Saturday, August 3, 2019

"This Is My Fight Song"

I like to share stories from the vape shop and have 2 today I'll combine into 1 story. 1st off, a customer with special needs comes in to purchase e-liquid. She is with her group home staff. We helped this amazing person quit smoking a couple of years ago. She is limited to $10 spending money for vape stuff. She is here 1x per week and we give her a special deal, including tax. She either gets a 30ml and a coil or two 30mls for her $10. Today was a staff person who I've never seen before. That staff person mentioned they smoked and they will never vape because it's more dangerous than smoking. WHOA! They now know the truth. And my customer helped to educate her staff person!

The shop is a mess, it's in the middle of being remodeled and I should be putting stuff back in the cases, but there is so much advocacy work to be done, so I fire up my get motivated to fight for vape song and spend some time on the computer. Regular walks in the door, stops dead in their tracks, starts humming along to the song, then busts out laughing and says "Are you fighting for vape again? What do you need me to do?". 

I love our customers. From the ones we have to fight for to the ones who stand firmly buy our side and fight with us. Please fire up my favorite get to work song and fight with me Fight Song - Rachel Platten

Don't give up!

*All photos are screen shots from the video.


Wednesday, July 17, 2019


Time to share a story from a local vape shop owner! 

"I'm an emotional old lady, and I'm going to admit over the last couple of weeks, I have shed a lot of tears. From the never ending assault on this amazing industry, to the harsh reality of the 10 month verdict, to the next day being the 5 year anniversary of the smoking related heart attack that almost killed my 29 year old son, to today, I'm a roller coaster river of happy, sad, worried, elated tears. And when I get down, it seems that something reaches out and bitch slaps me a good one, reminding me to never give up up.

It was time to lock up the shop last night when a guy in pretty rough shape walked in. He was so out of breath he could barely walk. He just came from the doctor and the doctor told him this is it, quit smoking or die. The old guy reached into his pocket for his phone and had to pull out 2 inhalers first. My hubby has COPD, so I recognized that one of them was Symbicort, and mentioned it to the man. Yep, he has COPD, too. Much worse than my out of breath husband. The old guy uses 2 different inhalers and a nebulizer. (spelling?).

The man liked the Smok Infinix. I asked him how much he had to spend. He looked at the floor and said $20.00. I looked over at my son, and he had the same thought as me. I pointed to the man's hat and asked if he was a Veteran, and of course (Vietnam), he was. We don't have a military discount, but we're not going to tell that guy. So, he ended up with a 30mL of our house line, an Infinix, and a box of pods - with selling him the liquid at our Friday sale price (on a Tuesday LOL) and our newly discovered military discount, it came out to exactly $20!!!! We got him set up and he was so exhausted, he could barely smile as he said thank-you and he headed out the door. I felt so bad for him, I muttered a little prayer.

The guy just came back to my shop! He's smiling! He hasn't had a cigarette since last night. AND AND AND!!!! Here's the exciting part.... his buddy saw him "puffing on that thing" and had to try it. Now he wants one. So I ask if his buddy is a Vet, too, and he is. So what the hell, his buddy got an Infinix and a 30ml for 20 bucks and they're going to share the box of pods.

Off he went and he's going to the Legion for lunch. Says he'll be back in a couple of hours with more buddies, because getting old sucks and he's got grand kids and these puffing machines make it easy to not smoke! Guess I'm having a flash sale for Veterans!!

So now I'm in tears. Don't get many old folks coming in to quit anymore. Took an old Vet to remind me that Freedom in all it's forms is worth fighting for. So go ahead - yell, cry, punch a wall, write a letter, take a day off, but what ever you do, don't give up. Come fight with me. Come fight with all of us. We have so many lives yet to save."

