Letter to the FDA

Comment:  My name is Tim Fuller and I am commenting on Electronic Cigarettes and the Public Health; Second Public Workshop; Docket No. FDA-2014-N-1936-0003.

I smoked approximately a pack and a half of full flavor Marlboro cigarettes per day beginning in my early twenties and continuing until the age of 56. I gave up cigarettes for e-smoking about the middle of November, 2014, shortly before my 57th birthday and no longer purchase or consume combustible tobacco products. Like I suspect many do, I first switched to a ‘cigalike’ product, and after testing several of the popular e-cigarette substitutes (Vuse, Mystic, Fin, Bu). I settled on the Blu brand, partly for the convenience of the portable charging case but mostly for availability of their flavored e-juices. I found the tobacco flavored e-juices unappealing and would likely have returned to cigarette smoking had I not found the option of the flavored varieties offered by Blu.

Shortly thereafter (weeks) I discovered the existence of superior vaping products being offered by several other manufacturers which offered longer battery life (Ego, eLeaf et.al.) In addition to the convenience of longer battery life and adjustable power output, I found a vast assortment of different atomizers to choose from which offered a much improved vaping experience. These allowed the option of purchasing and refilling from a multitude of flavored e-juice products at customized nicotine levels. I purchased several atomizer tanks and several flavors of mid-strength (12-18mg) e-juices, finding the ability to easily switch out tanks/flavors beneficial in my conversion from tobacco. An added benefit often overlooked is the huge savings in cost over that of consuming tobacco, not an insignificant issue for someone on an extremely limited income as I currently find myself in.

I cannot speak to the issue of whether or not these devices are ‘safe’ but in relation to the ingestion of what are known to be hundreds of proven hydrocarbon carcinogens it seems a no-brainer that there must be at least a decent level of harm reduction involved in my decision to abandon nicotine delivery via burning tobacco. I had previously tried to quit smoking via gums and patches with no success. I do not know if I will break my nicotine habit thru vaping but given the ability to wean down the nicotine levels in my e-juices it seems a more likely route and in the meantime I am sure I am abating a great deal of additional health risks.

E-juice Safety and flavored options.

I am not in support of any regulations on restricting flavors of e-juices. Of course I do support limiting e-emoking devices and e-juice access by minors as is currently the case with other nicotine delivery products such as chewing tobacco, cigars and cigarettes. I have yet to see any confirmed deaths of children accidentally ingesting e-juice but barely a day goes by that entire families are lost to the vagaries of smoking related fires. This should be weighed heavily in terms of ‘consumer safety’ when considering the perceived dangers of e-juices and e-smoking. I have not noticed any adverse reactions to the use of any of my e-cigarette devices.

Vaping device safety.

I now vape on higher output highly regulated devices but at much reduced nicotine levels, well under six percent nicotine levels. I vape when I feel like vaping but certainly not in as consistent a fashion as I used to when consuming cigarettes. I do not have access to the statistics on vape device safety but prefer to use a regulated device in order to minimize the risk of overheated lithium batteries, short circuited atomizer coils, etc. If there is any segment of the e-smoking market which may need oversight I imagine it would be in the area of DEVICE safety. I do not have any firsthand horror stories to share in regard to this, but I can easily visualize situations where unlocked or non-locking unregulated mechanical ‘mods’ could be potential trouble sources.

My experience with the commercial cigalike makers leads me to believe that many of them are so poorly designed as to lead one directly back to smoking. I do not know if this is a feature or a bug from their point of view but I do not trust the established cigarette producers given their track record of consumer deception. I would not wish to see the market for vapes or e-juices restricted in terms of availability or innovation. I see many articles in the press which are obviously ginning up fear, uncertainty and doubt over e-smoking and it’s patently obvious that many of these stories are being planted by deep pocketed tobacco corporations concerned with nothing more than protecting their market share and profits.

Please don’t allow yourselves to be unduly influenced by those in the industry who have proven themselves to be totally disreputable in the past. Thank you for taking the time to collect and analyze public opinion on this issue.

Tim Fuller
thetimtimes@gmail.com
Member of Casaa.org

Upgrading the Electronic Smoking Experience

Once you've become accustomed to the "cigalike" electronic smoking experience you're likely to encounter the word "Vape" or "Vaping" as synonyms for e-smoking activity.

