and industry advocacy groups to ensure the interests of its members are heard and addressed at the state and federal level . The FSFA also advocates on state issues that threaten the survival of the industry , provides informative resources and helps educate and prepare industry participants to meet ever more demanding compliance requirements . While at the show I learned a lot more about the industry than I knew before I arrived and even discovered that France does not allow pictures of fruit on its e-liquid bottles . The event took place from October 21 - 23 and on the Saturday shortly after 2pm something happened which I had never experienced at any other vape event before … everyone was asked to leave the venue Vendors , visitors and staff alike left the convention center to take part in the ‘ Hands for a Billion Lives ’ project . A huge line of people all linked hands at exactly 2.22pm to help raise awareness to the horrific statistic that around 480,000 people in the US die every year from smoking-related illnesses and a billion people worldwide are projected to die from smoking this century . The movie “ A Billion Lives ” outlines the history and the conspiracy behind large business concerns ’ efforts to kill off the vaping industry , and the ‘ Hands for a Billion Lives ’ project saw people gather in public open spaces across the US at the same time , to support the movie . I was glad that this was taking place on the main day of this expo and that the organisers had taken the very brave
“ We are here for the bigger picture which is saving lives and being part in a project like this is much better than sitting inside and selling another bottle or two of e-liquid .”
decision to briefly close the event to support the project . Sarah Fairman , the chief co-ordinator for the Miami vape expo said : “ It was a risky business to ask everybody to leave the expo but we cleared out the building so that everyone could take part in ‘ Hands for a Billion Lives ’. “ We are here for the bigger picture which is saving lives and being part in a project like this is much better than sitting inside and selling another bottle or two of e-liquid .” “ This is about as serious as it can possibly get . If the vaping industry is wiped out then there will be one billion smokers who will die worldwide as a result . We cannot let that happen .” Visitors to the expo were also able to see former Fat Boys rapper Prince Markie Dee , who chatted to vapers and vendors at the event and gave away goodies including hats and t-shirts from the main stage . Prince Markie – real name Mark Morales – was one of the most wellknown hip hop artists in the USA and he embarked on a successful solo career after leaving the Fat Boys . The former two-packets-a-day smoker was able to kick the habit of ten years
after he discovered vaping five years ago . Now he has not touched a cigarette in five years and is determined to get the message across to as many people as possible that there is a much safer alternative to smoking . Morales , from Brooklyn , New York , has lived in Florida since 2003 , and explained why he was at the event . He said : “ I am here to support the vaping community . Big Tobacco is doing all in its power to stop us but we must fight back . “ Vaping is a much safer alternative to smoking and I want to do all in my power to get that message across to as many people as possible . “ The vaping community is under threat in this country from excessive regulation that could kill the entire industry and we cannot allow that to happen . “ If the vaping industry is killed off then more people will die – it is as simple as that .” Overall the show was very positive indeed for the vaping industry and from start to finish had a real family atmosphere about it .
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