There is never a situation where it is better to smoke than vape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Running a company such as Totally Wicked is often unlike running a normal business; this is primarily due to the products we manufacture and sell, and \u2018opinions\u2019 that can often have a profound effect on the understanding of what our products are, and why we exist to serve our customers. Across the past 10 years or so, vaping has travelled a very challenging path to what we justifiably believed was a position of acceptance in the UK, often grudgingly for many, but acceptance nonetheless. Businesses have matured along with the range, complexity and quality of the products that are available. This maturity, albeit lagging often a long way behind, has been matched with a growing appreciation of vaping\u2019s enormous potential, as demonstrated through the experiences of millions of ex-smokers. Indeed, the UK is a world leader in not only the proportion of ex-smokers who have found vaping as their gateway out of smoking\u2019s grasp, but also in the relatively positive environment UK vaping finds itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having personally sat on the proverbial bronco\u2019s back for 9 years, it has been a bruising journey.\u00a0 Why? Because vaping\u2019s journey across these years has vicariously exposed me and many others to a perspective on the world that is hard to reconcile once it has been witnessed.\u00a0 Vaping exists only because smoking exists; this is a fact based on the personal story of vaping\u2019s inventor, Hon Lik, but also a fact based on simple logic.\u00a0 It is extraordinary to believe a consumer product as dangerous as smoking exists yet is so ubiquitously available and openly sold in every country across the globe. One of the principal arguments used against the total prohibition of smoking sales, is personal choice.\u00a0 Simply summarised, no longer can smokers or potential smokers not understand the risk they are exposing themselves to and that they do so of their own free will and volition. Whether you accept this logic or not, or your thoughts on the role of the State versus personal responsibility, it is however a fact, that you can buy these extremely dangerous products most anywhere you care to shop.\u00a0 When vaping first emerged, it is true to state that the risks that vaping posed were pretty much unquantified.\u00a0 However, vaping established itself in those early years because the early users correctly and simply concluded that even without specific evidence to back up, it was surely impossible, given the concept and the ingredients, for vaping to be anywhere near as dangerous as smoking.\u00a0 Of course, they were correct and as the years passed not only has the scientific research demonstrably proven that vaping is orders of magnitude safer than smoking, but also there is the enormous sump of anecdotal evidence of tens of millions of ex-smoking vapers, that is probably the most compelling of all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A good friend of mine and business colleague, coined a very\nsimple yet powerful pithy retort to vaping\u2019s detractors: \u201c\u2026there is never a\nsituation where it is better to smoke than vape<\/strong>\u2026\u201d. It is the essence of this basic statement\nthat is so powerful. As established,\nvaping exists only because smoking does; it is profoundly safer than smoking\nand has proven itself as the most successful smoking quit aid ever\ninvented. Millions no longer smoke as a\nconsequence, and the health dividend associated to vaping\u2019s success is up there\nwith some of the most important public health discoveries in the modern\nera. A good news story if ever there was\none! Well, no, as it transpires. I will\ncome onto the recent matters related to cannabis oils in the USA shortly, but\neven though the UK has seen such remarkable positive change in its smoking\nstatistics, the level of misunderstanding and mistrust of vaping continues to\nbe fundamentally at odds with the positive facts. The media have been much maligned across\nrecent years, from the disgraceful behaviours of the News of the World phone\ntapping, through to recent and persistent accusations of political bias and\nflawed journalistic rigours; you take your pick where you stand. However, when we consider how vaping has been\ntreated, I believe it is beyond reasonable doubt or margin for error that there\nhas been a considered and concerted editorial bias across multi-media and news\noutlets to malign and undermine vaping\u2019s credibility. I would also claim that if it were not for\nsome brave individuals in positions of influence and credibility who have\nspoken out positively and powerfully across the years, then this malignant\nmedia onslaught may well have been successful in stemming or indeed preventing\nvaping\u2019s establishment in the UK and across Europe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Why is vaping not given the objective and fair reporting it\nwould apparently deserve? The generous\nanswer, may well be found in the understanding of what smoking is to both the\nsmoker and the \u2018never smoked\u2019. When you\nsmoke you wrestle with some often very challenging tensions. These are different for every smoker. For me,\nhaving smoked since a teenager, I eventually