Ok, you seem a little unclear on how these things work. The juice is consumed as you “vape”, therefore more must be purchased from time to time. I do that by shopping at the vape store, not hanging out in the vape store.
I already agreed that of course younger people will vape more, they have less entrenched smoking habits. But I think when you have 3.5% of 45-64 yr olds using it regularly compared to 5.1% for young adults, it’s not that crazy a difference that shows “new fangled too hard for old people” thing.
There are approximately 22,000,000 people aged 15-18 in the US. At 16% (per the US SG’s 2017 report), that’s 3.52mil users. There’s approximately 22,000,000 people in the 18-24 brackets as well for another 3mil users at 13.6%
There is around 84,000,000 people aged 25-44. At 5.7% (ignoring breakdowns within that group) you have 4.8 million users.
You have over 1,700,000 more users in the nine year 15-24 bracket than you do in the entire nineteen year 25-44 bracket. That is, again, handwaving away the fact that 44 year olds are not using at the same rate as 25 year olds. Your anecdotal experiences while shopping at the vape store aside, it’s very much a younger person’s pursuit.
I switched to vaping about eight years ago after smoking more than two packs a day for over 40 years. I went from getting out of breath climbing the cellar stairs to daily three mile walks or 12 mile bicycle rides. My dentist and dental hygenist have both commented on the improvement of my gum tissue.
I learned to make my own eliquid. It is very easy and very cheap. My nicotine habit costs me about 43 cents a day. I tried lots of flavors but settled on not using any flavoring; just nicotine, PG, VG, nothing else.
The Tobacco Control industry puts out loads of very misleading information about vaping. They get funding from the tobacco settlement (there are many billions of dollars still to be spent) and the money must be spent on anti-smoking stuff. The Tobacco Control people have gone past anti-smoking and gone on the be anti-nicotine.
Take that popcorn lung report, for example. I read the study. They tested 12 different eliquids. Just by looking at the flavor names, I knew most of them would contain diacetyl because they were flavors like pie crust and custard (buttery flavors). They didn’t chose random flavors, they chose flavors which were almost certain to contain diacetyl. They didn’t name the actual brands, just named the flavors – about as useful as a car crash study that didn’t name the actual car models that failed the test. And most of the flavors were from brands of ecigs sold by big tobacco, not small businesses. Many elquid manufactureres do not use diacetyl.
Every exploding ecig I have heard about was from user error. Just avoid “mech” models of ecigs (those that are simply a battery in a tube with a switch). Regulated devices have many safeguards to prevent overheating or short-circuiting.
E-cigarettes around 95% less harmful than tobacco estimates landmark review
Evidence review of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products 2018: executive summary
No it’s not. You don’t understand how statistics work.
5.1% of 18-25 yr olds versus 3.5% of 45-64 yr olds doesn’t seem so much of a chasm to me but clearly ymmv.
That’s fair. I look forward to your correction and numbers.
CarnalK has already presented the numbers.
The Surgeon General’s report gives a much higher number for 18-24 than 5.1%:
His numbers are contradictory to the most recent 2017 use report.
Let me explain myself this way: Say 5% of people under 25 like popcorn and 5% of people above 45 like popcorn. Using you demographics numbers, it would be fair to say there’s a bigger under 25 market but not that it’s a “young person’s snack” because age doesn’t seem to affect popcorn love.
eta: and you are comparing different statistics. Mine were for regular users, yours were “ever” and “past 30 days use”.
The portion I quoted above was for “current use”. That said, they may define “current use” more broadly:
Your CDC report: Current e-cigarette use includes respondents who reported using e-cigarettes every day or some days
Surgeon General’s Report: Includes those who reported they had heard of, tried, and used e-cigarettes every day, some days, or rarely at the time of the interview.
However, the SG report says it’s using CDC data.
It would, however, affect perception if you saw significantly more younger people, which is what I originally stated.
BTW, my link had “ever tried it” numbers slightly more in line with the SG report you linked.
18-24 > 21.6%
25-44 > 16.6%
45-64 > 10.2%
65+ > 3.7%
I tried to look at the original data from the National Tobacco Survey but it’s in some bizarre file format (well, I’m sure it’s used all the time in research) and when I tried to download the viewer, it said “File not found”. I took that as a sign to stop worrying about it 
Well, I’m a serious smoker with over 30 pack years under my belt. I don’t want to quit smoking. I enjoy it, and it brings me pleasure. I like having an excuse to play with fire. I like having a reason to go for a walk and get some fresh air every few hours. I don’t give a rat’s ass if people think I stink. And most importantly, I don’t fear death, and the danger is part of the appeal. Why should I take up an inferior substitution like vaping?
