The Vaping Culture ?

[daviedog]

Old man,, you step aside when a young man passes by.....

The Who
Circa 1969

 

[GeorgeS]

All laws and regulations come about with public approval. Change the perceptions of the public and you can change laws. Educate...don't annoy.

Every story on e-cigs that I have seen on the TV has a anti-vapor guy in a white lab coat vs. a tattooed guy (who owns the local vape shop) blowing clouds. Which one do you think your grandmother is going to trust.

Don't get me wrong. When I'm at home, I can blow with the best. But out and about, I'm as tootle as they come.

What about the grandmothers that have tattoos?

 

[Eitje]

Honestly, I don't think it matters much ... Cloud chasers or not, the nay sayers will find an argument to abolish the evil that is known to us as vaping. Its a gateway to real smoking, it contains lethal chemicals, it's substance abuse, its ... Fill in the rest of the frequently heard reasons to ban vaping.

People taking offense to big clouds in public, are likely to take a similar stand to tootle puffs as soon as the big ones dissipate. It might take m an hour to realize they 'won' that battle and take aim again but they certainly will.

We all been young, we all did stupid things (I hope). The fact that one juvenile can't control his beamer at 120mph and kill a few is no reason to ban all BMWs. We all know BMWs are not good for public health still we condone them.
Same goes for house parties and alike, bad for your ears, substance abuse, indecent exposure, etc. They have plenty on the barricades against them yet every weekend there's a rave somewhere. (I'm Dutch)

Point being , no use 'argueing' with cloud chasing. Even if all would stop, the effects are marginal and will not help our cause in the long run.

 

[ENAUD]

Also, as I said, it really doesn't hurt us. The ANTZ aren't interested in science, reason, or facts. We could all be vaping alone in our houses, with the lights off, under the covers, and they'd still oppose it. They just want to run our lives and make sure we don't enjoy ourselves along the way. The hell with em.

And that right there is precisely the reason I decided to make them irrelevant to me personally. I will do what I need to do, for as long as I need to do it, to stay off the smokes. This is a battle, and a big one. I hope and pray that in the end truth will win out and the ANTZ will be swept under the carpet like the prohibitionists of yesteryear, but for now, it seems they have an audience and willing supporters. We pride ourselves about living in the information age, yet mis-information and dis-information are as rampant as they ever have been.

 

[pennysmalls]

I haven't read all of the responses yet but this thread got me to wondering what would the sub culture of cloud chasers mean in a world where vaping was totally acceptable? Would we even pay them any mind? Probably not, and it's sad that we have to even discuss this topic because we do live in a world where vaping is totally acceptable, it doesn't matter that the masses haven't caught up to that newsflash. That *is* their problem.

The world where vaping is not acceptable is a mirage that will eventually go away and I refuse to base my opinions on a mirage no matter how real it may seem.

 

[ENAUD]

I haven't read all of the responses yet but this thread got me to wondering what would the sub culture of cloud chasers mean in a world where vaping was totally acceptable? Would we even pay them any mind? Probably not, and it's sad that we have to even discuss this topic because we do live in a world where vaping is totally acceptable, it doesn't matter that the masses haven't caught up to that newsflash. That *is* their problem.

The world where vaping is not acceptable is a mirage that will eventually go away and I refuse to base my opinions on a mirage no matter how real it may seem.

The only world that matters in the end is the one we choose to believe that we are living in. In my world, vaping is a perfectly normal and acceptable behavior, each moment of every single day. No one has the power to convince me otherwise

 

[Ryedan]

Let me start by first giving a disclaimer: I believe there is room for all people and all points of view in regards to vaping. This is merely my view on the current state of our culture, given what we are trying to accomplish after the new California law and the FDA deemed regulations, what I feel we must change to insure a future for vaping.

Okay, that being said I'm going to address a major issue, as I see it, that is effectively putting vapers in a bad light, attracting negative press and a horrible overall public view of vaping.

There is a sub culture within our culture and I will refer to this group as "cloud chasers / tricksters". Again I stress, there is room for all of us in vaping but as I see it, they are not helping the cause. I know of few of these "cloud chasers / tricksters" personally and for the most part they are great and courteous people, so if you are or consider yourself one please don't take offense or do if this applies to you apply it, but for the purpose of this post am addressing all of them as whole as most of the government and general public will do and the affect they have on all of us as a whole as well These "cloud comps" / "trick comps" can contribute to making vapers appear like a bunch of immature idiots who vape just for the thrill of how big a cloud you can blow and what cool tricks you can do. For the most part they seem not to care where they are or who's around, they seem to have this "I don't give a .... attitude" and" if you don't like it oh well, it's legal".

Come on, let's get real, this honestly makes us all look like a bunch of douche bags. We are and have been for the last several years under constant scrutiny from the public and the media and the "cloud chasers / tricksters" don't seem to care.They continually undermine the tireless work of all the advocacy organizations and make it hard for anyone to take us seriously. If we are to change this we must change public perception and the only way to do this is reevaluate our image and show people we aren't just "cloud chasers / tricksters" and that, though they are a part of us, they do not represent all that we are. If you are a "cloud chaser / trickster" take a moment to consider what I have said here and reflect on what is at stake and what you can to to further the industry and change your image.

As I wrote this I realize it may sound as though I'm coming of a bit "holier than thou" or that I am asking that you change who you are and that is the very last thing I would ever consider doing. I am however a believer in "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one or the few" and there are those of us who need vaping. There are jobs at stake, an entire industry is simply going to vanish if we cannot unite and work together to fight this. It is a sad state of affairs when we are even mocked and hated by smokers the very people most of us try to educate and help get away from a product that is slowly killing them.