I promise, I'll stand with you, I'll fight with you.
Momma Vape

Thursday, November 15, 2018

Tobacco Harm Reduction Takes a Hit in Minnesota

We've all heard the heartbreaking news that over 480,000 Americans die from smoking related causes every year. We've also heard the projections that a BILLION people around the world will die from smoking this century. Heartbreaking to think of so many early deaths, so many families grieving for loved ones. So much money spent on the health effects of smoking. 

Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) is a proven strategy in countries like the UK and Sweden, and if America had any brains at all, we would follow the lead of these countries and embrace THR ourselves. These products help smokers switch to a safer alternative, and don't pose a risk to people who are around smokers.

When it comes to THR, the United States has taken a more cautious approach. As a matter of fact, we've gotten way off track here in America. We forgot the war was on smoking, and have switched our focus to nicotine, which is a stimulant much like caffeine is. Because we've forgotten about the war on smoking and changed our strategy to a war on nicotine, we are going to see more needless deaths than we should be seeing.

Minnesota is a prime example. We have gone down the path of restricting adults access to THR products which are legal in MN. We are doing that one city and county at a time. From banning adults from being able to purchase a flavored THR product anywhere they can buy a cigarette, to banning some adults from purchasing any THR products, to restricting where some people can buy THR products, we're a mixed bag of regression and oppression here in Minnesota.

Just this week the city of Brooklyn Center passed an ordinance that restricts the purchase of some THR products to adult only stores, while leaving it legal to buy a pack of cigarettes at the corner gas station, the local grocery store, and the neighborhood pharmacy. It will now be easier in Brooklyn Center to purchase the cigarettes that can kill you, than it will be to buy things like vapor technology that can help people quit smoking and save lives.

Also this week Ottertail County, MN decided to circumvent the jurisdiction of cities to pass ordinances over THR products (THR is lumped in with tobacco in MN) and ban young adults from purchasing THR products by calling their new ordinance a "Public Health" ordinance instead of a "Tobacco" ordinance. The county has now decided to tell all cities in it's borders that young adults can not buy products that can help them quit smoking for reasons of "Public Health". What is healthy about that?

I'm not sure what the lawmakers in MN are thinking (or smoking?), or if there is something weird in our water, but it breaks my heart to see our leaders making it hard or illegal for adults to purchase the products that can help them switch from smoking to a safer alternative. Are we telling our citizens that even though we say they should quit smoking, secretly we hope they never will?

Thursday, August 30, 2018

What happened to the war on smoking?


Settlement Agreement (MSA) payments.

survive cancer, what happens if everyone quits smoking?

even if it takes them 30 tries to quit.


FDA deemed it a tobacco product. 

NRT Product vs. Vapor Product


pharmaceutical companies stop donating?

tobacco problem. People like it and it works.

money is in whose pocket.

important than your life.

Saturday, March 17, 2018


Twenty One - What if we limit adulting to just one age?

Is anyone in this country getting confused about who can do what at what age? When you are an adult depends on where you live in the United States and what you can do is often limited by what state, county, and city you live in. You're a kid in one location and an adult in another. What a confusing message we are sending to the younger generation!

I have a solution to this problem. Let's just make the legal adult age 21. Let's ban young people from all things that can damage their health or well-being until they are 21. Let's remove all things from their lives that might teach them unacceptable values until they are 21. Let's wrap our young in an innocent cocoon of bliss and shield them from everything until they are 21.

We have lots of do-gooder busy bodies out there lobbying for our health and to save the children / young adults from so many things. Let's make their lives easier and just change the whole kittenkabboodle to 21. Let's address a few of the many things that cause harm in one form or another to young people. This will begin our list of what to ban anyone under 21 from having access to...

No cell phones until 21. Too many young people use electronics to cyber bully others. They do things like share naked pictures of each other (sexting), they use it as a way to find out where parties are and go out drinking. Kids make drug deals with cell phones.

