I must say I have been amazed and puzzled by many reactions on different forums. Please allow me to tell my personal story, in the hope that you can understand my side of things.
I started vaping 19 months ago, and like many went through the ranks both hardware and software wise. I was incredibly thankful to have found a product that would allow me to further clean up my lifestyle (after having successfuly battled addiction and having changed my diet so that I lost 34kg just by eating healthy).
At no point in time did I think vaping would be harmless, but after much reading I did see why some health professionals like Prof. David Nutt considered e-cigs on a harm level 5 versus harm level 100 for smoking.
I really immersed myself into the science, legislation, and advocacy. I closely followed the Farsalinos study in May 2014, started a thread about it on a Dutch forum and decided to take action by asking my main supplier of liquid if their product contained any of the known problem causing compounds.
Again, like many, as a beginning vaper I tried many different brands, and mostly settled for Five Pawns. De gustibus non est disputandum and all that, it's what appealed to me (the price much less so). The company was held in high regards it seemed, Phil Busardo gave them a street shoutout, they provided videos on Youtube to show their labs, and they claimed to make their own flavor extracts (somehow many missed this and keep on talking about TFA etc. which is besides the point, unless FP wasn't truthful about that, although their website still states "Flavors are extracted from actual base ingredients").
Anyway, they seemed to be doing everything right, and at no point did I suspect that they would be capable of telling untruths. They responded to my mail categorically stating that there was no (zero) DA or AP in any of their liquids. I had no reason to disbelieve them, as, surely, a high profile company like this would never willingly give false information about such an important topic - a topic that is being discussed since 2009.
Now, forget the results from Cloud 9 for a minute (even though I have no reason to doubt them): according to Five Pawn's own tests, Bowden's Mate contains 910 ppm (read, almost 1 mg/ml) of AP. I think it's indisputable (if you believe my email exchange is genuine) that there is a huge difference between "0" and "910". I'm not a doctor, but it is my informed choice wanting to avoid these diketones, especially at these levels. Yes, I did smoke before, but then again I desperately wanted to stop and switch to a healthier lifestyle - as I had abused my lungs for such a long time.
Still, like I said, I had no reason to disbelieve their statement. I continued using their products, but at the same time immersed myself into DIY, and made an acceptable imitation of Castle Long - nicknamed Castle Wong... I made sure to source flavorings that did not contain DA/AP (a minefield in itself, but I think I succeeded). However, I could never get the same "creamy taste". In hindsight that should have rang a bell.
I have even posted the contents of that email on this Dutch forum the day after I received it - you can check it out here. I do work in IT, but even I can not change the contents of a forum. Stefan Didak responded to it, so he can confirm that this was posted back then as well. I can also provide a full copy of the email if requested, including the IP trail.
I continued my journey into vaping, became active in advocacy, and did a presentation for 120 health professionals in my country, including a government advisor on the subject (whom I was able to completely convince), together with a leading toxicologist from the university of Leuven. These people were amazed by what they heard, many opinions were changed, and I gave them further information like how to get in contact with Louise Ross. I spend about 200 hours preparing that presentation, as I wanted to make sure that I could document every single word I spoke. I donated money to the Dutch Acvoda for their trip to the nicotine conference last year. I donated money to the temperature studies done by Dr. F. I'm very active supporting people who picked up vaping on a forum about addiction. I'm not saying this to get brownie points, I'm saying this to (hopefully) refute claims that I "might as well be working for the ANTZ".
I was actually vaping Bowden's Mate (the real thing) when I first read about the test results. I did not want to jump to conclusions, but events escalated, and FP confirmed themselves that there are - for me and for Dr. Farsalinos - unacceptably high levels of AP in that liquid. Further more, instead of coming clean, they started threatening a bunch of people that I respect, including this forum it seems.
This to me is unacceptable. Dimitris stated last night "this is not a Five Pawns problem, this is an industry problem". I have much respect for the Vaping Greek God, but I can't help feeling being thrown under the bus a little bit. I would say it is both a Five Pawns and an industry problem.
We have a massive opportunity for good with this industry. We have an opportunity to not make the same mistakes as tobacco companies have made in the past. We can reduce harm on a spectacular level. Being responsible, open, informed, and honest is a must, lest we get stuck in the same swamp we were trying to get away from.
I do not know how to react to all this, and I am carefully considering my options. But I wanted to at least voice my concerns and emotions in all this. I did not deserve to be lied to in this way. I'm hoping you can agree, or at least partially see my point.
