Worth Reading this Weekend (October 30th)

Quite a lot happening this week here in Norway, with the government preparing to implement the TPD, trying to convince us that they're doing a good thing for public health and NDS biting back, exposing their hoax.

There has also been some other really interesting cases worth reading about as well:

• A study called How does Electronic Cigarette Access affect Adolescent Smoking? got a fair bit of attention this week. I've been wondering a fair bit about this lately... we all seem to want to ban e-cigarette sales to minors, me included... or at least I used to be sure about this, but what is the reason behind this? This study makes confirms a suspicion I've had a while: Vaping might act as a firewall, preventing teenagers from taking up cigarette smoking. You can read more about it here and Michael Siegel has written a good comment on the case, as has Dick Puddlecote: Won't Tobacco Control Please Think Of The Children!

Woman getting yelled at
in Australia

• While the above mentioned study is, in my opinion, both pretty robust and important, these are obviously not qualities needed to get the attention of the media: E-cigarette users are 'significantly more likely' to be problem drinkers: Devices encourage excess alcohol consumption, study claims. What's wrong with this study? Pretty much everything... I'll leave it to Christopher Snowdon to explain: The unsurprising relationship between vaping and drinking 

• Another case worth mentioning is a video of a "psychotic anti-smoker yelling at a woman in a park in Australia". Christopher Snowdon and Dick Puddlecote both has written about it this week.

Have a nice weekend!

Review: Goblin Mini RTA by UD

The first sub-ohm tank I tried out was the Kanger Sub-tank, the first edition they released. Pretty big thing, works like a charm though, but a while ago I wanted to try out the mini version of it. I remember I wanted it pretty quickly, since I needed something smaller for a trip I was going to. I checked dampoteket.no, which is located pretty close to where I live (like 15 minutes by car) and lets me come pick up the stuff I order online. However they were all out of mini Kangers, so I asked Birger, who runs dampoteket, for alternatives. He suggested I tried the UD Zephyrus, claiming it was the best sub-ohm tank out there when it comes to flavour. I decided to trust him and ordered one, and I was totally amazed. The Zephyrus is a fantastic tank. Since then I've been meaning to try out more stuff from Youde, and I've had my eye on this Goblin Mini for quite a while. Now, finally I've got to try it out.

In the box
The Goblin Mini is indeed... mini. So they've packed it in quite a mini box, well protected by a foam insert. Pretty classy as well, looks like a small black jewellery box. In the box you get:

• The RTA (of course)
• A spare tank section
• A spare driptip
• Spare o-rings (one of each I guess)
• Spare screws (one for the build deck and one for the fill hole)
• A 510 driptip adapter (the Goblin driptips are just plain glass tubes)
• A single coil adapter (blocks one of the air holes if you want to do single coil builds).

Looks and feel
I really do like the looks, and size, of this little thing. Putting it on my Hana One mod I have a great, lightweight but powerful combo, small enough to almost fit into the palm of my hand... RTA included. I even like the logo quite a lot. Fits the name in a way.

In use
This RTA being so small of course also means it has a pretty small build deck. Still I think it's pretty easy to build on. It does have 2 holes in the center post as you can see, which in my opinion makes building it easier as you can do one coil at the time if you're doing dual coils like I've been doing.

The airflow control is quite unique on this one. The air comes in through holes in the bottom which can be adjusted in size by adjusting a slider at the bottom of the RTA. When fully open the holes are pretty big giving you more than enough air. I've run it up to 60W (that's all I've got right now) on around .4 ohms without any problems, which means the wicking is also great. Well of course that also depends on how you wick it. I've put just enough cotton in there to go slightly down into the 4 juice canals, and that seems to work very well. Almost no leaking (just some times slightly wet when I unscrew the atty), and no dry-hits whatsoever. I've seen some complaints about the airflow control with the slider, as you do have to unscrew the atty a bit to adjust. For me it's not a problem at all, since I don't really adjust it that much anyway.

