This is a list of terms and acronyms you may encounter when exploring the vaping community and their meaning. This list covers all the medical, political, and legislative terms surrounding e-cigarettes. If you’re looking for terminology about vape products, see Vaping Terminology.
E-Cigarette Terminology
A
Addiction: compulsive behaviours or desires to consume or act, both of which, on average, entails a significant risk of physical or social damage (for example, some illicit drugs and gambling).
Addiction implies a danger of harm, even though in certain circumstances, no damage will occur: there is always a risk of injury.
Anti Smoking Harm Campaigners: Many professional and volunteer advocates are affiliated with tobacco control but have distinct goals.
They’re most concerned with reducing the harmful effects of smoking rather than eliminating all access to cigarettes or nicotine in any form and the tobacco industry as a whole.
They assist in promoting public health through non-harmful strategies, such as providing information and promoting smoke-free public spaces.
ANTZ: anti-nicotine and tobacco zealots. The tobacco control industry employees are typically financially backed by the pharmaceutical sector (either directly or indirectly).
Zealots are blind to the facts. Some of them despise the tobacco industry so much that they have forgotten about the original purpose of tobacco control, which was most likely to reduce the health care expenses linked with smoking.
They have transformed into a movement dedicated to banning any form of consumer nicotine product. They are the public face of protest against THR, which means in practice that they work to preserve the status quo and, therefore, cigarette sales.
They are blind to the obvious: they are now collaborating with giant tobacco and pharmaceutical firms to keep death and illness at their present levels. Pharma (mainly) compensates its ignorant supporters by financing them directly or indirectly if they take the money (through university and organisation grants).
ASH, ASH UK: Action on Smoking and Health, created to provide a false impression of public health pressure.
According to critics, ASH (USA) is notorious for serving as a pharmaceutical front organisation. It’s one of the most vocal opponents of THR, including e-cigarettes.
ASH UK cautiously supports the device, but it also backed the Tobacco Products Directive, placing strict limitations on e-cigarettes.
Astroturfing: It’s a deceptive campaign that is commercially funded misinformation. It gets its name from being an artificial and fraudulent imitation of what appears to be a ‘grassroots’ movement, although it is sponsored.
Pharmaceutical corporations concentrate on this type of marketing/lobbying and have the world’s largest astroturfing operation, which is run by front groups set up to seem like pro-health or citizen’s lobbying organisations but is in reality used to apply pressure on behalf of the industry only for commercial purposes.
Aubergine: The plant (food plant) with the greatest amount of nicotine is eggplant. One portion of aubergine contains the same amount of nicotine as would be absorbed by sitting in a room with numerous smokers for 30 hours, depending on the sources utilised as references for the quantity of nicotine in aubergines.
B
Big Tobacco: (or, BT): The term “Big Tobacco” is used to encapsulate the whole of the tobacco trade and perhaps, especially the biggest cigarette companies.
The pharmaceutical industry has conducted an unmatched level of institutionalised lying. Although they have been forced to pay enormous amounts in civil damages, fines levied for criminal behaviour are insignificant compared to those paid by the pharmaceutical industry.
The pharmaceutical business is, in legal terms, the far greater criminal enterprise. However, it is claimed that cigarette companies are involved in criminal activities by organising or allowing the smuggling or rerouting of cigarettes to avoid duty in what is known as the transit trade. Such actions appear to result in few convictions.
Big Pharma: (or BP): a term used to encapsulate the whole of the pharmaceutical industry and perhaps, especially the largest corporations.
They have a terrible reputation for honesty because, when examined as a whole, they have paid out an unprecedented amount of money in fines for criminal fraud and criminal corruption, which total in the billions and are a world record.
No other sector has paid such hefty penalties for criminal activities on such a massive scale. The most remarkable part of the pharmaceutical business is how the general public views the world’s largest-scale criminals, which the authorities see as respectable.
With unlimited power in government for an industry with such a long track record of criminality, they are without equal. Their propaganda and lobbying machine is unrivalled, and the millions it takes to fund organisations, universities, and doctors who carry out the dirty work are well worth it.
BMA: British Medical Association, the UK doctor’s trade union.
Due to the use of blatant liars, crackpot ideologues, and pharma pimps as spokespeople and writers, they’re no longer considered a source of knowledge. Their spokesperson was exposed on the radio as a liar.
They appear to operate as a pharma front group, and their published information in the smoking/nicotine/THR area is primarily based on disinformation and seems to be pro-pharma. It is not clear who they are backed by.
C
CASAA: the US consumer group: Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association.
The first THR consumer group, with the best resources, is the most strongly backed. It gets a lot of help from professionals on its board – lawyers, scientists, etc.
