VAPE UNDERGROUND
A lot can happen
in three years
In this anniversary edition of Vapouround, Graham Cook
of Vaping Underground looks back at how the vape landscape
has changed in the last three years.
We know that the idea of vaping was born back in 1927 and in 1963,
the first smokeless non-tobacco cigarette was created and followed
in 2003 by the first successful commercial electronic device.
So where are we now?
I remember my first device nearly three years ago, an Eleaf iStick
TC 60W and a Melo2 tank. For me, at the time, it was huge but
I had been advised that this was a perfect starter kit. Since then
I have used an array of devices and have seen the changes from
simple pens to barely being able to wrap a hand around them and
back again.
When I started vaping, there were lots of homebrewers selling
their wares online. Since the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) was
implemented in May 2016, we have seen a large reduction online of
juice vendors, including homebrewers, which has made it safer for
consumers. This has made it more expensive with testing required to
move into the market as a business. We also saw the glass bottles, I
personally loved, slowly disappear and a flood of plastic bottles that
now fills our market.
Vaping has grown on such a huge scale and we have seen a huge
increase in sales of products and a wider range available for all
types of vapers. We have a lot more pod systems and mouth-to-lung
(MTL) devices available, partly due to new people transitioning from
Herbert A. Gilbert is
generally credited with the
creation of the first elec-
tronic cigarette device.
1960 S
98 | VM18
The first commercially
successful electronic cig-
arette is created in China
by Hon Lik.
2003
smoking and those looking for a more restricted vape experience.
We now have nic salts emerging onto the market that work perfectly
with the MTL systems. The salts have a smoother taste and higher
nicotine concentration required for pods. Nic salts would have been
perfect for the original JUUL device, but, devices in today’s market
are more power conservative and give a satisfying vape experience.
Over the last three years we have seen more hospitals become
‘vape friendly’ and provide shelters to support the use of e-cigarettes.
This has been a huge step forward and has been helped by the
recognition from Public Health England (PHE) who have been urging
hospitals to do more for patients. PHE are also moving to encourage
hospitals to allow vaping in single patient rooms and GPs to prescribe
e-cigarettes as a nicotine replacement therapy.
When I joined vape groups on facebook three years ago, it was
for advice, support and to hopefully make friends with like-minded
or similar people. The vape community and groups on social media
have exploded with so many new groups appearing daily. This in turn
has had an impact within the community and causes friction between
vendors, members and those that maintain the groups. Vapers now
experience randomly being added to new pages purely for numbers
just to increase groups’ own member count – size is everything.
With all of the changes we have seen over the last three years, I
expect more to take place in the coming months. Let’s hope we can
see more positive changes in the future for the industry.
PHE concludes that e-cig-
arettes are significantly
less harmful to health than
smoking.
2015
The TPD was implemented
in May 2016. Glass bottles
fade out.
2016
Nic salts start to emerge
onto the market and more
hospitals become vape
friendly
NOW