gave up 20 years ago aged 33; it\nwas a struggle across most all of my nearly 20 years of smoking. Like all smokers we know we are damaging our\nhealth, yet we continue to smoke. We\ntell ourselves platitudes such as, we enjoy it, we can stop at will, it calms\nme etc, but behind most of these is an acceptance that we are addicted to a\nhabit that is terribly difficult to wrestle free of. I did eventually, and it is one of my most\nimportant life achievements. However, if\nyou have never smoked, it is easy and logical perhaps to see smokers as\ndeserving derision and castigation due to their \u2018irresponsibility\u2019, \u2018lack of\nwill power\u2019, \u2018selfishness\u2019 etc. Vaping\nexists because of smoking, and 94% of vapers are smokers or ex-smokers. Therefore, understandable perhaps to a \u2018never-smoked\u2019\nfor the 2 things to be conflated as just another form of the same habit. Whilst understandable, it is not however a\nlegitimate perspective for a paid journalist to be so lazy and subjective as to\ncompose their work through this pejorative lens. Yet they do, have done routinely across the\nyears, and continue to do so. Whilst in\npart it can be understood as lazy and poor journalism written under the\npressure to produce headline grabbing copy, its consequences are unfortunately\nvery dangerous. For every smoker who has been prevented from trying vaping, or\na vaper who has lost confidence in vaping and returned to smoking because of\nthis media misrepresentation, there is an individual whose life expectancy has\nbeen adversely affected by this bias. Even\nmore reprehensible are those journalists that knowingly misrepresent and\nactively pursue the maligning of vaping; you will have examples yourself and\nthere are unfortunately many.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So we come to the USA. \nHaving owned and run a vaping business in the USA for 10 years, I have\nfirst hand knowledge of how different the USA vaping scene is to that in the\nUK. Whilst vaping grew rapidly in the\nUSA across its formative years to be the largest national market, with upwards\nof 10 million vapers, the background was being shaped towards the eventuality\nthat has slowly transpired across recent years. \nThe USA market for open system devices, those devices that are very much\nthe norm for UK vapers, is being progressively shut down by unnecessary and\ngrossly onerous legislation. This is\nbeing driven ostensibly by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However,\nbehind the scenes it is the very poorly hidden hand of large corporate influences\nthat is driving not only the legislation but also the narrative. There is not the consistent and coherent\ncounter-narrative of respected and relevant leaders that there is in the UK to\nhold to account these agendas, and only the poorly represented vapers, ever\nmore isolated and negatively portrayed, left to fight what is now a battle\nlost. What will be left in the USA is a\nquasi-tobacco cartel of vaping products that will only be sold alongside\ntobacco products in convenience stores across the country. You see, vaping will not have been formally\nbanned, but it has been so neutered by the loss of vaper orientated businesses that\nonly products developed, owned and marketed by tobacco businesses will be\nsold. The owners of those businesses have\nno ambition to compete successfully with their primary revenue streams, and\nslowly but surely the USA vapers will be starved of relevant and accessible products,\nsuch that we have effectively prohibition by stealth. The closing down of the USA market has not\nonly been achieved by corrupt lobbying by tobacco and pharma\u2019 companies, but\nalso by the media\u2019s willingness to carry an ever more elaboratively woven\ndistortion of vaping. Unlike in the UK,\nwhere there still is a strong association to vaping\u2019s justified position as a\ncounter to smoking, in the USA, very cleverly and insidiously for a number of years,\nvaping has been progressively characterised as a \u2018culture\u2019 or \u2018choice\u2019 dissociated\nfrom smoking. Why is this clever? Because\nif you can dissociate from the real threat, then vaping is ever more vulnerable\nto the arguments of addiction and child uptake, etc. It is these arguments that have been used furiously\nagainst vaping, which are used to legitimise the punitive legislation and\njustify its effect, and all the while smoking gets its free ride. Crazy, yes, but no conspiracy theory; just a\nrun of the mill conspiracy fact. As is\noften the case in life, do not follow the words, follow the actions and benefits. The beneficiaries in the USA are the corporate\nbehemoths of tobacco and pharma\u2019, working in sinister cahoots to extract benefit\nfrom its victims, all of us who smoke or have ever smoked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It is against this background, that recent news out of the USA has been \u2018formed\u2019.\u00a0 At the time of writing, it is believed that 29 US citizens have died and around 1300 been hospitalised by the use of vaping devices to deliver illicit cannabis vape liquids.