How about no TV, computers or tablets until 21? There is too much violence and sex on the TV. Kids are sitting around, filling their minds full of garbage and getting fat. They are getting lazy. Send them out into the fresh air and have them get some exercise. We'll have less behavior problems in our schools when kids have burnt off some of that energy while protecting their minds from the junk on TV. Computers and tablets would ONLY be used for educational activities before the age of 21. The internet is a land mine of filth and ugly things that children should not be exposed to.

We also should ban video games until our young people are 21. Well, maybe we could allow some educational ones for when the weather is too bad to go outside. Video games are violent, sexualized, full of stereo types, have drinking and smoking in them, and don't teach our young people about life.  Is your under 21 going to whine about being bored? Hand them a good book, give them a chore list, and if they are old enough have them go get a job.

Let's ban all sugar until 21. Obesity is is a HUGE problem and a major public health concern. No pop, no cake, no cookies, and certainly not allow them to drink those chemical laden energy drinks! We should also ban white flour. We should pass laws on how many carbs and empty calories we can feed our kids. We should ban candy and ice cream being served to our children. We should just make a national menu that is healthy and everyone with kids follow it. No independent choice of what to eat or drink until you are 21.

No sex before 21. Young people shouldn't be making babies and risking getting diseases until they are an adult and understand the risks and responsibilities.

No marriage before 21. That's a huge step in life, and people should wait until their brain is more developed before making a major life decision.

Imagine no drivers license until you're 21 because too many young people get in accidents, causing property damage, injuries and death. How much money would be saved? How many lives would be spared?

You'd wait until 21 to take out a loan or get your own checking account or a credit card. Want to go to college? No problem, have Mom or Dad take out a loan, you'd be their responsibility! Better yet, let's just keep all young people in school until they are 21. Mandatory minimum first 2 years of college education.

We already restrict drinking to 21. Why not make it that way for EVERYTHING? Voting, making medical decisions, owning a gun, smoking, buying a home, signing a contract, and joining the military.

Let's "do the right" thing and treat people like they are a child until they are 21. Think of all the children we'd be protecting from the adult world! Would they be wiser, make better decisions, and have more common sense? Will the world be a better place if we make them wait until 21 when their young brains are more developed before they step out into the adult world? Would any of them be any healthier or safer?

Oh, but wait!  At one time in history, 21 was the legal age. Unfortunately, back in the good old days we still had underage drinking, smoking, sex, and gambling. We still had obese people and people polluting the air and people shooting each other. We still had addicts and thieves. We had child molesters and abusive people. 21 did not solve any of those problems.

When are you an adult? When are you mature and knowledgeable enough to understand what it means to take something away from an adult and start treating them like a child? Are you willing to ban someone from something that could save their life and make them wait until they are 21? There are always unintended consequences to prohibition. As we pass more prohibitions, crime increases as the black market grows. Are you ready to accept the responsibility of being a party to the cause of illegal activities?

To all the young people out there, lobbying and protesting and fighting for things to be changed to age 21, are you willing for all young people to loose all rights, choices, and privileges they may want  until they are 21? Or are you only willing to see the age changed for things YOU'RE against? If you want to take away something that is legal from someone, then you should be willing to give up something that is important to you. If you're not willing to do that, why do you think you're entitled to tell others how they should live their life? 

Is freedom important to you?



Tuesday, February 27, 2018

A Long Letter to Ms. Kimmel for MN House

Dear Ms. Kimmel,

What does a woman in New Ulm, MN have in common with a woman in Brainerd, MN? We are both seekers of common ground. We encourage others to focus on what we agree on instead of focusing on differences. I agree with you that we need more seeking of common ground in this country. We have become too divided, instead of remaining united.

Like you, I also live by the life lessons my family taught me. The biggest lessons they taught me was to "do the right thing" - even if it's not popular with others. They taught me to speak up for those who need a voice.

Like you, I often feel that our political system does not represent us and that our system has become toxic.

Like you, I am deeply concerned with modern politics where those who represent us toe the party line and choose to represent the party instead of us, the citizens of our communities, state, and country.

