Vapor Lock: New EDA rules threaten e-cig businesses

By Ezra Salkin, / Correspondent

Posted Jul 16, 2016 at 2:00 AM   

On the front counter of The Fog Room, adjacent to the door, sits a tip jar: Hardly unusual for any locally owned establishment, retail or otherwise. But this one at the vape and e-cig shop in European Village, offers a tip — literally and figuratively — not to employees but to prospective customers.

It’s stuffed with smooshed cigarettes and crushed packs, so much so that the glass lid sits ajar. “Throw Em’ Out!!! 10% off starter kits!”— a forward-facing note taped to the jar reads.

“That’s been emptied more than five times,” said Josh Karalunas, one of The Fog Room’s three owners, the other two being his father and older brother. They’ve been open only two years. “I’ve helped at least 1,000 people quit smoking, so far.”

Behind the jar are many shelves of small bottles of liquid in an array of flavors with names like Santa’s Tears, Mild Black Wine or Cherry. They’re heated and inhaled by users through a vaporizer apparatus that allows users to control their nicotine level. There’s no actual tobacco. If you talk to local vapers, Karalunas has succeeded in creating a premium vape lounge experience with comfy seating, billiards, foosball, hanging TVs and tasteful photography.

The full article, and full gallery, can be viewed here: https://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20160716/vapor-lock-new-fda-rules-threaten-e-cig-businesses

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