Most of you are most likely aware that the "Vape Mail" restriction was passed as part of the COVID relief spending bill. I want to explain what this means to you and vape companies.

How it affects you:

The bill makes adult access to vaping products more difficult and expensive. In short, the new law classifies vaping products as combustible cigarettes and places them under old laws to ensure sales and taxation are appropriately addressed.

No More USPS: Approximately on March 31, 2021. Stores will no longer use USPS to deliver products directly to consumers. Please note these are approximate dates. They plan to offer USPS as a carrier until it is no longer legal to do so.

Alternative Carrier Network: Starting April 1, 2021, they will use alternative shipping and carrier networks to deliver your orders.

Limited Coverage: The new network currently delivers to zip codes covering roughly 70% of the United States population. Though they are working on expanding their coverage, there is no timeline nor guarantee of expanded coverage.

Additional Cost: PACT Act requires EVERY single delivery to be signed by an adult who must prove their age with a government ID. This adds a great deal to the cost associated with every delivery.

Slower delivery: The new network will take significantly longer to deliver your orders.

Stores will be announcing their shipping options, costs, and coverage as soon as they have a clear picture, but tentatively, it will cost them more than $17 to ship packages that weigh less than one pound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXvOSNJo5gI

Okay, so the media is all over vaping due to lung illness due to vaping. I need to talk about possible causes.
A little (a lot) history about myself.

I first started smoking in college. I smoked mainly cloves and beanies, then I started smoking pipe tobacco with a wooden pipe. I enjoyed smoking at this point. I was even thanked for smoking pipe, by people who hated smokers. So that just drove me to continue smoking.

Eventually, I was hooked. I knew I was when I had a thought "I need to have a smoke". The minute that entered my head I knew I was addicted. I didn't care, I thought I was strong enough to quit on my own and that people who couldn't were weak. I was dead wrong. I found myself smoking more and more and I got fed up with smoking pipe because it was maintenance intensive, and messy. A cigarette was much easier to use and available anywhere without having to go to a smoke shop, so I began smoking "analogs" instead. This persisted for 16yrs until I finally quit.

My first "vape" was back in 2007. It was "The Electronic Cigarette" which was a ciga-like. It was 150 USD for 2 batts with 2 atomizers and a package of 5 cartridges. That didn't stop me from smoking, however.

I tried again in 2009, with the new Ego Riva 510 which is when the "pen" vapes first appeared, they were still dealing with the transition of the connection between the atomizer and the battery. This helped but I eventually went back to smoking, since all it was was a cartridge system much like my first vape purchase.

Then I saw a tank system, with a wick. This was when I finally quit smoking, and started vaping full time. Kanger had just come out with the ProTank 1. I believe it was 2010-2011, and I used that with an iJoy variable wattage mod 10W max.

As the wattage increased, I found myself buying more and more mods to "keep up". Until the point I decided to go mechanical (tube mod) This required some research and reading forums, so I didn't injure myself. Since that time I have never left mechanicals. I started using house juice (those made by stores) and then to premium juices (those made by larger companies like Suicide Bunny, 5 Pawns, Vapor Technologies Austin, etc.)

I had slowly dialed it down from 36mg of nicotine initially to 3mg/ml. I could not get down below 3 to 0. So that left me one option, to make my own juice. Again, I had to do some research and read forums. I have been making my own juice for a little over 4yrs now.

At no point did my health turn for the worse. I did have constant illness when I was smoking, but since I have been vaping I have not had a single lung illness, not even a cough. I have had sore throats, sure. At the time I was a smoker I had trouble running up a flight of stairs without getting winded. (note: I am the same weight then as now) and I woke up at night vomiting, due to a blocked airway due to my constant smoking. I had tried other methods to quit smoking, but nothing worked. I knew I would die if I continued. In a very real way vaping saved my life.

I recently purchased a series 26650 mod about a year+ ago, custom made from Jmodz Box Builds, and am at 0.5mg/ml nicotine dosage. At this point my need for nicotine is a mental thing, and not a physical need. I vape because I enjoy it. I started smoking because I liked it. I liked the hobby surrounding tobacco, I've tried Cubans, Davidoffs, Nat Shermans you name it. I know I can never have a drag from a cigarette again or pipe, because just like an alcoholic, that simply does not work, so whenever the desire hits me, I usually make a batch of tobacco flavored e-liquid.

This brings me to this recent story. Before "nicotine salts" were a thing I had already started making my own juice, using liquid nicotine (100mg/ml) in a PG base.

I believe the problem is in the nicotine salts themselves, since the lowest dosage is about what I used on a ProTank 1 back in the day (25-30mg/ml) There are sites selling lower dosages of nicotine within the salts. For example buying 1mg/ml up to 250mg/ml. So I don't see why they need to leave it so high in nicotine for mixed juices. It also shows that premium juices/house juices may also be made by nicotine salts without you knowing about it.

Granted 4 deaths doesn't qualify as "all nicotine salts are bad", but I do think the refinement of the nicotine can be an issue, especially if done at the lowest dollar for max profit ratio.

As most should know 75% of the vape market right now is Juul pods made with nicotine salts. We didn't have deaths when there was no other option but general run of the mill nicotine liquid. Now we see people dying in short order?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xseYaEQDpyk

Another possible cause maybe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr7v70XGLlw#action=share

I have not watched Chris (the guy in the video) for almost 10yrs now. Thanks to I_love_the_APBT for the link! Chris has a long video history of vaping, and has done it consistently since 2007 possibly longer. He has reviewed a megaton of devices, and was one of the first YT vape videos I ever watched.

Now I did go online and make a case for vaping, and one user suggested I go back to smoking tobacco! I was stunned.

I don't post a lot on this group because I don't like annoying anyone who have joined, but lately I've been watching a lot of talk shows on Youtube, mostly one person in particular, Tim Pool. Tim is a former VICE journalist and is a moderate Left individual, of mixed race and I generally like what he has to say, because he makes sense, and I too am of mixed race. But he brings up a topic today that hits me kinda raw, that of vaping. Check it out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RYWqkwY1vs

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/health-46697036/smoking-v-vaping-watch-lab-test-results

(contains video)

"Smoking v vaping: Watch lab test results
If you're going to try to quit smoking in the new year, try vaping, a UK government advisory body says.

Public Health England has launched a campaign video showing the dangers of traditional cigarettes, and has carried out an experiment demonstrating how e-cigarettes are much less harmful."

Of course, it is too much to ask the US media to report this, or any other news agency whose government takes tobacco company money.