I love your efforts to hold Common Ground meetings in the communities in your district and I applaud your desire to be a leader and to march for a positive change.

In a short period of time, I was able to learn these things about you from your video on your campaign page, and from reading posts on your facebook page, and from your tweets. I saw many things that I liked about you and your campaign.

So what led my path to cross your path and brought me to the point of writing to you? Before I answer that question, I'd like to share with you my story. It will help you understand why I am the voice for the things I advocate for.

I am 59 years old. In my direct maternal line, I am the oldest one left. Smoking has contributed to the death of most of my elders. I sat with my Mom when she took her very last breath and left us. Heart disease and cancer robbed her of any type of quality of life for a long time, before those smoking related diseases took her from us.

I am a great-grandma and my family means the world to me. At 29 years old, my son almost died when he had a heart attack. He had to be airlifted to another hospital where an amazing medical team saved his life. The 1 hour drive to the hospital seemed like an eternity to me, as I had no way of knowing if my son would still be alive by the time I got there.  He was too young for a heart attack, he had no health issues that would contribute to a heart attack, except for 1 thing... He was a smoker and he had been smoking 2 packs a day for a few years. He started smoking when he was 18. I smoked, his dad smoked, just about all the important adults in his life smoked. 

He also had a lot of stress in his life. My son has a couple of non-visible disabilities that make working for others a challenge due to issues with social skills, ability to focus and manage time and prioritize what needs to be done. He struggles with getting "lost" as his whole life can rotate around anything he is obsessing about at the time.  Another disability makes it a struggle for him to handle any type of written communication. 

He is a Dad and his daughter lives with him during the week and with her Mom on weekends. At the time of his heart attack, he was unemployed. The doctor told him to quit smoking or he'd never see his little girl grow up. He had watched his Dad and I try to quit smoking many times over the years, we tried every method known to man! He watched us fail to quit over and over and over again. He has helped me rush his Dad to the emergency room when his Dad's COPD became so bad he was having trouble breathing.

My son had also tried quitting and that apple doesn't fall far from the tree as he also failed to quit. Then a miracle happened! He discovered vapor technology and he quit smoking! Between the stents in his heart and becoming smoke free, he felt better than he had felt in years.  

He then knew what he was supposed to do with his life, he was supposed to make sure other kids kept their parents and grandparents around as long as possible by helping others quit smoking. He decided to open a vape shop. He sold his truck, tools, electronics and anything else he could part with and with $5,000 he started a business. He opened his shop in the low income part of town, because people with lower incomes have a higher rate of smoking and he felt he could help the most people in that location. His prices are super low, as people in the area of his shop don't have much extra income. He struggles to stay in business because of how low his prices are, but he said he'd rather be a poor man with the right priorities, than be a rich man getting rich for no good reason. Yes, that was a proud parent moment!!!!

Because of his disabilities, my son needs some assistance. I post on his business facebook page for him. I often respond to emails for him. On Mondays and Thursdays I help type up orders to send to his vendors for him. I have never earned a dime from his business or any other vape business and I don't want to. 

I have my dream job working 3 a.m. - 9 a.m. at a group home, providing services to adult women with disabilities. I love my job and the contributions I make to the lives of these ladies, assisting them to live as independently as they can. I have every intention of working at the group home until I am too old to do so. I usually go to my son's vape shop when I get done with my job at the group home. A funny thing happened to this momma as I was helping my son, I became an ex-smoker, too. After smoking for over 40 years, my son begged me to try vaping and sure enough, I finally kicked the smoking habit!

My son started a second business, manufacturing e-liquid for his vape shop. He also sells it to a couple of other shops. The development of quality products that appealed to his customers was very important to him. I helped him develop the flavors of his liquids. There are those out there who claim that all these small businesses who developed flavored liquids are all big tobacco and they are trying to hook kids so they become smokers. That is so far from the truth, that I struggle to wrap my head around anyone saying this. 

