Smaller tanks, less nicotine and flavours vanishing off the shelves. These are dark days indeed.

The TPD laws took its hold upon the UK in May of 2016 and have since then become one of the many hurdles that vape companies must overcome. Not only do independent vendors have to compete with large companies such as Phillip Morris jumping on the vaping band wagon, but they must also fend off restrictions which have created a choke hold round the vaping industry, struggling to ensure they are selling TPD compliant vape e liquid. So, what can you do to bypass the TPD laws and find your own way to vape without breaking the law?

What are the TPD laws?

The TPD laws were established in May 2016 and were established to set down stricter rules for tobacco products. Unfortunately, this meant that vaping, due to its link with nicotine was struck under the same regulations, leading to a range of limiting factors.

These factors included extra emissions tests on products, ensuring that they did not have any unwanted chemicals in them. This meant that many vape juices had to eb recalled for testing and some never hit the market again. On a practical level, vape devices were only allowed to have 2 ml tanks which means more refills, and vape juice bottles themselves were set the maximum size of 10 ml. Nicotine was set at a maximum of 20 mg per 10 ml in pre-filled vape bottles.

Worries about vaping under the TPD laws include the extra plastic from the maximum bottle sizes being a waste, as well as the cap on nicotine alienating ex-smokers who may have been used to larger dosages of nicotine

Synthetic nicotine

Synthetic nicotine may only be in its prototype stages, but gives hope for bypassing TPD loopholes, or at the very least holds up a mirror to the TPD regulators, who will be forced to question the laws and their overreach.

Nicotine can be taken from many different sources, including tomatoes, aubergines and potatoes, and whilst weaker in strength than the tobacco plant, can theoretically be edited on a molecular level to match the concentrations in tobacco. This would mean that vape products would be sourcing their nicotine from alternative sources, untethering itself from its association with tobacco.

Short fill vape juices

To bypass the nicotine maximum hurdle, a good idea for heavy nicotine users is to invest in nicotine free vape juices in short fill bottles. These bottles allow you about 20% of empty space in which you can mix your own vape juices and add your own nicotine shots. With concentrated nicotine shots, you can exceed the 20 mg maximum legally, the law only covering pre-filled vape juices. What’s more, this gives you the chance to mix your own juices and experiment with different flavours.

Mixing your own vape juices

As mentioned above, mixing your won vape juices is less a bypassing of TPD laws, but a fun way to take vaping into your own hands. This means that you can find flavours and ways of vaping which are truly your won, personalised to your taste, whether they be sweet or sour, high in propylene glycol or high in vegetable glycerine.

Unregulated vape devices

Unregulated vape devices are usually reserved for vaping pros and gives you the chance to build your own circuit boards and add your own accessories. These vape devices are very DIY; often called rebuildable decks, these vape mods give you plenty of room for experimentation, so long as you know your coils from your atomisers, and your ohms law from your battery power. These devices can bypass TPD laws due to their DIY nature, allowing you to even bypass the need for a vape tank altogether!

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