Unless you're married to the idea of only using an electronic smoking product that mimics the form factor of an actual cigarette you might want to consider upgrading to a larger, more customizable e-smoking device.  Above is an example of a vape with a slightly larger form factor than a normal cigalike. The one shown is made by iSmoka and can be purchased for a bit less than the Blu system but there are myriad others available in the same price range as the Blu Starter Kit.

There are several reasons why many cigalike smokers quickly move on to larger devices. Here are some reasons to consider making the switch yourself.

1. Larger battery capacity.  Cigalike products have much smaller battery capacity (rated in milliamp hours (mah) and require charging on a more frequent basis.  The Blu e-cigarette brand addresses this weakness by providing a combined cigarette holder/charging case which allows for a spare battery to be charged while one is in use. There is no other recharging option on the Blu system whereas most all the slightly larger systems allow for a common micro USB recharging option.

2. Larger tank capacity.  Cigalike tanks normally hold a very limited amount of e-juice, normally rated in milliliters.  Typical cigalike cartridges (cartomizers) top out at about one milliliter of e-juice and are not made to be refilled.

3. Cheaper operation.  Because you can refill the tank on all the standard vapes with e-juice purchased in bulk, the cost of vaping is a fraction of buying branded proprietary cartomizers refills.

4. A huge choice of e-juice flavors.  Branded proprietary cartomizers come in a very narrow range of flavors.  There are hundreds of custom flavors and nicotine levels available for purchase outside the walled gardens of the major cigalike brands.

5. A better overall vaping experience.  Less restrictive and adjustable airflow as well as options for e-juice tanks with specialty atomizer coils allows for a more customized e-smoking experience.

Refilling the New Blu E-Cig Tanks

The widespread availability of electronic cigarettes being sold at nearly every convenience store makes them the most likely route to electronic smoking for most people. 

Blu - The Best Mass Marketed Ciga-like System

I settled on the Blu brand early on because they are about the only e-cigarette brand that offer nicotine juice cartridges (cartomizers)  in flavors other than standard tobacco.  The Blu starter kit also includes a convenient carrying case/portable recharging system that resembles a pack of cigarettes.  Given the diminutive battery capacity of these cigarette-sized electronic smoking devices, portable recharging is something you really can't do without. 

The Original Blu  

The original style replacement cartomizers are nowhere near as good as the new 'tank' system but it was possible to stretch the life (and save money!!) of those early cartomizers by refilling them yourself in a fashion not totally dissimilar from that of refilling a Zippo lighter.  I would purchase Mystic branded e-juices available at Walgreens nationwide to match the flavor of the original Blu branded cartomizers.  Cherry and Java were my two favored flavors at the time.  It was never the intention of the Blu corporation for users to refill the cartomizers as they were designed to be used, discarded and then replaced with new ones.  That's all well and good if you don't care about saving money, but the 'cheap bastard' side of me quickly became aware of the ability to refill the original cartomizers thru YouTube videos like this one that show the ease of refilling the first generation cartomizers.

The New BluPlus "Tank" System

As fate would have it, a week after I bought the original Blu starter kit they launched the new and improved BluPlus kits featuring a higher capacity battery, as well as a much better cartomizer.  The updated BluPlus "tank"system offered a superior vaping experience to the original but also a much more expensive one.  By designing cartomizers with sealed tanks that held liquid ejuice instead of the original cartomizer's reliance on saturated cotton storage (ala Zippo) there was no longer any easy way to refill and reuse the cartomizers when the original juice supply was exhausted.  To top it off, each Blu tank refill costs five bucks and are meant as a substitute for a single five dollar pack of cigarettes, negating any monetary savings in switching to the Blu system as an alternative to traditional smoking.  I was unable to find a how-to video on hacking and refilling the new tank system, which led me to invent one myself.

If you're a Blu tank smoker and wish to extend the life of your tanks and save money in the process here's the how-to video to make that happen.  You are not limited to replacing the depleted juice tank with the same flavor as the original. This adds the benefit of being able to use the Blu tank system with flavors not available in the regular Blu retail selection.  It's also a lot cheaper to buy e-juice by the bottle and refill yourself.  Since the atomizer coil is not replaceable there will ultimately be a limit to how many times you can refill and reuse the same tank but I've refilled mine a couple times so far with no problem.

Enjoy.

Welcome to Mass Vaporization

The electronic smoking community is large and growing.  The e-cig industry has responded with a plethora of new products that are far and away more effective and affordable than ever.  In this blog I will document my journey away from tobacco smoking into the world of vaping.  My intent is to educate and inform those who are still smoking cigarettes that a cheaper, safer alternative awaits them.

Enjoy.