There are some tobacco companies who make those fake cigarette looking things as part of the e-cigarette market, but most vape shops don't sell those. They sell open systems that customers fill with liquids and the majority of those liquids are made by small businesses. It is illegal to sell these products to children and it should be. Vapor Technology is to help adults quit smoking, to help them make the switch to something less harmful. 

I wrote about developing the flavors for my son: Confessions of an e-liquid mixologist and I hope you find the time to read it. Sometimes my son needs to leave his shop because of something his daughter has going on at school or he has an appointment. He has no employees at his shop in Brainerd, so I'll watch it for him while he is gone. I really enjoy these times and I especially enjoy his older customers. This leads me to a couple of more stories to share with you. One is here in my blog: Cotton Candy is not marketing to kids. The other one is a video and it's about a lady who quit smoking thanks to finding vaping: "I think you saved my life"

I was already busy in life volunteering for many things in my community and around the country. Advocacy was already an important part of my life. After my son's heart attack and seeing most of my family quit smoking thanks to vaping, one more thing just had to be added to my plate! I needed to become a champion of helping people quit smoking! I needed to help more families break free from the heart break my family has suffered. I needed to spare daughters of watching their Moms in pain, struggling to breath, too weak to go to the bathroom, sitting alone in the dark listening to their Mom's breath fade away. I needed to spare Mothers from having to make emergency trips to a distant hospital wondering if their child would be alive when they got there. I needed to spare little girls from crying as a helicopter lifts their Daddy into the sky, not knowing if they will ever see Daddy again.

These life events lead me to where I am now, an advocate for smokers. For a healthier life. For a way out. For a technology that has helped millions of people around the world quit smoking! I give a voice to those who choose to quit smoking, who need the right tools to achieve that goal, and who need a way to remain smoke free. The World Health Organization says a billion people will die this century from smoking. It is my mission to lower that number, 1 smoker at a time. And I am very proud to say, that I and many others like me, have made amazing progress towards that goal. We're saving lives, we are keeping families in tact, we are reducing harm to others, and we are lowering the medical burden that smoking causes society.

My passion for saving lives is where our paths have crossed. Tobacco 21 is a hotly debated topic in Minnesota. Some believe it will reduce the number of kids who smoke, some believe it will cause an increase. Some believe it's OK to not treat an adult like they are an adult, some strongly oppose that. Some believe in personal rights to choose, others believe it's OK to take away freedom of choice from an adult if it will prevent someone younger from making a bad choice. Even though I believe it's an adults right to choose what they do with their own bodies I don't oppose Tobacco 21 for that reason. I oppose it because it includes vapor technology. 

I believe that a younger adult has every right to access this life saving technology as much as an older adult does. I believe my son's cardiologist who says that vaping saved my son's life, because it helped him quit smoking. I believe that all Mothers should be able to recommend something to their adult children to help their adult children kick the smoking habit. I believe that parents should quit smoking so their kids aren't exposed to second hand smoke. There are many parents out there who are 18 - 20 years old and my belief that their babies should be free of the harms of 2nd hand smoke are strong and I would do anything in my power to help those young adult parents protect their babies by helping those parents quit smoking. 

February 26, 2018 The Journal had a letter to the editor 18 states have passed T21, we should too! which contained some information that wasn't accurate - starting with the headline. Please read the article and then click comments. You will see that I left a comment. And then, some one you might know left a comment about me. Her name is Heather Bregel and it says that she is the "Co-Campaign Manager at Mindy Kimmel for MN House". Here is a screen shot of her comment:

After Ms. Bregel felt it was appropriate to troll my facebook page and then write a derogatory comment about me and make accusations that are not true, I looked at her facebook page to try to learn what she is about and what might have made her say such things. I discovered a young woman who is very active in her community and in politics. She champions for some very important causes and provides a voice for those who need standing up for. I discovered I share a lot of common ground with her, too! I can only see the posts that are "public" because we are not facebook "friends", but what I could see made me think I would enjoy knowing this person because we share the need to stand up for what we believe in. I did NOT see the person who left the nasty comment about me. 