Filling is done through a hole in the bottom, plugged by a small screw with an o-ring. This means you have to have a screwdriver with you at all times, and this can be an issue. They should have included one in the box to be honest, preferably a really small one that you could keep with your keys or something like that. Then again, I guess most vapers who use RTAs already have quite a few of those tiny screwdrivers so might not be a problem. To tighten the screws on the build deck you need a tiny Phillips screwdriver, while the fill screw is slightly larger and needs a flat one. They could have made these the same and included the screwdriver needed. Other than that, if you have the screwdriver at hand, and good lighting so you don't loose the tiny screw, filling is no problem. The size of the hole matches the tip of most juice bottles.

The juice capacity is said to be 3ml. For my use, this is more than enough, and actually quite a lot considering the size of the atty. But this also means that it is not the RTA you would bring as your only one for longer trips, especially outdoors considering how it is filled. Of course if you're inside and can fill whenever you want it's all good.

The Goblin does not use standard 510 drip tips, but there is an adapter included if you have some favourite you want to use. I haven't even thought about that since I think the glass tube ones included look awesome, and they don't get hot. They could, however, have used a slightly thicker o-ring in there to make it a tighter fit. It is pretty loose, and I have actually had it falling out in my pocket. Found it again though so I still have both :)

Performance
Now comes the really good part. Cause performance is amazing on this RTA. With my .4 ohm dual coil setup (28 AWG) I get huge amounts of vapour and equally huge amounts of clean delicious flavour. It's up there with my drippers, and definitely one of the best atties I've tried once set up. I've been running it mostly on 40W, and it is quite a thirsty thing. Guess it has to be to produce those clouds. You could probably set it up differently, and run on lower watts to make it less thirsty, but I haven't really had the need to do that by now. Again, flavour and vapour production is incredible on this, and one of the best I've tried so far.

Pros and cons
++ Insane flavour
++ Fantastic vapor production
+ Looks great (you can also get tank sections in different colors)
+ Size (if you want a small atty of course)
- They should have made all the screws the same and included a screwdriver
- Difficult to fill if you're out and about, would have been great if they figured out a way to fill it from the top as well (Maybe block the fill hole with the driptip or something like that).
- Driptip fit is a bit loose.

Also worth mentioning is that this is not the RTA you want to do super-advanced fancy big builds on, with thick clapton or twisted coils and all that. The build deck is to small for that. But I didn't really want to list that as a con either, since that is not the point of this atty. It performs incredibly well on quite simple builds.

Conclusion
Would I recommend this? Hell yes! Of course, the small size limits it's use a bit, but honestly it has not been a problem for me yet. I quite simply love it. I see it's listed at just below $40 most places, but you can easily get it for around $20 most places, and at that price I see no good reason not to try this out. Gearbest has it at 50% off right now at $18.99. It's worth every penny... and then some.

Big thanks to Gearbest for sending me this Goblin Mini for review.

Disclosure:

• All my reviews are my honest opinion even if I am affiliated with the company manufacturing or selling the product. 
• The device was sent to me free of charge for the purpose of this review.
• This review does not contain affiliate links.

Government wants to implement TPD, Norwegian vapers bite back!

Kjell Marius Jenssen, head of board of NDS

On Monday Norwegian government parties Høyre and FRP announced they wanted to make it legal to sell e-cigarettes and e-juice containing nicotine here in Norway. Not surprisingly it was all just an effort to make it look like they're doing something good for public health, when really they're just preparing to implement the TPD.

Norwegian vapers, however, will not give up without a fight. Yesterday, Kjell Marius Jenssen, head of board of NDS, wrote an article published on minervanett.no, exposing the governments real intentions and calling their bluff. On behalf of Norwegian vapers, he bites back... hard.

Yesterday Høie and Wold celebrated themselves in the press. Finally  E-cigarettes will be made legal. It was even stated that e-cigarettes are good for public health. A little later that day the consultation paper was made public and all illusions vanished like dew before the sun. What the government took credit for wasn't actually making  e-cigarettes more easily accessible to Norwegian vapers, but rather introducing the EU tobacco directive Article 20 - an EU directive that actually obliterates the vaping phenomenon.