The CASAA association supports all forms of THR products, including e-cigarettes, snus, and other new alternatives to smoking. Its greatest accomplishment is the continual success in preventing city and state bans on e-cigarette sales and usage, as well as unjust and unlawful inclusion in indoor smoking bans. It also stopped airline e-cig prohibition.
Clinical Evidence: an anecdote observed by someone with letters after their name.
Clinical Researcher: The term appears to have no meaning in the field of tobacco control, much like ‘evidence-based policy’. Instead, it might mean anything from “a person X funded by Y to produce result Z; rewarded on a scale related to how favourable the results are and much value they provide to the funder.
Clinical Trial: An experiment is a study of the effects of a substance or therapy regimen on people who have similar characteristics.
The phrase “clinical study” has a distinct meaning in the smoking-related field: a research study paid for by a funder who expects a specific outcome and finds researchers willing to deliver it for compensation.
Typical examples include large-scale clinical trials of smoking cessation medications carried out for the benefit of manufacturers, which are often difficult to replicate and have no conceivable relationship to real-world results.
the community: An unprecedented movement in the public health debate is the e-cigarette user community (also known as “vapers”), which comprises an estimated one in five adult Americans.
A consumer group as massive, active, and well-organised has never before existed in this field; it is bitterly opposed by rent-seekers who typically dominate health policy and the pharmaceutical industry, which stands to lose tens of billions if THR products help people quit smoking elsewhere as they have done in Sweden.
The pharmaceutical industry, in particular, cannot afford to acknowledge the existence of a large number of organised consumers who protest against the pharmaceutical business’s dangerous grip on health.
Vapers will become a powerful voting bloc in the not-too-distant future, and pharma’s sponsored politicians, as well as all the rent-seekers in ‘public health,’ should be concerned about that day.
Cravings : Craving for a drug or other substance, brought on by its absence, that is due to addiction.
Smoking is a well-known example, but no one has ever conclusively determined which chemicals cause the desires – since we now know that addiction-inducing chemicals vary from person to person.
In addition, there are a number of other factors that go into smoking addiction that have nothing to do with chemical dependency.
In some cases, certain smokers attempting to quit are entirely satisfied when given nicotine, yet others still experience powerful yearnings even after inhaled nicotine is more than enough and physical activity routines are well-practiced.
This leads us to reason that tobacco alkaloids may be required by some people, or that nicotine synergens or additives in cigarettes are to blame; or that combustion plays a role; or that MAOIs plus nicotine are responsible.
D
Dependence:(a compulsion to consume or act) that causes no apparent negative consequences, on average, in terms of physical or social harm.
Although the apparent or perceived advantages are unimportant to the compulsion, there may be real or imagined advantages. The disorder is essentially harmless. It might be caused by modern urban living and not exist in other places.
Although dependence implies no injury in most cases, there is a risk of harm in some circumstances: there is no apparent danger of danger above the background noise from modern urban lifestyles.
It’s likely that some types of dependence can be harmful – such as drinking large amounts of coffee – however, any risk is considered acceptable in an urban environment.
Because it is viewed as acceptable, coffee addiction has no shame. This shows that such concerns must take into account cultural customs as well as medical ones.
E
ECCA UK: the Electronic Cigarette Consumer Association of the UK. The second consumer group to be founded in Europe.
ECITA: Electronic Cigarette Industry Trade Association. The world’s first e-cigarette trade association. Most recognised for its well-organised code of quality standards, which is informally used as the basis for regulatory enforcement at the local level in the United Kingdom. This is also occurring in certain sectors of the UK economy, so it’s not abnormal.
Electronic Cigarette: or e-cigarette, e-cig – These are all marketing terms for a smoke-free, tobacco-free, battery-powered electronic nebuliser that imitates cigarette smoking created by Chinese pharmacist Han Li in the late 1990s.
Because there is no physical, functional, or material link between a tobacco cigarette and this item, it is more accurate to refer to it as an electronic vaporizer (or PV, personal vapouriser).
It’s a clean nicotine delivery system, although it can be used without nicotine. It’s not in the ST smokeless tobacco class of products because it’s an alkaloid-only delivery system, but both are smoke-free items.
An electronic vapouriser may be built to resemble a tobacco cigarette, but because of the constraints of the small battery capacity, such models are significantly inferior functionally.
By delivering nicotine in a water-based mist, it eliminates the smoke (the major killer) and most other tobacco impurities, resulting in a product that closely resembles smoking but without any apparent disease vectors.
The modern e-cigarette was developed by Han Li in the late 1990s and patented in 2003. There had been previous versions, including the Herbert Gilbert model, but they hadn’t been commercially successful. A Chinese pharmacist who smoked and whose father died of cancer wished to continue smoking while avoiding the dangers; a goal shared by millions of other smokers.