The reason I'm reaching out to you, Ms. Kimmel, is that I'd like to encourage you to encourage those representing you to become seekers of common ground, just like you are. I found Ms. Bregel's comment hurtful and offensive. As a mother who has had to bury so many loved ones because of smoking and who almost lost her son to smoking I guarantee that the last thing on earth I would ever do is market a tobacco product to a kid!!! I also would not market or encourage a kid to use a vapor product. 

It is common practice in the tobacco control / public health community to cross a line when it comes to their passion to eliminate smoking to make false accusations and bully society into conforming to their agenda. That comment made me feel bullied. It took a lot of restraint to not comment back in a way that would not be very professional. I had to back away from the computer for a bit and go searching for some common ground. I'm asking that Ms. Bregel also seek common ground. I can tell from one of her facebook posts that she opposes bullying: 

As someone who is seeking a leadership role in Minnesota, I am encouraging you to continue your message of asking people to find common ground. To not spread hate and intolerance, to find a base that we agree on and work on solutions based on that area of agreement. I can see that Ms. Bregel also encourages love to triumph over hate. I'd like to see you encourage those running your campaign to continue being passionate about what they believe in while avoiding making false claims about others. I think we can all agree that when it comes to our leaders and the people representing them, we desire to see more truth and transparency. We don't need hate, back stabbing, and lies paving the road to St. Paul. 

Feel free to explore my facebook page.. Will you find posts about vaping? Oh Yes! Lots of them. There will be information, there will be studies, and news articles. You might even find me sharing a post about my son's business. You will find posts about being kind to others, about things happening up here in Brainerd, about people with disabilities. What you won't find is posts by me encouraging kids to use tobacco or vapor products. Both are illegal for kids. We all know the life long problems that smoking can cause those young people. Vaping is not smoking. Vaping is for adults, to help them quit smoking, it is not a product for children. I have friends on facebook from around the world. Many have seen my posts about vaping, have tried it, and are now ex-smokers. I'll proudly wear that feather in my cap, I helped people quit smoking. 

If that makes me the bad gal (or guy as Ms. Bregel thinks I am), then we will struggle to find our common ground.

Kim "Skip" Murray
Tobacco Harm Reduction Specialist - Minnesota Smoke Free 
Board of Directors - Tobacco Harm Reduction 4 Life 
Mom, Aunt, Grandma, Great-Grandma
Advocate of Kindness, Compassion, Equal Rights, Open Access to Records, and Vapor Technology
Direct Service Professional - Achieving Independence
Former Co-Director - Unclaimed Persons   

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Paint me green and hear me roar!
Confessions of an e-liquid mixologist.


It is not only the early death of my elders that is heartbreaking, it is the fact that smoking almost killed my son when he was 29. There’s nothing more scary than the phone ringing before sunrise and a faint voice saying “Mom, I need you. I think I’m having a heart attack.” A helicopter ride, emergency surgery, and a couple of stents in his heart later, my son was lucky enough to survive. We’ve all heard that smoking is dangerous, but who would have thought that 2 packs of cigarettes a day could cause enough heart issues to almost end the life of someone who is only 29?

As an unemployed single Dad, the medical expenses brought on by that heart attack were devastating. The warning by his cardiologist to quit smoking or never see his daughter grow up was sobering. Thus began the exploration of this thing called “vaping”. My son tried it and with in a week, he had quit smoking. He soon began to feel better, sleep better, and breath better. He was so impressed by how life altering it was to start vaping and quit smoking, it became his mission to help other parents escape an early grave and live longer for their kids. He sold everything he could, his truck, tools, stereo, guns, and other possessions to raise enough money to open a vape shop. He’s been in business now for 3 years, and is so very proud of the fact that his shop has helped hundreds of people quit smoking.

