The only thing to Fear, is Fear Itself

So, have been asked a few times about the official AVCA stance on Mechanical Mods and safety.    

Have tried to stay far far away from the controversy  – but failed miserably when I commented on Fergus’ blogpost  It’s been great, mech mods, but it’s time to say goodbye“ with “Going to disagree on this one. Personal choices come w/ responsibility & risk. Isn’t it about personalisation and choice?”

This was after we in the community here discussed the topic before the media shitestorm.  Vendors and Vapers together (cos that is how we roll  over here).  Now, keeping in mind that New Zealand is but a small drop in the ocean of vapers and therefore is more like a large extended family, it is easy to have these discussions and come up with a plan on how to proceed and find out how both vendors and vapers are going to proceed to address this topic.    Disclaimer: YMMV in your jurisdiction.

We (AVCA) are in process of finalising and activating our AVCA Approved program for Vendors.  This is an agreement, MoU, with resellers that addresses this issue, among others, so it’s been a timely topic.   There are vendors here in New Zealand who refuse to even carry Mech Mods – and that is their right as business owners and some who do carry mechanical mods – and who only sell them to vapers who are advanced and have been vetted via human interaction (face to face or over the phone directly).  So if someone orders one online, they are not getting it from an AVCA approved vendor until they have been vetted.  One needs to keep this in mind when reading the foregoing to understand my perspective.  (we also have a publication that is ready to print that goes into Battery Safety that you will find at that link, that we distribute and want people to distribute to anyone who needs it.

In Fergs post he mentions that “But now it’s time for them to fade into the sunset. There is no place for mech mods any more, and I’d be much happier if they all disappeared from the shelves tomorrow.”  He goes on to say: “I don’t regret buying any of my mech mods and, although I haven’t used one since early 2015, I remember them fondly. Sadly, because this is not an ideal world, they’ve now become a massive liability…. now they’re simply outclassed. Vape shops are full of affordable mods that will fire at 0.05Ω and put out 100W – and they’ll do that all day with basically zero chance of blowing up. They have an extensive range of built-in safety features that intercept any danger before the battery starts cooking, and they also deliver a more consistent vape.”  

True.   Except the “massive liability” has more to do with how we react to the situation/stories than anything to do with putting the entire vaping community and industry in the scope of the regulatory authorities and being used against us. Because reality is, they are gunning for us anyway, so the best defense is to be proactive not reactive.  In saying that, how we do react is the key here.  

Even if we all call for outright bans, or under the counter sales, or vendors to do vetting prior to sale of these items, there is NOTHING that will prevent someone from importing them in from overseas.  WE cannot stop a manufacturer overseas from building and shipping mechanical mods, nor should we.  

Why? Because then we traverse the slippery slope of giving those regulatory authorities the right to determine what WE can and cannot have – we give them carte blanche to CHOOSE for us what is best for us.  And they don’t have the knowledge and understanding that we do of the situation.   We also risk being “hypocritical” because some people (probably more than Ferg knows but it could be a Kiwi thing) actually enjoy mechanical mods, customising them, collecting them, using them responsibly.  You know, “the pleasure principle” we have all gone on about?  Yep, that.

As I put it in a local forum here in NZ: “You cannot regulate personal responsibility. You cannot legislate stupidity away either. So, the short story is no. I think we all have a responsibility to be educated consumers and accept the risk that comes with what we do.”

What we CAN do, however, is demand that the equipment itself is made to the highest standard and we CAN choose not to take our business to vendors who sell them to the uninitiated.  Let the market decide who the responsible vendors are, and let the rest of them fall on their sword (of greed).

Another thing we CAN do, is instead of being reactive to the negative media and publicity is to be proactive.  Meaning: we know the risks exist, we acknowledge that the risk exists, we give the best information we can to prevent negative outcomes and we use our wallets and voices to support those vendors who are responsible with the sale of mechanical mods.  We have done this before, on a less risky situation with AP/Diacetyl, as a community.  

Now, I see this as the same argument with firearms.  Nothing wrong with them, but who uses them.   If you are going to own one responsibility, you use a trigger lock and a gun safe.  If you want people to respect a firearm, you show them what it can do, and how to use it properly and responsibly so they respect the firearm.  You don’t ban firearms.  Which is no different from any mod that any of us use, either mechanical or regulated.  The risk exists regardless and the level of risk increases with the type of equipment.   (the difference between a .22 and a AK-47 so to speak).

We could also use the argument that Automatic transmissions in cars are safer than Manual transmissions – in most situations- because there is less of a chance of human error causing an accident (stalling in an intersection or merge lane, for example).  Or cars should not be allowed on the roads once they are over 10 years old because of “safety.” (personally, give me the 1960’s 3 on the tree steel body and chassis over the newer auto computerised tin can unibody with plastic bumpers for “safety” but that’s my personal opinion).

Now saying that you could come back and say that mechanical mods are the AK-47 of the vaping world and there is no sane reason anyone would actually NEED one.   I would agree with you.  Surprise!  But, it’s not my place (or yours) to deny someone the right to own one if it is legal in their jurisdiction.  We don’t have to like it, or agree with it.  Just as I don’t want a mech mod, but I don’t think it’s my right to say someone cannot have one, or someone wants to vape old formulated flavourings that contain AP/Diacetyl.  If I don’t want the government to tell me what to do, I sure as hell don’t want another vaper to tell me what to do.   And we vapers tend towards being a rebellious lot.  The difference being, we created this industry, we know (for the most part) what we are doing and it is our responsibility to convey that experience and knowledge onto each other.

So, getting back to the media shitestorm about mechanical mods lately…..has anyone cared to notice that – even though Mech mods have been around FOREVER – we never saw any bad press about them until the FDA recently announced their ENDS battery safety workshop in April this year?  DING DING DING.  If that is not an overt case of public manipulation via the media, well then I may need to be put out to pasture.   There is a pattern here and I would think by now that the majority of us are clued up enough to see it and be able to prepare for it (i.e. be proactive).

I think it is more a matter of upping our game rather than allowing governments, corporates and/or the media (which are, in some jurisdictions, in bed with each other like a menage a trois out of a bad bad movie).  

How?  Instead of getting your hackles up, do something. Contact your local vendors, or vendor association.   Soon enough you will find out who the ethical businesses are and support them and them only.   Instead of being the cheapskates we tend to be (come on, who hasn’t’ bought something off Fasttech because it was more than half the cost of what we could get from a local vendor) pay the extra to support the ethical guys and work with them to self regulate BEFORE some external forces do it for us.

And for god’s sake, do not play by their (govt/corporate/media) playbook.  Do not allow fear (of your own personal interests being shat upon) and ignorance (of those who don’t know what we know) colour our future.   Then you let them win.  And then you have nothing to complain about because you allowed it to happen.  We cannot afford NIMBY at this stage of the game.  THIS is the time to advocate, to show that we are responsible, mature and knowledgeable and realistic.

Your mileage may vary, and we probably still need to agree to disagree.  But this is all I have to say on the matter.  Thank you for your consideration if you have managed to get through this.

As always, with respect….Nancy