Google will probably translate the article well enough for you to see that it is a thorough walk through of the consequences, the undemocratic processes resulting in article 20 and finally a good summary of how NDS (and I think most Norwegian vapers will stand behind these views) view vaping and how it should be regulated.

Despite the fact that the government has access to all the information above and know that e-cigarettes are good for public health, they choose to promote a proposed regulation which effectively removes an alternative that is minimum 95 percent safer than tobacco smoking. When this is even communicated as a liberalization, one has to wonder if this is a sign of incompetence, or if they actually want to give the tobacco industry such a present.

But it gets better. Not long after Jenssen's article was published Dagbladet, one of Norway's biggest newspapers, picked up on the case and published an article with this headline: The government's e-cigarette proposal is a hoax. Now that's more like it. Jenssen's original article gets a link and some of the most important points are explained in a way most people can understand: The tobacco industry owned cigalikes that will be left on the market and the nicotine strength limit suggested will not make e-cigarettes a good alternative for smokers trying to quit. In the end, the tobacco industry will be the ones winning. This is also where Karl Erik Lund from SIRUS (The Norwegian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research) comes in to support Jenssen's argumentation in an excellent way.

What the government seems to want with this is a step in the right direction, and the intention to lift the ban is good. But to use the EU's tobacco directive as a template for regulation of e-cigarettes would have disastrous consequences for those products that lures smokers away from the deadly cigarettes.

For the first time in history, we now have harm-reducing nicotine products with the potential to compete with - and preferably out - tobacco. But in order to do so the nicotine doses needs be high enough and taste variations must be allowed. The EU directive causes the product range to narrow, the products to become more expensive, the attractiveness is reduced and the tobacco industry are left as the winners.

Lund also continues to attack the process leading to the TPD, calling it a missed opportunity:

There is a broad agreement among European tobacco researchers that the tobacco product directive evolved to become a "missed opportunity" for e-cigarettes. This is because neither researchers nor users were included in the decision-making process.

Finally he explains how cig-alikes are not very popular (cause they don't work very well) and refers to data from the UK showing that vaping is not picked up by non-smokers.

Jenssen gets to explain a bit about the Totally Wicked legal challenge and that NDS have suggested e-cigarettes should be regulated as consumer products with an age limit of 18 years, before the minister of health, Bent Høie, and general secretary of the Cancer Society, Anne Lise Ryel, gets to say they're happy with the suggestion. Høie says the proposal is an improvement to the current situation, that it will clear up some misunderstanding that e-cigarettes are risk free, but that there are health benefits for smokers switching to e-cigarettes. His statements doesn't make much sense if you've read the rest of the article.

Finally, I'd say, NDS and the Norwegian vaping community are getting some good, fair coverage in Norwegian media. This article in one of Norway's biggest newspaper is surely valuable to us. However, I do think it is a bit disappointing that I haven't seen any other media picking up on the case yet. NTB, a big Norwegian news agency is referenced in the article, so more media should have picked up on it in my opinion. Hopefully they're just a bit slow, and hopefully this can spark a real debate here in Norway, where vapers and vaping advocates voices are also heard. We've been left out in the cold for way to long already.

Norwegian government pretends to care... but wants implement TPD

Earlier today I wrote that Norwegian government parties Høyre and FRP wants to allow e-cigarettes containing nicotine. With big words FRP proudly announces they want to allow this and facilitate product availability to give smokers a healthier alternative, one that will not kill them. A bit later the consultative document was released on the government webpage. This is in Norwegian of course, don't know how good google's translation will be, but I'm sure many of you recognise this: 2014/40/EF (or 2014/40/EU). Yes.... it is the EU TPD.