So you think there is room for everyone in vaping, but not cloud chasers / tricksters. You know some cloud chasers / tricksters personally and for the most part you think they are great and courteous people, but for the 'purpose of this post' you are addressing all of them as a whole because for the most part they seem not to care where they are or who's around and seem to have this "I don't give a .... attitude" and "if you don't like it oh well, it's legal", but for the most part you think they are great and courteous people ... but they make us all look like a bunch of douche bags

I think I just broke my previous record for run-on sentence length

Your opinion seems quite well thought out ocvapeman, and more than a little confused

 

[Bunnykiller]

ummm hows this...

tootle puffers................................. clouders

 

[440BB]

I was thinking along the lines I have for some time that cloud chasing helped influence non-smokers' perceptions of vaping in a negative way and hurt our original objective - to stop smoking.

I came to realize today that if there was only a single tattooed neck bearded person blowing a massive cloud on camera once, it would have been used repeatedly to affect perceptions and support headlines. I now think that cloud blowing has been irrelevant to the place we're at today. The agenda to demonize vaping was in place long before anybody blew a single cloud.

As far as I'm concerned, cloud chasers - blow 'em if you got 'em!

 

[ScandaLeX]

I was at a bar a year ago, sitting on the smoking patio with some friends. A group of "hipsters" was behind us smoking something else. I kindly asked them to move to the empty part of the patio {.....SNIPPED.....}I'm allergic and had just spent a bunch of money on booze, taken some pain killers and didn't really like the idea of puking all that back up, as I tend to do around that {.....SNIPPED.....}. I didn't tell them to stop, I wasn't rude, just asked nicely.
I was given a lot of grief and "prove it was me" even though it was rather obvious and finally led to the door by the bouncer. Even trying to explain to him, I was considered wrong. I hadn't threatened or touched anyone at that point, but I was ready to!
So when I say I get the OP's point, I've seen first hand, numerous occasions, where they had the "I can do what I want and %^& you if you don't like it!" mentality.
I've vaped in bars and had patrons ask me to stop, no problem. I've been in bars with people blowing clouds that have been asked to stop, they ended up being thrown out for being belligerent. That mentality hasn't helped our cause any.

What I found troubling here was you were in a public place bothered by what others were doing that could affect your allergy. Somehow you wanted them to move elsewhere when they could've possibly expected that you be the one to move....see....it goes both ways.

Do you walk up to everyone doing something that may cause you to have an allergic reaction & tell them to stop or move elsewhere?

As far as people with the I can do what I want mentality, please let's not just limit it to vaping. People like that exists everywhere. Yesterday I had some clown park her raggedy car on the sidewalk in front of my house. I asked her not to & she proceeded to do it anyway telling me you don't own the sidewalk & I don't want my car to get hit.....LIKE it was brand new....there wasn't a spot on the car that hadn't already been hit. Thing looked like it's been part of a demolition derby.
And she's right---according to the city I don't own the sidewalk UNTIL it needs to be repaired then all of a sudden it's the homeowners responsibility.

So I had it ticketed & towed!

 

[ScandaLeX]

just using your post for reference.
please anyone,do not take what I mean when I refer to anyone who has an allergy as
a slight or disfranchising of those with allergies.

The problem is in the real world there are so many things that cause allergies the
real world cannot compensate for each and every single one. It is incumbent for
the person that has the allergy to insure their safety or the guardian in charge of
the allergic person. I as an individual have no moral or ethical obligation to adjust
my life style in any way what so ever to accommodate literally thousands of
situations where I may encounter some one with an allergy.

This does not make me a uncaring clod. When asked I am perfectly willing to
make acommendations as necessary. All I ask in return is for the realization i
can not read minds nor do I have a copy of your medical records for quick
reference in my possession.
Regards
Mike

If something has the potential to make me ill I remove myself from the situation; not expect others to change up what they're doing for me.

 

[WillyZee]

The only problem I have with cloud chasing ... it is too appealing for today's youth.

When I started vaping to quit smoking, there were only a few mech mod guys who were chasing the clouds, Vape shops were full of people looking to quit smoking ... and shops were not fogged out.

then the whole sub ohm hobby aspect exploded and we quickly saw these guys take over the face of Vaping ... Dude, Do you even Vape?

I may be wrong, however, something seems pretty obvious to me ... Vaping would not nearly be as appealing to today's youth without the Cloud Bros.

The decline in smoking with today's youth would have continued and the rise in vaping would not have been so great.

 

[Bad Ninja]

Old man,, you step aside when a young man passes by.....

The Who

Expecting this old man to step aside might get ya a puch to the windpipe.

Show courtesy to your elders.

Why we don't allow drug talk

We're taking a very close peek at that line folks. Time to step away from it.

Controled substance.

According to the FDA you need to apply for aporoval to call any substance a "drug".
Legallly, its not a "drug".

I kid you not.

 

[evan le'garde]

 

[skoony]

Every story on e-cigs that I have seen on the TV has a anti-vapor guy in a white lab coat vs. a tattooed guy (who owns the local vape shop) blowing clouds. Which one do you think your grandmother is going to trust.

Gramma would trust the reporters slant on the story. They don't lie.

I may be wrong, however, something seems pretty obvious to me ... Vaping would not nearly be as appealing to today's youth without the Cloud Bros.

Vaping sans cloud chasing and tricks would be just as appealing. One week later cloud chasing and
tricks would have been invented by them anyway and it would be more appealing.
" Yo,bro,hold my flavored vodka beverage and,watch this."

Mike

 

[retired1]

And we're done. Closed.