The rise of the dodgy shop

[rdobbie]

I accept the arguments about littering from disposable vapes and the marketing towards teenagers, BUT...

I switched to vaping 3 years ago after smoking tobacco for 28 years. The health benefits have been enormous. My terrible smoker's cough has gone. I'm no longer pumping tar and carbon monoxide into my lungs. I've saved thousands of pounds; a £1 bottle of 88 Vape liquid from Poundland lasts me a week. My family don't have to suffer that revolting smell of stale tobacco on my clothing. I use a refillable device that's over 2 years old, so not much environmental impact except the empty liquid bottles which I recycle.

I don't want to quit nicotine because I love the hit. I have a nervous disposition. It's comforting. It's enjoyable.

The anti-vaping arguments seem pretty weak to me. I don't recall this amount of animosity towards tobacconist shops which survived on high streets until the 1990s.

If you're walking down the pavement and inhale someone's vape cloud, it's better than inhaling someone's Lambert & Butler fumes.

The vaping industry certainly exploded in a haphazard manner; all kinds of unknown brands and questionable retailers appeared from nowhere. The bubblegum marketing hasn't done the industry any favours.

It just needed some sensible regulation. But governments are absolutely useless at finding that balance. Just look at the clampdown on HFSS placement: supermarkets can no longer put crisps or chocolate at the front of the store, but can fill the void with 18-packs of Carlsberg for £10.

And look at the sugar tax on drinks – effectively a sugar ban – children are now consuming unprecedented volumes of aspartame which has been classified as a possible carcinogen by the WHO.

[bilky asko]

Aspartame is classified as an IARC group 2B substance. This same group also includes applying talcum powder to your gooch and mobile phones. It is a lower category than drinking beverages of over 65 °C and working night shifts.

The result of this classification was no change to the acceptable daily limit of 40mg/kg/day, or the equivalent of an 80kg person drinking over 5 litres of diet cola a day.

These groups don't take into account the level of risk involved, so the acceptable daily limit remaining unchanged suggests the risk level is tiny at normal consumption levels.

Overconsumption of sugar is a known cause of obesity, which is a major risk factor for cancer.

[james2001]

If you're walking down the pavement and inhale someone's vape cloud, it's better than inhaling someone's Lambert & Butler fumes.

I'd rather not inhale either. People ripping clouds around other people and trying to justify it with "it's not as bad as fag smoke" aren't doing themselves any favours (it's basically the same as the old argument of justifying second hand smoke because of "car fumes"- that one was used a lot when the smoking ban came in). I've recently been diagnosed with asthma so I'd rather people do that crap, whether it's smoke or vape, nowhere near me. None of that "well, there's X out there, so you should put up with Y" whataboutery.

[Philip]

Looks like the police are waking up to this problem

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3677xzk56no

[Dr Lobster*]

Looks like the police are waking up to this problem

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3677xzk56no

The shop near me which I think has been raided twice now is still open, so....

[Blewatter]

Sometimes, you see a vape shop and to make a bit more money they'll sell other items. Spanish Cleaning products, phone cases, maybe even some phone repairs. Last night, travelling through Walton in Liverpool, i saw a shop called 'Vapes and Toys'. Because you want to get them young and then sell them vapes?

Shouldn't that sort of shop be illegal?

[tillyoshea]

Not a million miles from Walton… not suggesting that it’s a ‘dodgy’ shop, but it does seem a unique combination (although I think it may have closed now).

[Blewatter]

Not a million miles from Walton… not suggesting that it’s a ‘dodgy’ shop, but it does seem a unique combination (although I think it may have closed now).

I just don't like the optics of being a specialty shop that is selling products intended for adults also selling products for children. I think its morally questionable, at best. At least with tanning beds and fireworks, they are all intended to be sold to adults.

[cdd]

There's a place near me that sells bubble tea + vapes. The latter feels seedy and has prevented me from ever going in to buy the former. It feels like vapes has taken over from mobile phone unlocking as the preferred sideline.

I always wonder how companies like UPS choose their network of drop-off shops. I had to drop off a macbook and had an unenviable selection of dodgy shops that felt unsuitable for a parcel worth £1000+ (mostly rip-off corner shops but also a nail salon). They must pay tiny amounts per parcel dropped so I assume the shops are hoping for ancillary trade but that doesn't seem likely.