A well known e-liquid manufacturer in Minnesota took my son under his wing and taught him the craft of making e-liquid. There were many conversations between them about what types of devices and flavors appeal to smokers, because the more motivated the smoker is to use the products, the more likely smokers will succeed in quitting smoking. This mentor stressed to my son that vaping helps on many levels, and it’s not just a nicotine thing. Smokers smoke for emotional and social reasons. The act of smoking at certain times of the day or in certain situations becomes part of a smokers daily routine. Even though smokers know they should quit, they get pleasure from smoking and this makes it harder to quit smoking. A good vape shop is going to make sure that the products they sell are easy and convenient for a smoker to use, fill the needs of having something go from hand to mouth, can be used at times a smoker usually smokes, and fills that need to bring pleasure to the smoker. This gave birth to my son’s second company, when he started manufacturing e-liquids.

I am known for being a good cook. I take pleasure and pride in creating new dishes that appeal to those who eat what I prepare. The thought of creating e-liquid flavors that would appeal to adult smokers intrigued me. I did the “Mom thing” and used my skills to help my son create all the flavors his e-liquid company sells. I never took a dime from his company and refused to be put on the payroll. I’m well known in my community for volunteer work and advocacy efforts for many causes. The thought of helping to develop products that would appeal to adults and help save lives was right up my alley! I put months into developing the lines my son’s company manufacturers. There were countless hours working with his customers, having them try different combinations of flavor and providing their input into what appealed to them. I find these adult smokers have a wide variety of needs. There’s one customer who needs liquid with no flavor at all, there are people who want their vape to taste like tobacco, and there are those who never want to be reminded of tobacco again. The creations my son manufactures fills all those needs. No flavor, tobacco, fruit, dessert, bakery, candy, coffee, and alcoholic beverages are all represented in his lines. We’ve learned that adults like flavor, like a large selection of choices, and those flavors motivate them to become ex-smokers. I’m so proud of the part my creations play in saving the lives of people in my community!

I smoked for over 40 years. I tried to quit for over 20. Nothing worked long term for me. To be honest, even though I knew I should quit, and I tried to quit, and I was somewhat motivated to quit, I don’t think deep down inside, I ever really WANTED to quit. Without that driving force of the want, I think I was always destined to fail at quitting. One day, my son gave me my first vaping device. I dual used for 4 months. I still didn’t “want” to quit smoking, I just knew if I was around the vape shop, I should vape instead of smoke. One day I realized I had quit smoking. I had to think back a few days to figure out when I had smoked my last cigarette. I’ve been smoke free for 2 and ½ years already! I’m no longer embarrassed to stand in line at a grocery store, because I know I don’t smell like an ashtray and offend people anymore!

Certain things really bother me. Like when anti-tobacco activists do things to destroy my pride in being an ex-smoker and helping other people quit smoking. They demonize me for vaping, something which is 95% safer than smoking. They accuse me of advocating for vaping for the money, instead of my heart felt need to help others. They accuse me of being a part of big tobacco. I’m a broke, toothless old woman - trust me, I don’t get a dime from big tobacco! The most hurtful thing of all, is to pervert the effort I put into creating flavors of e-liquids to appeal to adult smokers and accuse me of marketing to children, of trying to addict the next generation of kids on nicotine.

Not once did I create a flavor and go “hmmmm, I bet a 12 year old would like this”. Not once. I’m not a monster, I’m a mom, an aunt, a grandma, and a great grandma. All I wanted to do is help people quit smoking so they could live long enough to enjoy their extended families. I wanted to help people quit smoking so kids would no longer be exposed to 2nd hand smoke. I wanted to make the world a better place. 

If that makes me a monster....

Skip Murray ~ a.k.a. "Momma Vape"
Tobacco Harm Reduction Specialist - Minnesota Smoke-Free
Member of the Board of Directors - Tobacco Harm Reduction 4 Life
Forever a fan of the movie "A Billion Lives" - Watch it and learn!