If you want to be perfectly healthy, breathe pure air and drink pure water, but if you want to stop smoking you can join the 600,000 people (Public Health England figures) who have turned to E-cigarettes as a means of quitting. Public Health England says that vaping is 95% less harmful than traditional cigarettes.
I’m not a smoker myself but I went along to the new Central Vape Shop on the High Street in Barrow to meet its owner and manager, James Offiler, to talk about how shops like his have taken over from the traditional tobacconist that used to be seen on most High Streets.
James used to be a rugby player, meat eater and heavy smoker. A serious illness a few years ago landed him in hospital and he took stock of his health. He is now a vegan and a vaper and feels so much healthier and full of life. He lives in Barrow and is keen to be involved in the community. He gets his hair cut at Eddie’s Barbers and buys flowers for his dates (ah, what a romantic) from Taylor’s Florist. More importantly, he is working with Humphrey Perkins School on a programme to help prevent young people from taking up any kind of smoking at all.
There is a minimum age of 18 years for buying E-cigarettes (and James does ask for ID if he thinks someone looks younger than 25 years) but most of his customers are in their 50s and many come from outside Barrow – and do some other local shopping while here. While I was talking with him, I spoke with a young man, Liam, from Quorn who said he used to smoke 50 cigarettes a day, wasting £20 a day, and his partner hated it. Now he only wastes £15 a week and is allowed to vape in the house! He feels better, no longer experiences shortness of breath and has more energy. A lady from Sileby then called in to try different flavours to vape. Also a heavy smoker desperate to quit, she was recommended by her GP to try vaping but currently still feels she wants a larger dose of nicotine than her first purchases contained. James gives time and advice to his customers but says that he would never knowingly sell to someone who isn’t currently a smoker.
The other side of the shop stocks cannabidiol (CBD)-based products. These are the things that can get confused with marijuana. While they are derived from the same plant (hemp) and constitute one of the hundreds of components of marijuana, CBD itself does not cause ‘a high’ and a paper published last summer from Harvard Medical School, reports that to date, “there is no evidence of public healthrelated problems associated with pure CBD”. The confusion with CBD and drugs comes from some people buying products from the internet (where they aren’t regulated) and combining them with other drugs.
The products sold in The Central Vape Shop are all regulated, high-quality CBD products and they range from teas and bath bombs (for relaxation) to beard oil to cream for skin conditions like acne. CBD ointments are used regularly by older people for ailments like arthritis, pain relief and even Crohn’s Disease because they don’t interact with other medication and can help with anxiety. James encourages all customers to do their own research and consult with medical professionals.
Karisa Krcmar
James is happy for people (over the age of 18) to call in, look around and ask questions. He may not be there, but you will find Danny Slater or Gabriel Davies equally able to help. He used local professionals and craftsmen to fit out the shop so that it “looks smarter than Boots … and is somewhere you can feel comfortable bringing your nan”. We welcome James and his team to the retail community of Barrow and hope they will continue to help people kick the smoking habit with the large range of vaping flavours and products.