F
Forums : online message boards. People who have studied the history of the vape industry recognise forums as the engine room of the movement. The first was formed in 2007, and since then hundreds more have emerged.
Because the vape fests and vape meets are run online, the community is almost entirely internet-based. The degree of involvement among e-cig users is remarkable and unrivalled in this type of leisure product consumer group.
L
Legislators : officials at the national, regional, or city level who create legislation. In the field of smoking, big businesses (and particularly those that are concerned with health) have a lot of influence.
As a result, it is reasonable to assume that some legislators are influenced by those industries; and that proportion cannot be ignored.
M
Medical Journals: publishing papers, research, and trials relevant to medicines, treatments, and associated fields. Some specialise in a specific area. There is a declared emphasis on peer-reviewed material, evidence-based therapy, and lack of COI funding, although for practical reasons such concerns are not fully addressed.
There’s no way of knowing whether or not peer-reviewed papers are any more accurate than non-reviewed research, since the reviewers picked will have the same biases as the authors, so some of the most egregiously incorrect research ever published has been ‘peer-reviewed.’
N
Nicotine: A typical and natural element of the diet. To date, all large-scale studies have revealed that everyone has nicotine in their bodies.
No such study has ever found a person who was not nicotine-positive. Because it is a common component in vegetables from the Solanaceae family, such as tomatoes and potatoes, and other meals (such as tea), this is the case.
However, as the urban diet deteriorates over time, it may be conceivable that individuals will test negative for nicotine after consuming fewer vegetables.
The usual background blood plasma nicotine level was formerly thought to be around 2ng/ml, but it is anticipated to drop. Note that nicotinic acid, a related compound, is a vitamin (B3, commonly known as niacin).
These compounds have been shown to have similar effects in humans (improvement of cognitive function, short-term memory, work capacity, alertness, stress reduction), and so those who require a B3 supplement may need to increase their dietary nicotine intake.
Nicotinic Acid: Nicotinic acid is also known as Vitamin B3 (niacin), a contraction of nicotinic acid, which refers to the vitamin’s chemical name. Because scientists discovered the vitamin owing to the taboos surrounding nicotine, they decided to provide it with a new name so that their study would not be disregarded.
Vitamin B3 deficiency has a variety of physical and mental symptoms and can have severe consequences (such as pellagra, a skin disease).
Nicotinamide is a similar and sometimes overlapping molecule to nicotine, which is frequently found in the same foods and has some comparable effects on the human body, though owing to its established nutritional impact, it is a recognised component.
NRT: NRT, nicotine replacement therapy – a pharmaceutical therapy for smoking cessation that is a major component of medical treatment for smoking cessation (Harm Management is the exact medical counterpart of Harm Reduction).
Nicotine skin patches, nicotine chewing gum, nicotine inhalers, and nicotine lozenges are all typical NRT products. Nicotine is a highly safe pharmaceutical because it is simply an aggressive nutritional supplement therapy.
Unfortunately, NRTs have an extremely poor track record, with studies showing anywhere between 0% and 7% success at 20 months but typically around 2%.
P
PV : A personal vaporiser is another term for an e-cigarette. Because the device has no real or practical relationship to a tobacco cigarette, it is usually referred to as an electronic vaporiser.
It’s doubtful that user numbers would reach 10% of the current amount if personnel vaporizer lable were utilised since smokers are less inclined to use a gadget with a name like a medical instrument.
Simply calling it an “e-cigarette” will guarantee greater recognition, but it comes with a lot more resistance and criticism.
Q
Quitting : The process of quitting smoking; the moment when a person decides to stop smoking.
Cravings for cigarettes are extremely powerful, and quitting is typically difficult. On average, cigarettes are highly dependence-forming.
Some people seem to be able to quit easily; others are unable to do so no matter how many times they try and use whatever method or assistance they can (with the exception of THR). The majority appear capable of quitting, although with varying degrees of difficulty.
R
Regulation: The regulatory system is a means by which the state regulates an industry in order to protect the public interest (theoretical meaning).
In reality, any noteworthy market is governed by makers or haters: those who make it or profit from it, as well as those who want to get rid of it. If the scale is sufficient, the makers generally win (because funds for greasing the wheel are practically infinite).
S
Smoke: The deadly component of cigarette smoking is smoke. It is the smoke that causes serious illness.
The risk of cancer can be decreased by 95% – 99.9% by removing the smoke: other methods of using tobacco and especially nicotine have far less danger and can only have a small percentage of danger associated with smoking.
