Vape Pens | Fatal Conveniences™

Darin: It’s that time of the week for another fatal convenience. This is a bite-size segment that addresses some of society’s fatal conveniences and the steps you can take to avoid becoming a victim of them. I define fatal conveniences as the things we may be doing because the world we live in makes us believe we have to, tap water, shampoo, sunglasses, food. I dive into the hidden truths behind some of our everyday choices that could not only be harming us but even killing us, so let’s dive in.

Hey, everybody, welcome to the show. Thanks for tuning in. I’m your guide that will help guide you through something that may be harming you. And it doesn’t have to. But this one’s tricky, because this one is affecting our youth at an alarming rate. That seems to be healthier, but not just youth. Anyone wanting to quit smoking, and or looking for a quick little high using a vape pen. That’s right. This Fatal Convenience is vape pens. So guess what? These e-cigarettes man, you might not be getting the chemicals from what they add to tobacco because listen, tobacco itself and the nicotine and if they process it correctly, like the Native Americans, the indigenous, like they used to do it back in the day didn’t have all these chemicals. Chemicals are the ones that are getting you. The same thing that’s going on but different and potentially even more harmful is this experiment of this toxic chemical soup that they’re using to actually vaporise. Think about it. They’re not using heat. They’re using other flow agents of their flavourings. All of this stuff centres around mostly this Propylene Glycol.

This will show up in a lot of different products – personal care products. Shows up in natural flavouring in the supplement industry. I’ve been wrestling with this one for a long time. But now it’s in e-cigarettes. So they produce this cloud. So people do the vape. It’s not smoke, but it’s this cloud like vapour, but it is heating up a little bit. But it’s using this E liquid primarily composed of this propylene glycol and also a vegetable glycerin and flavourings and other chemical additives. And this is where it gets crazy. These e cigarettes and this concoction of chemicals. And especially the propylene glycol in this form has not been tested on humans.

And it also has not been tested in this vaporized form that you are sucking into your lungs. We don’t know what is going on. There’s a lot of indications that this is a really bad thing. There’s a bunch of information on Eliquidinfo.org. And I have a bunch of this stuff obviously in the show notes. We went after tobacco and largely those things went down over time. So now that tobacco is getting into this as well as just e cigarette and this vape marketing is just hitting it saying, ‘Hey, it’s not these bad cigarettes. It’s this great easier way better for you. Way to take in that nicotine’. But you’re taking in all these chemicals as well from 2014 to 2020 sales have increased by 122.2% to be exact from CDC. And it’s important to recognise that they’re really marketing this stuff as an alternative to this traditional tobacco and they’re not talking about these harmful chemicals that are mixed up inside these vape pens, acting as flow agents and flavouring and all of this stuff to help vaporise this, but it’s actually toxic to the environment, in and around your cells. It inhibits your cells ability to thrive. 

So the history is 2003 the first electronic cigarette was created in China. A pharmacist who was a smoker because his father passed away, wanted to quit and he developed this electronic cigarette. 2006 the first electronic cigarette was brought to the US. In 2008 The World Health Organisation proclaims that it does not consider the electronic cigarette to be legitimate smoking cessation aid. 2011 FDA began to regulate e-cigarettes like the traditional cigarettes. In 2017 FDA expands, quote unquote, the ‘real cost’ marketing campaign publicly targeting teens with youth vaping. That’s the FDA, ladies and gentlemen. Expands its marketing campaign. What the hell? CDC in 2019 then urges the population not to use e-cigarettes. 2019. Guess what happens? So there’s these warnings. There’s these chemical alarms, and money wins, marketing wins, and you start seeing this happen all over the place companies and vape pen start marketing themselves as ‘safe alternatives’. They’re just saying whatever they want, saying it’s safer, with zero tests to back that up in this type of form. Nearly seven out of 10 smokers say they want to stop. So they’re manipulating and marketing to that stuff. 

So here’s where it gets crazy. So the FDA has already said propylene glycol is generally recognised as safe for usage with other types of products. NOT tested, or deemed safe when you inhale. So they’re saying, ‘Yeah, it’s safe, but it’s odourless, it’s tasteless, it’s a chemical, it’s in food, it’s in cosmetics and the same medications’. When I was formulating, I said no way to propylene glycol, the information, the detriment of that accumulating the body, no go. So in my formulations, we shut that down right away. And now we’re inhaling that into the lungs with zero testing.

What makes it convenient? No burning flame, no harsh chemicals that are coming from the processing of the tobacco. Obviously. The smoke isn’t getting in other people that are around you. You can sneak it around and you can get away with it. You can get that nicotine high. And all of that stuff. Super easy to use over and over and over and over again, without carrying around packs of anything. It literally just slips in your pocket. So it’s super convenient. It’s a hell of a way I actually had a point where I was gonna formulate for an e-cigarette company. And this was 15 years ago. And their primary focus was THC. And I was like, ‘Nah, I’m not into it. It’s not legal’. But then that’s when I said, What’s the flow agent? What’s the agent that you’re using in order for the vaporisation to work under low heat? Propylene Glycol, sorry, I’m out. So I knew this a long time ago. And they’re really showing that this propylene glycol also has other unwanted things.

