Puff Bars

I get anywhere from 10 to 20 phone calls a week and 2 to 4 walk-ins asking for Puff Bars. 

"Do you carry Puff Bars?"

"Do you sell those 800 puff bars?"

"Do you have those puff things?"

"Hey, I was wondering, do you have..."

No. No, I do not. Nor do I intend to in the foreseeable future.

Do I think they should have a place within the vaping industry? Perhaps. 

I can see a small, limited scope usage case where a skeptical adult smoker might see the appeal in using one, as a proof of concept, or perhaps a concerned family member may want to provide one to an inveterate smoker for the same reason.

And if I truly believed as many as 10% of the enquiries I have fielded were from skeptical smokers or concerned family members, I would give consideration to carrying a single-use disposable nicotine delivery system.

Most days, my emotional response is to wonder if 10% of those fielded phone calls involved persons who have reached the age of access. If I'm feeling particularly pessimistic, I replace 'access' with 'puberty.'

It should be noted that the "Puff Bar" is an American product. The identical (in all but labelling) device available through legitimate Canadian wholesale channels is the Allo. The Allo device has a 1.6-ohm resistance coil, holds 1.2 ml of e-liquid, has a battery with a capacity of 280 mAh, and is advertised as being able to deliver about 300 'puffs' in its operational lifetime. A pack a day smoker will consume roughly 1 device a day (give or take). The Allo is available in either 20 mg/mL or 50 mg/mL of nicotine concentrations.

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The value that a single-use disposable electronic cigarette has as an introductory/proof of concept tool for a smoker comes with costs that go beyond the obvious, but let's start with that.

The rough price of an Allo disposable e-cigarette in the Edmonton (Alberta, Canada) region is roughly CAD 10.00 plus tax. This is still significantly cheaper than more hazardous combustion-based delivery systems in the area. However, if this platform is used for much more than proof of concept, it is by far the most expensive option with regards to ongoing operational cost among vaping products.

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The environmental impact of a completely disposable device isn't exactly 'chump change' either. Disposable pod systems are waste creators, but at least the power supply is rechargeable, meaning that the battery is going to landfill after 3-6 months or more of use. With an entirely disposable device you have the following going into the landfill daily for a pack a day smoker:

• The external cardboard box.
• The internal foil packaging.
• The two rubber end caps packaged on the device.
• The device itself:
• The plastic frame.
• The liquid reservoir, which may or may not contain nicotine bearing liquid at the time of disposal.
• The circuit board, wiring and draft switch that operates the device.
• The battery; and its constituent chemical components.

And before the first comment that comes in that says: "BUT IT'S RECYCLABLE!"

Sure it is... got the little symbol on it and everything, and just as soon as you show me your collection box and the hundreds and hundreds of used devices that you are recycling for your customers, I might believe that 10% of them are winding up in a heap somewhere. Waiting, while someone figures out how to disassemble them safely and rework the base components. Until then, they are assumed to be landfill. 

Vape shops consistently complain about the amount of time we spend policing our parking lots for empty pods and used coils. Do you really think those devices are being recycled? 

Give your head a shake. The vast majority of last week's disposables are currently being crushed to unrecognizable, shard laden paste under the tracks of a bulldozer. When the cell they are in is full, it will be capped with earth and become a wild grass strewn mound while the contents below continue to linger for as long as they are wont to do, either inert or leaching into the surrounding decomposing refuse.

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Beyond the high cost of operation for a smoker and the environmental impacts of disposal, both of which in certain circumstances I could come to accept, the primary reason I choose not to carry the device is the consumer demographic that keeps requesting it.

These are not old, smoke ravaged voices I hear over the phone, calling from quiet living rooms. They are squeaky young voices, often with other young squeaky voices chattering away or giggling in the background.

Phone calls can come at random times of the week, but frequency picks up as we get closer to the weekends. These conversations are short. The question asked, and the question answered.

The walk-ins are not middle or late aged folks with tar stained fingers and teeth, carrying the lingering odour of the cigarette that was just put out in the ashtray in front of the shop. The walk-ins are almost universally 18 to 20 years old. They are dressed like they are headed to the party. They have left anywhere from two to five of their friends in the car which they ever so subtly parked three stalls away from the front of the shop or off in the side lot, not realizing that while the laminate prevents people from seeing into the shop, I can see out just fine.

These interactions are more entertaining and more illuminating of my overall concern:

• It's always a Friday or Saturday evening or late afternoon.
• The car always drives slowly past the shop, sometimes pausing for a second and usually carries between 2-5 heads. The vehicle then carries on at least 40 feet and parks, ignoring 4 vacancies immediately in front of the shop.
• At least 50% of the heads stay in the car.
• The door opens, 1 or maybe two heads walk in. In most cases, they stop immediately inside the door; the braver ones will come in about 6 to 10 feet. In all cases, they scan the shop like they are looking for snipers and tripwires.
• Them: "Do you... um... carry those... uh... (insert: puff bar, disposable, 400 puff thing, etc.)?"
• Me: "Nope, they are expensive, hard on landfills, and they are too popular with underaged users because they can take one to the party and throw it out before their mom finds it in their jeans the next day."
• Them: (Sometimes blushing and almost always fascinated with the wood grain on the floor) "Um yeah, I get what you're saying... um... do you know where we can get one?"
• Me: "Nope"

Not once has the response been "Aw man I wanted to see if it would replace my cigarettes." or "what other products do you have?", and for the record "I get what you're saying" is this generation's version of my generation's "Whatever; Old man."

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In a perfect world, there would be a place in my shop for disposable e-cigarettes. I recognize a smoking demographic that would benefit from their availability, I can visualize how they can be leveraged and applied to reach that specific demographic.

It's not a perfect world. In fact, it's not even a fair world.

In a fair world: smoking morbidity and mortality would have at least as a minimum, equal footing with concerns over recalcitrant youth exposure to nicotine. 

They do not. 

A lot of folks who one would typically think would be right on board with a product that the Royal College of Physicians has repeatedly stated when speaking of long term health risks "... they are unlikely to exceed 5% of those associated with smoked tobacco products, and may well be substantially lower than this figure."...

They are not on board with it.

In fact, they will watch smokers get sick with emphysema, or cancer, or COPD, or have a stroke, or a heart attack... They will watch a smoker die, and they will feel justified in it. So long as they can say they saved a teen from nicotine dependency.

Nope. It's not a perfect world at all.

But that is very much the smokers' world and has been for a very long time.