Smokeless Tobacco: ST is a type of tobacco that isn’t smoked: whole-tobacco goods such as oral tobacco and dissolvables. Chewing tobacco and snus (a moist snuff employed orally, generally in a pouch, and not chewed) are examples of oral tobaccos.
Orbs, strips, lozenges, pouches, and sticks are all examples of dissolvable items ST has the advantage of being smoke-free, so the risk to human health is about 5% that of cigarettes.
Alkaloid-only items such as e-cigarettes or NRTs are not classified in this category.
Smoking Cessation: the medical term for quitting smoking. Because smoking has been classified as a disease, it has fallen into the hands of the medical profession and pharmaceutical industry, who safeguard its possession since it is an important source of income.
As a result, smoking cessation is a medical treatment (regardless of the contradiction) that can only be legally addressed by licensed medical products and processes.
The Marketing Code has a specific clause that prohibits any product that aids smoking cessation from being advertised as such unless it is licensed by the FDA (an MA). As a result, all of the finest methods for quitting smoking can’t be identified as such since doing so would be against the law.
Snus : Snus is a type of Swedish chew that comes in pouches. It’s not chewing tobacco because it contains no tobacco leaves; instead, it’s made from moist snuff. Snus is most often offered in the form of a pouched product: a tiny, flat pouch (resembling a small, flat teabag)
Snus is prepared in a unique way to minimise the cancer-causing chemicals, and several epidemiologists and health authorities have attested that it has no measurable risk for disease or that it carries such low health risks that they cannot be accurately determined.
Snus is the most famous example of a THR product, with evidence to back it up: Sweden is the world’s leader in decreasing smoking rates, mortality, and suffering. As a consequence, Sweden’s national health records are unrivalled.
Statistics: Vaping statistics refer to the collected data and information related to the use of e-cigarettes or vaporizers. This might include the number of people who vape, age demographics of vapers, reasons for vaping, sales of vaping products, and health outcomes related to vaping.
These statistics can help understand trends, patterns, and impacts of vaping on different populations and can be used for policy-making, creating awareness campaigns, and conducting further research.
T
Tobacco Control Industry, The :The tobacco control industry initially began as a random association of public health advocates who wanted to decrease the harm caused by smoking. The introduction of huge quantities of cash has transformed it into an organised business.
The original goal was to work toward a smoke-free world; but somewhere along the line, the objective changed to include defending the pharmaceutical industry. This is supposed to be because pharma, who pay a “quid pro quo,” inject funds while other sources may come with no strings attached.
The primary goal is to safeguard the pharmaceutical sector’s large revenue from smoking (particularly the drug market for sick smokers, which is far larger than the smoking cessation drug business); nevertheless, this can only be achieved by promoting cigarette sales.
Tobacco Harm Reduction : (The term “harm reduction” is used to describe the replacement of a more dangerous consumer product with a less hazardous alternative. It specifically excludes any type of cessation, as by definition it entails continuing use.
The term “THR” refers to the replacement of safer consumer tobacco or nicotine goods for cigarettes, which is continued usage and without cessation.
TVECA : Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association.
A US group of e-cigarette vendors who concentrate most on prefilled cartomisers and specialise in the newbie market. In contrast to the broader e-cigarette and refill industry, a greater proportion of this market is shop-based: physical retail sales are far more common in this market sector.
V
Vapemeet : At vape meets, vapers congregate to socialise and share ideas. The gatherings are typically modest in scale since vapefests provide the big-scale meeting possibilities. Local vapemeets might be as small as five people gathered in a bar, but they can grow to thirty or forty individuals on rare occasions.
Vapefest : A vape meet is an enormous-scale vape gathering, a vapers’ convention. A typical vapefest lasts two or three days; while popular in cities, a vapefair (particularly in the United States) might be held in a resort location like Las Vegas or on a Florida beach resort. These large-scale vapematches are vital social gatherings
Vaping : Vaping is the act of inhaling vapour produced by an e-cigarette. Vaping entails using an e-cig, which implies breathing vapor; in contrast with smoking, which involves inhaling smoke. People who use e-cigarettes are known as vapers.
Z
Zero-nicotine cigarettes: Tobacco cigarettes may contain any amount of nicotine, ranging from 0.04 percent to 0.04 percent, which might be referred to as ‘zero’ owing to their extremely low levels. In recent years, the nicotine content of cigarettes in the West has decreased for obvious commercial reasons: smokers smoke more because they want sufficient nicotine
0-nic : Zero-nicotine (e-liquid) refill liquids. 7% of vapers use 0-nic, according to polls. If organic tobacco flavours are added to the base, zero nicotine may not be an accurate description since a very small quantity of nicotine might be present with the flavourings.