Listen, why should we care because this is untested, ladies and gentlemen. Sound familiar? nicotine, propylene glycol, other carcinogens, acrolein, dicetel, diethylene glycol, nickel, tin, lead, benzene – this is a cocktail that is gonna mess your shit up. Okay? Regular cigarettes contain nicotine and other harmful things that we haven’t gotten into nicotine. Nicotine actually, when it’s on its own. Yes, it’s very addictive, but it’s not so bad. But it’s all this chemical that really plays a big role. But also, when nicotine is consumed early on, it inhibits brain development. And so people below the age of 25 it really plays an enormous role in altering the chemistry of the brain. And propylene glycol is one of the main chemicals that they’re using. propylene glycol has been eliminated from dog and cat food. And, spite that, they’re allowing you to consume it like crazy. Up to 60 deaths have been related directly to vaping according to the CDC. So it’s all these chemicals inside this other chemical acrolein and the chemical is a herbicide. Yes, you’re sucking in vaporising herbicide into your lungs that was used to kill weeds. That means it was used to kill life and you’re taking that in your lungs. That is not a good idea. The addiction. I get it the addiction is strong. PubMed talking about the toxicity use. There’s currently 7700 e-liquid flavours and guess what, none of them have been tested for toxicity, according to this study. Never have been tested or evaluated for the use of humans in the inhalation of this was study from the University of North Carolina and I found that the two primary ingredients found in E-cigarettes, propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin are toxic to cells, and that the more ingredients in the E-liquid, so the more ingredients they use, the more flow agents they use, the more propylene glycol, the more acrolein, the more glycerin, the more toxic. So, more exposure. The reports are coming back. headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, lightheadedness and people actually passing out. Propylene glycol affects total body chemistry, but also increases the acidity of their overall stomach body. Nicotine also has highly addictive ingredients and can be abused. So when you get addicted to nicotine, you kind of blow off. You don’t even know odourless, tasteless, so we’re experimenting on ourselves. Again, And again. And again. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a Fatal Convenience. Most people purchasing are young, but they’re on average, 21 years old. They’re trying to be cool. They’re trying to be alternative and even safer and healthier. But the truth is they get hooked. They’re impressionable. And then they’re sucking in this stuff and affecting their brains and their lungs and a whole bunch of harmful chemicals that have not been tested. And I’m sick. You know what I’m sick of. I’m sick of these fatal conveniences. I’m sick that every time I read into this, I’m going How is this not tested? And they’re calling it out CDC, FDA. Calling it out, they know about it. They know it’s not tested. I don’t know about you. These government agencies suck. They fail. They’re not doing their frickin job. I’m sick of it. 

So, what can you do about it? Get off the addiction. If you want a buzz, this caffeine. Green tea is great. I hope- I haven’t found any, but maybe there’s some vape pens that are not using this cacophony of toxic chemicals. I haven’t seen it. But again, we’re talking to people that don’t care. They just want the buzz, so go for the buzz. You know what? Green tea matcha tea at this point, drink coffee over chemicals and also work on your addiction, meditation. It’s freakin great. Yoga. All this stuff. I realised the solution on this is weak, because we’re dealing with a massive addiction here of nicotine. But I’m telling you some adaptogenic herbs to help your endocrine system. Rishi is great. Schisandra berry is great. These things are fantastic. Increasing the energy using some core concepts, help the brain a little bit with the addiction. Use some Lion’s Mane. Ashwagandha is great. Astragalus is great. When you’re breaking in addiction you have stress if you bring in the adaptogens to help curb the endocrine system and help reestablish and bring about the parasympathetic nervous system and calm the sympathetic nervous system down and use that over time. Hell throw in some cacao turn on that phenylethylamine that good serotonin activation, those feel good molecules in the brain. The oxytocin can be turned on by the cacau these things are powerful cacao and adaptogenic herbs are great solutions to start breaking away from this toxic habit of E cigarettes. Okay, that’s it break the habit. Young kids, parents just let them listen to this episode. And then they can start making up their own decisions because they’re unfortunately addicted and they’re now walking around young adults. So, I want you strong young kids. I want you as warriors in this life not tuned out and buzzed out. I want you tuned in so that we can help change this world for the better. We need it now more than ever. Okay, I love you all. And stay away from the vape pens. I like caffeine more than anybody for sure, but matcha green tea, I’m drinking it right now. It’s sharp. It’s beautiful. Little fulvic acid to help pull it into the body even more. It’s fantastic. Okay, I love you all. Peace.

Darin: Thanks for tuning in everyone. I hope that left you feeling inspired to take a closer look at the everyday choices you’re making and how they could be impacting your health and even the planet. If you want to learn more about life’s fatal conveniences, head over to fatalconveniences.com. You can sign up for the exclusive access to Fatal Conveniences episodes, news, insights, and more. And all this great stuff gets sent each week straight to your inbox, making it really easy. Now, that’s a convenience without the negative side effects. It only takes a few seconds to join. Just fill in the form and take that amazing step towards making better choices. Remember, small changes can have big impact. So, keep diving my friends, keep diving. And if you haven’t had a chance to check out the interview, I released earlier on the week, here’s what you missed:

Dr. Gregory Brown: A lot of times this idea of resiliency is interpreted as the tendency not to break. So we just have to talk through everything. I like to think of resiliency as our ability to adapt to adapt to change to adapt to uncertainty. And I think that’s the real challenge we have in front of us right now. So I think perspective is a powerful, powerful, powerful tool. And that’s something that no matter where you are, what your walk of life, we all have control over our perspective, the way that we view certain situations. The other thing is self care. And so I often talk about these tenants of self care, especially when it comes to mental health, sleep, spirituality, which doesn’t just mean religion, right. Nutrition, breath and movement.