Well, for one, none of us are going to live forever, sounds glib, I know, but still true. It doesn’t matter to me if I die earlier, might actually be preferable considering the growing prevalence of diagnosed alzheimers in my family. No, not really worried about the cosmetic effects of smoking.
If I try multiple samples of variations of the same product, and it’s all bad in my judgement, why would I invest money in the equipment to use that product if I’m not going to use it. I’ve sampled 14 different flavors of vape juice over the past couple of years, and again, regardless of what they smell like, they all taste bad.
As to quitting smoking altogether, I’ve tried. I’ve kicked the drinking habit, and the pot habit with ease, but nicotine has me. I’ve tried dipping, that just made me hypertensive and shitty feeling, I’ve tried patches and gum and lozenges and none of it works. I shrug and I move on.
30 years ago, maybe. Whe Big Tobacco spent millions trying to make it so.
Well, I am not one to think vaping is harmless but you don’t have to fear death to worry about smoking. You just have to fear barely being able to breath while still alive or slowly dying of lung cncer and needing someone else to wipe your ass for couple months. Not quite as cool as going over a cliff on a motorcycle, if you know what I mean.
I don’t fear those things either as I have the means on hand to end my life and the willingness to do so if or when my quality of life decreases to that point. I have my flaws, but living in fear is not one of them.
It’s a fact that nobody’s getting out of here alive in the end. Living the healthiest lifestyle possible is merely dying at the slowest possible rate. Since my goal is not to leave a pretty corpse, but to enjoy life as much as I can, I’ll continue smoking the cigarettes, pipes, and whatever else comes my way, and I have no intention of apologizing for it.
I’d be happy to. I’ll run you through what I would say.
As soon as a new vaper walked into the shop, I’d ask what they smoked, and how much. That would give me an idea of the amount of nicotine they were used to getting. Vape juice comes in several strengths: I vape at about 2-3%, a Marlboro red or a camel runs at about a 12% (which is what I started at). As a rule, the higher the percentage, the greater the “throat hit,” or the feel of smoking. The nicotine level can go up to 24. Some manufacturers put a decimal in there, so for those, I would be vaping a .3, start someone at 1.2, etc.
Then I’d find out what flavours they like. Many-not all, but many-wanted to begin with a tobacco flavour. It seems to help the transition. Some wanted dessert flavours, others fruity, many just wanted to try ‘em all. So they would be shown up to the tasting bar, given a sterile tip for the testers, shown how to use them, and taste to their hearts’ content.
One a flavour (or, more often two or three) were decided upon, I’d introduce them to the hardware. There are two basic parts: the battery, and the tank. I usually recommended a simple, no-frills, battery. Usually slim and pen-shaped, because that has more of a familiar feel. Varying the wattage output of the battery allows a vaper to get a stronger or weaker throat hit, depending on their mood. So I would always recommend a variable mod (“mod” is kind of a catch-all term for battery)
Some mods have replaceable batteries, others are rechargeable. Keep in mind, the replaceable ones are rechargeable too, they just have to be taken out. I feel that a rechargeable mod is better for a newbie because, again, simplicity. Pass-through chargers allow the device to be used while being charged, otherwise, the tank has to be removed while charging.
For the tank, again: simple. It needs to produce enough of a cloud to have the visual association a smoker is used to. Different tanks have different levels of vapor and different amounts of flavour. The coils, which are what heat up to produce vapor, need to be replaced regularly, and are usually exclusive to the type of tank bought.
So to answer your question, a good vape shop should:
Learn about the customer and find out their needs. Like with any retail, if they don’t listen, walk away.
Extol the benefits of vaping, but without being preachy.
Allow the customer to sample flavoursexplain nicotene strengths and help determine what’s best suited to the individual.
Explain the hardware. Demonstrate how it’s used, how it’s charged, how it’s filled and how to replace any parts the customer is expected to maintain.
If you see something that looks like it suits your needs, and they try to sell you something twice as fancy and three times as expensive, walk away. If they talk down to you, walk away. Vape shops are becoming as ubiquitous as pizza joints, so you can always find one that gives you the service you deserve.
I hope that helps, and if you have any other questions, feel free to pm me.
Well I’m not going to argue with a guy who already has his cyanide capsules in place. Watching my dad die of lung cancer is what inspired me to at least switch to vaping.