Vape wars

All vapes are not the same.

A recent television show highlighted a problem around the word vape, so I thought I'd share my somewhat jaded knowledge of the term and what I know it to mean with anyone who can be bothered to read on.

A vape (not an e-cig) as was being depicted on TV recently is a device that heats a liquid (often containing nicotine) to a temperature where it becomes a vapour and can be inhaled, exhaled, etc.

An example of a typical vape that heats a liquid is the Juul.

An e-cig is often also called a vape.

The e-cig heats a tobacco stick / plug / insert until it reaches a temperature where it also creates a vapour, and can be inhaled, exhaled, etc.

An example of an e-cig is the IQOS

As you can see, there is a very big difference between a vape that uses pods of liquid and a e-cig that heats a stick of actual tobacco.

It is a similar situation with the usage of the word in a cannabis context.

A vape can be a device that heats a liquid containing cannabinoids in a suspension that may or may not be 100% cannabis derived.

The cannabis vape (510) is a very low priced item that comes in a extremely wide variety of types and is available to suit a wide variety of use cases and actives, from distillate to live rosin.

Another type of cannabis vape is the type that heats flower to give off a vapour that can be inhaled.

A good example I'm familiar with is the Firefly, pictured below.

To take it one step further, we now have hybrid units like the proxy from puffco, which is a vape that looks like a pipe, and is used for consuming cannabis concentrates like live rosin, budder, shatter, etc.

The thing to remember in all of this is all vapes are not the same.

Ask yourself why the difference isn't being made clear next time you hear the word used in the context of banning it..