study.

Airlines aren’t Vape Friendly
A brief article in Travel Weekly noted that the airline industry backs the DOT’s proposed e-cigarette ban on airplanes.  In fact, the airlines are currently working on pressuring the FAA to also adopt the ban.  Apparently, the airlines banning e-cigarettes isn’t quite enough, they want the devices banned three times.

Image: TCJ2020

They also urged the DOT to specifically incorporate the ban into FAA regulations, because the FAA has the additional power to levy fines on individual passengers. The letter was signed by IATA, the Air Transport Association, the Air Carrier Association of America and the Regional Airline Association.

Several are trying to stop the DOT ban from both the e-cig front and from a belief that the DOT has no basis in law for imposing such a ban.  As much as the efforts are valiant, and three bans seems like overkill, I’m going to have to guess nobody will be openly whipping out a ProVari on airliners any time soon.

Waxing Philosophical on the FDA
Fellow e-cigarette blog Guide to Vaping put out a piece recently to explore the question of why the FDA has such a passion for destroying the e-cigarette industry.  The article is very in-depth and talks about the differences between cigarettes and e-cigs and the history of the FDA and our industry.  Interestingly, it appears that the FDA is still holding shipments to US vendors, sometimes for months.

Image: Guide to Vaping

Most vapers feel that ecigs are a much safer alternative to cigarettes. If you were to go down a list of FDA approved chemicals that are allowed in cigarettes and compare with the few ingredients in an ecig- you’d have to be almost bat-shit crazy to think that a burning cigarette is the better option to get your nicotine fix. Yet as I write this, the FDA is holding back shipments of ecigs and ecig related products from going through- despite a judges ruling that the FDA does not have this authority (1). Furthermore, the FDA is still working hard to make sure that this safer alternative is not available. How much is this costing? Why?

I know I left the quote at a question. You’ll have to go visit my friends over at Guide to Vaping to get the answers.  The teaser really isn’t necessary, as the article is a pretty good read and worth the time and the visit.

You Tube Science
A researcher posted a study (paywall) looking at the average puff duration of e-cigarette users.  The methodology did not involve finding a bunch of experienced users and putting them in a lab.  Rather, the researcher combed through YouTube videos and mined information based on the various videos that were posted online.

Image: renjith krishnan

Puff duration (mean =2.4 s) for conventional smokers in YouTube videos (N=9) agreed well with prior publications. Puff duration was significantly longer for ENDS users (mean =4.3 s) (N = 64) than for conventional cigarette users, and puff duration varied significantly among ENDS brands. For ENDS users, puff duration and exhalation duration were not significantly affected by ‘advertiser’ status, gender or variation in models within a brand. Men outnumbered women by about 5:1, and most users were between 19 and 35 years of age.

ENDS is shorthand for electronic nicotine delivery system, a popular acronym in the prohibitionist camp.  A couple of interesting things about the study.  First, this isn’t particularly a negative nor positive study for vapers.  The study pretty much observes what many of us have known for a while, e-cigarettes work a little differently than cigarettes.  Second, I can’t help think the data is skewed for two very important reasons.  First, You Tube posters tend to run a little younger than the vaper population.  Second, most people posting electronic cigarette reviews on You Tube tend to take very long puffs to produce as much vapor as possible.  This might not be exactly a real-world scenario.

Deal of the Moment
ProVape, the makers of the ProVari are running a Cyber Monday sale today.  This is particularly noteworthy because the company almost never has sales.  But, using the code “cybermonday” you can get 10% off store wide, including the ProVari.  If you’ve been holding out, it’s probably a good time to hit ProVape and treat yourself.

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Related posts:

1. e-Cigarette News Update 11/21/11 – Some good some bad
2. e-Cigarette News Update 11/9/11 – Goin’ Mainstream
3. e-Cigarette News Update 10/19/11 – Enlightened Self-interest
4. e-Cigarette News Update 10/24/11 – A warm place to go
5. e-Cigarette News Roundup 11/2/11 – A galaxy far, far away