Vapes turned the tobacco world upside down since they first emerged on the market in the 2000s.
But where did they come from? What's in them, exactly? Here's what you need to know about vapes. Wholesale Disposable Vape Pen
Vapes, also known as e-cigarettes or electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), are battery-operated devices that people use to inhale aerosol that typically contains nicotine, but not always, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. They can also have cannabis products (THC, CBD), and even essential oils.
The first vaping device was developed in the early 2000s by Chinese scientist Hon Lik, who made the device as an alternative to smoking. It was around 2007 that vapes first appeared on the market in the United States, and within a few years, they had already created problems for federal regulators. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration did not have authority to regulate them until 2016 after legal fights with vape companies.
Vaping surged in popularity in the early 2010s, according to Theodore Wagener, director of Ohio State University's Center for Tobacco Research. Countless flavors were already on the market that point.
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Unlike the slang "vaping" implies, users are actually breathing in aerosol – particles or droplets suspended in air – not vapor, which is the gas form of a substance. The term vaping emerged around 2012 or 2013.
The fluid that is converted into an aerosol, known as juice or e-liquid, comes either built into the device or sold separately. It's typically a mixture of water, food grade flavoring, nicotine and propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin. It can also contain cannabis products (THC or CBD) instead of nicotine.
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Things changed in 2016 when JUUL patented a new, smoother type of nicotine that upended the way the industry manufactured vapes. And, in turn, attracted youth.
Devices started with freebased nicotine, the purest form of nicotine and the kind used in a cigarette. JUUL in 2016 patented nicotine salts, which provide a smoother experience as opposed to freebased, which creates a mouth burning sensation.
With the switch to salts, JUUL also simultaneously increased nicotine content in its products from 1% to 5%. From there, the 5% nicotine content became an industry standard.
"Kids were always attracted to flavors, but it did not lead to epidemic use. It was really the change in formulation of nicotine that led to this epidemic rise in youth vaping," Wagener said.
Some vapes list their milligram nicotine content. Fifty milligrams is the same strength as 5%; 10 milligrams is the same as 1%, and so on.
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Vapes come in all shapes and sizes, but they all consist of the same four components.
Retailers market vapes as closed systems and open systems.
Closed system devices are any vape that does not need to be refilled with e-liquid. They include disposable vapes, which can either be precharged or rechargeable, and those with prefilled liquid pods that can be changed out in a reusable pen.
When disposables first emerged onto the U.S. market in 2006, their resemblance to a cigarette earned them the nickname "cigalike." Cigalikes, with brands like Vuse and Blu, delivered a lower amount of nicotine than more modern disposable devices.
Newer disposables pack a more powerful punch, with many offering around 50 milligrams of nicotine. They can be precharged or rechargeable and resemble pens or tanks, and are also small enough to be pocketed. Brands include Mr. Fog, Elfbar, Hyde and others.
Open systems are customization-friendly, unlike their disposable counterparts. They are devices that require maintenance, like changing the coil and the liquid.
The larger vapes with a tank attached are known as mods because they're modifiable. The user can buy different bottles of liquid to manually fill the reservoir, so it's popular with smoking quitters who want to pick different nicotine amounts. The mouthpiece and battery are also removable.
Other open systems have a pen appearance and can also be taken apart. What's different with these pens is the pods can be manually filled with liquid. They come in a starter pack with detachable components.
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What's different between vapes and tobacco products? The chemicals.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says igniting and breathing in tobacco smoke dispenses more than 7,000 chemicals into your lungs, at least 250 of which are harmful to your health. Vapes have far fewer, typically with three.
According to Wagener, the nicotine levels in a vape are about on par with cigarettes when sucked with the same intensity for the same amount of time, a phenomenon called nicotine flux.
Not everyone is puffing a vape as lightly as a cigarette. With the smoother salt-based products, people tend to inhale more deeply, for longer and more frequently.
In 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration tried to regulate e-cigarettes as unapproved drug/device combination products. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in 2010 that while the FDA could choose to regulate e-cigarettes and other products “made or derived from tobacco” under its new tobacco authorities, it could not regulate these products under FDA’s drug and device authority unless they were marketed for therapeutic purposes.
The FDA regulates manufacturing, importing, packaging, labeling, advertising and distribution of vapes and their components. This includes e-liquids, cartridges flavors, batteries and other device parts.
Tobacco product marketing would have to be approved as well. The FDA must determine that allowing the product to be marketed would be "appropriate for the protection of the public health," which requires the agency to consider the likelihood that those who do not use tobacco products, including youth, will start using them.
To date, the agency has approved only 23 vaping products to be marketed.
Vaping is not an FDA-approved quit aid, but some studies have shown that people are more successful quitting smoking with use of an e-cigarette device than people who quit using nicotine patches or counseling. An analysis of 61 such studies found for every 100 people using e‐cigarettes to stop smoking, nine to 14 might successfully stop, compared with only six of 100 people using nicotine patches, seven of 100 using nicotine‐free e‐cigarettes, or four of 100 people having no support or counseling only.
Jeff Kathman, owner of Cincy Vapors in Fairfield and Green Township, started his store as a way to help smokers quit. It sells customizable tank vapes where the user can choose what e-liquids to put inside. The idea is to reduce the nicotine level of the e-liquid over time to ween oneself off the chemical and eventually move to a no-nicotine juice.
What's not as effective, Kathman said, is the closed system vapes. There are fewer customizable nicotine options of pens with pods, and disposables are not modifiable. Open systems where users pour in the e-liquid are the most effective options with those trying to quit smoking, the customer base he's always wanted to serve.
Disposables, on the other hand, he believes, aren't the way to go to quit. He sells them to keep up with competition from other vape shops but doesn't recommend them to those trying to kick tobacco for good.
"I tell customers what they need to know to keep themselves safe," he said. "I think the vaping world would be better if disposables went away."
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Some vapes contain cannabis products. How can you tell the difference by looking at the device?
"This one gets a little blurry at times," said Frank Cahill, vice president of the Ohio Vapor Trade Association, which advocates for store owners amid state legislation targeting the vaping industry.
If it's an open system, chances are there's no CBD or THC involved, Cahill said. Vape pens are more likely to contain it, and if purchased at a retailer, should be clearly marked on the packaging.
The problem is, he said, many of these vapes are manufactured off the market, so there isn't a way to tell by looking at it. If the mouthpiece smells like marijuana, it's not a nicotine vape.
Dabbing is when people inhale the oil concentrates and other extracts from the cannabis plant. These are called wax, shatter or oil. Extracts contain highly concentrated forms of THC, and the CDC says they may be contaminated with other harmful substances. Dabbing started with a glass bong called a "dab rig," but now it can be done using a vape.
A dab pen is used primarily for consuming very high amounts of THC at once. They work like other vape pens, and "dabbing" is sometimes used interchangeably with "vaping."
E Cigarette With No Nicotine It refers to the inhalation of vapors derived from marijuana-based oils, concentrates and extracts. What's different about dabbing than smoking weed, however, is the "high" associated with dabbing is near instantaneous, and it's a lot stronger. Substances may contain upwards of 90% THC.