\u00a0 Unfortunately, USA\u2019s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for over 6 weeks chose to blame the delivery mechanism rather than the substance that was being delivered, referring to symptoms of a mysterious \u201cvaping-related lung disease\u201d, rather than what it actually seems to be; lipoid pneumonia caused by the inhalation of lipids. These are not the same as nicotine containing vape fluids regulated and sold in the UK, these are fluids which are not suitable for inhalation, and contain products which were known to have been dangerous to health if inhaled, but were sold and used as such.\u00a0 Firstly, this is a significant matter that deserves coverage, and anyone who has ever considered vaping as a method to imbibe cannabis oil should be aware of this significant risk. Whilst the UK does not have the same cannabis culture as the USA, and UK vaping products are regulated appropriately when it comes to fluid quality and ingredients, UK citizens needed to be made aware of the happenings in the USA to ensure such tragedies do not occur here.\u00a0 However, the reporting of these deaths was so inaccurately represented that two things happened.\u00a0 Firstly, the important message to warn about the risk of inhalation of cannabis oil was lost in the lamentable reporting.\u00a0 There is a fundamental responsibility of our media to report accurately, clearly and as widely as possible, risk and dangers to protect citizens.\u00a0 In this case the UK and international media failed en masse.\u00a0 Why? Because they were more seduced by the secondary reporting opportunity.\u00a0 This was to target the reporting as a \u2018vaping\u2019 story and connect all the risk, dangers and consequences of inhaling lipid containing cannabis fluid to vaping in its totality. We read of \u2018vaping deaths\u2019 and the \u2018dangers of vaping\u2019.\u00a0 These reports not only failed to warn against the legitimate cannabis oil risk, but they summarily blamed vaping and often vaping alone for these deaths.\u00a0 It is akin to blaming the manufacturers of syringe needles for an intravenous heroin abuse epidemic, not the drug dealers.\u00a0 Too harsh an analogy? No I do not think so.\u00a0 This in part may have been just lazy journalism, or more sinister in knowingly misreporting to cause significant damage to the fragile reputation of vaping.\u00a0 The reasons, whatever they may be, do not excuse or justify the material effect that this misreporting has had on the confidence of vaping in the UK.\u00a0 Whilst more recently we are seeing more accurate and balanced reporting that is separating and making the correct distinctions, the damage to many smokers\u2019 confidence in making the switch has been significantly undermined, and likely fewer will make the move to vaping than would have otherwise.\u00a0 The maxim of \u201c\u2026there is never a situation where it is better to smoke than vape<\/strong>\u2026\u201d needs today to be ever more exposed and assured than before these events in the USA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My apologies if this piece was rather longer then perhaps it could have been. However, I wanted to write these words, primarily for our Totally Wicked customers, to place on the record our perspective of recent events, but just as importantly the longer view of where we have come from and the context for the future of what should be a very positive position for vaping in our society. We have seen that those with the voice often and wilfully misrepresent and undermine the potential and credibility of vaping as a remarkable tool to give smokers a real choice. It is often left to vaping businesses, and their reasons for existence, their customers, to carry the torch for these remarkable products. No more powerful weapons in breaking through these challenges are the always compelling personal journeys each one of us has made from being a smoker to a life free of smoking. When I took responsibility for leading Totally Wicked almost 7 years ago, I understood the responsibility, not only for continuing to develop our business, but just as importantly to accept our responsibility for our sector and the reputation of not only our products, but whenever possible vaping as whole. I am humbled every day I have the privilege of speaking with you, our customers, and being able to share and support your individual journeys away from smoking. I am very lucky to have been involved with such a great business that every day delivers the product and services that have helped so many leave smoking behind. The last few weeks have been very disappointing in undermining so much of what has been achieved collectively in the UK. Ultimately though, nothing has changed. Vaping is still the most effective way of quitting smoking, its risks are magnitudes lower than smoking, and it gives choice and freedom to smokers who previously had so few options. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Fraser Cropper, <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There is never a situation where it is better to smoke than vape. Running a company such as Totally Wicked is often unlike running a normal business; this is primarily due to the products we manufacture and sell, and \u2018opinions\u2019 that can often have a profound effect on the understanding of what our products are, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":10354,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13511","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n
Totally Wicked Chairman <\/p>\n\n\n\n