I said earlier today that I felt weird to see a representative from FRP make so much sense. Once I wrote that I had a gut feeling this all sounded a bit too good to be true. My gut was right. This is nothing more than the Norwegian government preparing to implement the draconian and deadly TPD. Høyre and FRP is merely trying to score some points among vapers, trying to make it look like they actually care about public health, when in fact they're jumping when they EU say they should and effectively try to eradicate vaping as we know it. The result is that they are sacrificing lives to avoid the wrath of their EU gods. There are two possible explanations to why: Either they're to weak and cowardly to stand up to the EU, or they're to lazy to do their job and actually read a word or two about what vaping is all about. I'm not sure what I think is more scary.

This morning I felt a bit optimistic. I should have known better. Norwegian vapers now face the same deadly regulations as the rest of Europe. Still, not all hope is lost. There are still people fighting the TPD, both in Norway and the rest of Europe. It's pretty clear from what we saw today that the Norwegian government intends to implement the TPD, so I urge Norwegian vapers to engage in this fight as well as working to educate the Norwegian politicians, making them understand that the EU is on the wrong path here. It's not very surprising, but still disappointing, that our government intends to implement the TPD. There's a lot of good work going on in the vaping community ... we'll just have to keep it up and hope for the best.

Norwegian government parties wants to allow e-cigarettes with nicotine

TV2 went to a tobacco shop in Oslo selling e-juice...
without nicotine of course, says the girl working there.

Today TV2, a large Norwegian TV channel, reports that governing parties Høyre and FRP wants to repeal the existing "e-cigarette ban" here in Norway. Currently e-cigarettes are subject to kind of a semi-ban. It is not legal to sell e-cigarettes or e-liquid containing nicotine, but as long as they don't contain nicotine e-cigarettes are legal to sell, but subject to an advertising ban and an age limit (18 years). It's great to see that politicians are welcoming vaping, but it's a bit early to bring out the champagne just yet.

There is currently not much information available on the suggestion, but FRP writes on their web-page that it will be regulated by the current smoking laws, and that they're very happy with that:

"It makes control operations easier. Moreover, not everyone will notice whether you smoke a cigarette or vape on an e-cigarette. So it makes sense that e-cigarettes are regulated by the Tobacco Act", says Morten Wold, Member of Parliament from FRP.

This probably means no vaping inside and so on, but also means it can be sold anywhere tobacco is sold. A very important issue is what will happen to our current import rules. If the opportunity to import e-juice for private use by ordering online is removed (we're not allowed to order tobacco or alcohol this way), we're suddenly much more limited in our choices and I fear prices will be a lot higher than today. I've found no information on any limit on nicotine strength yet either, but it would surprise me if they don't look at the TPD for this. So even if the ban on nicotine e-juice is lifted we still have a long way to go, and some battles to fight.

"We have repeatedly proposed to repeal the ban on the sale of e-cigarettes because these are far less harmful than regular cigarettes. E-cigarettes may represent a harm reducing alternative for smokers. Therefore it has been important for FRP to facilitate access to these products", says Wold

As you can see, they are all for harm reduction and seem to understand that this is they way to fight tobacco, and therefore wants to facilitate access to e-cigarettes. However, regulating this under the Tobacco Act is not exactly how I would have started out to facilitate access. Also, facilitating access is great, but you also need to think about facilitating usage, making e-cigarettes a more attractive alternative for smokers. If these politicians really understand the concepts of harm reduction, it is obvious that some education is needed to make sure they regulate this the right way.

A request for comments to the suggestion will be sent out today. Høyre and FRP needs support from some of the other government parties for the suggestion to become reality, so we're not sure this will become reality yet. We'll just have to wait and see how this turns out. There is still a lot of questions as well, and not much information on how regulation will be done, but I do believe vapers in Norway will have to continue fighting for reasonable regulations. I'm kind of optimistic, but I do feel it's quite weird to see a representative from FRP making so much sense, almost hard to believe ... that's enough about my political views for now:) I'll try my best to keep you guys updated on this.

UPDATE: This turned out to be the government preparing to implement TPD and kill vaping as we know it.