Just a reminder, the South Florida Vape Meet is today at at 1:00 p.m. at Maguires Hill 16 Irish Pub, 535 No. Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301.  Hope to see you there!

Electronic cigarette users have found it frustrating that anti-smoking groups have tried to squash a healthier alternative to smoking instead of embracing it like they should.  Like many questions these days, following the money may lead to the answer.  Dr. Michael Siegel states in a recent article that in 2011 and the first two quarters of 2012, Pfizer alone contributed nearly $2.8 million to organizations such as the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association  and the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.  In short, the maker of Chantix has contributed $2.8 million more than the electronic cigarette industry has.

The anti-smoking groups’ rejection of electronic cigarettes has been difficult to understand.  Surely they are not ignorant of science to the point that they cannot separate nicotine from the actual harmful chemicals in cigarettes, right?  Maybe a gentle suggestion and a few hundred thousand dollars helps.  Of course, it would be difficult to find factual evidence that Pfizer has bought support for their version of smoking cessation that involves a drug linked to suicide and other health problems at the expense of ecigs.  These groups certainly do not want this funding to be public knowledge, though, and did not report their conflict of interest when making recommendations agains electronic cigarettes to the FDA.   The conclusion is hard to ignore.  Organizations like these don’t exist without funding, and corporations like Pfizer don’t spend $2.8 million for nothing.

There is another meeting of the South Florida Vapers taking place in Fort Lauderdale at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 26, 2012. The location is Maguires Hill 16, 535 No. Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301. Bruce and Justin from Clouds of Vapor is sponsoring us (as usual) and will be there. This month we are also being sponsored by Halo E-cigs, Blue Mist Vaping and IBTanked.com. Come out for some really great free raffle prizes!

Need a good excuse to get a ProVari?  Or maybe the one thing that turned you off about one of the best APVs on the market was the lack of color?  Provape has remedied that with a new selection of colors.  The ProVari is now availbel in four new colors to add a little style to your variable voltage vaping pleasure.

Regardless of what other PV I’m carrying lately, I’ve been keeping the new Mini eGo from Smok Tech in my pocket all the time.   It only lasts for a few hours on the small 350mAh battery, but beyond that it’s a great little device.  Mated with a 1.7ohm shorty cartomizer it is practically unnoticeable in a pocket and great for occasions when stealth is needed.  And it’s a cute little thing!

No, the picture to the left is not cut off!

Sandy and Diane did it again! A great meeting of South Florida Vapers. It was fun to see everyone enjoying a good vape and Bruce and Justin from Clouds of Vapor added to the fun with demonstrations and prizes. Good stuff.

South Florida Vapers

It doesn’t take long for most electronic cigarette users to end up with a bin full cartomizers and atomizers of different resistances. I also have a bad habit of not throwing away used cartomizers and often end up at a later date wondering whether they are good or not. The solution is to test them to see what the resistance is in ohms, but testing with a multimeter can be a little cumbersome and carrying one around is not all that feasible. Madvapes now has a solution with their Cartomizer and Atomizer Ohm Meter. The fully enclosed box has 510 connectors built in, so testing resistance is as easy as screwing on the electronic cigarette atomizer or cartomizer and pressing the button.

There is another meeting of South Florida Vapers taking place in Fort Lauderdale at 1:00pm on July 22nd. The location is Maguires Hill 16, 535 North Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301. Looking forward to seeing you there!

The summer travel season is upon us and I see a lot of questions regarding the risk of getting electronic cigarettes through airport security. The short answer is that ecigs should present no problems when carried on the plane. TSA screenings are unpredictable, but electronic cigarettes are not banned items and I haven’t heard of anyone having them confiscated. Keeping batteries and cartomizers separated, placing eliquids in zip-lock bags and keeping the batteries easily visible are all good ideas. I typically place mine in a pocket of my backpack. At worst, the TSA agent may ask about them, but most seem to know exactly what they are when they go through the scanner.

Of course, ecigs fall under smoking regulations for the uninformed tobacco hating public, so don’t get caught vaping on the plane!