FEATURE
SHE MAY HAVE LOST HER SMALL-TOWN STORE …
… but impassioned vape advocate Skip Murray refuses to stop fighting for harm reduction and the lives of smokers .
Words : Jordan Millar
The vaping community was shaken to the core after beloved harm reduction advocate Skip Murray announced she was shutting her business down for good .
One of the most inspiring voices in the industry , many were shocked to learn that she was the latest casualty in the war on vaping .
But , like thousands before her , Skip fell victim to a cocktail of misinformation , COVID-19 measures and a relentless wave of policy changes … forcing her to shut up shop . She said : “ I knew it was going to happen , but I tried to pretend it wasn ’ t … one of the first stages of grief is denial and that ’ s where I was for a really long time . “ I kept hoping that something would change , holding out that the world would come to its senses … I ’ m just going to miss helping people .”
Even in the face of misinformation and cutthroat regulations , Skip pushed forward for as long as possible .
She fought tirelessly to serve her community and keep her Minnesota-based shop – Lakes Vape and Rec Supply – alive , even using funds from her overnight job in a group home to keep the business afloat . But , despite pouring everything she had into the store , even Skip knew things had to come to an end .
Eventually , she accepted her fate , let her lease expire and what was once a beacon of hope for smokers in her small town sadly closed its doors for the last time . Grandmother Skip , 60 , said : “ After a while my regulars became like family … so for me to close was not so much about losing a business , but about no longer being here for the people who ’ ve depended on us for years .
“ Obviously I didn ’ t put the misinformation out there , I wasn ’ t responsible for the EVALI crisis and I didn ’ t start COVID … but it ’ s hard not to feel like a failure .” After taking over the store in 2018 from her son – who made the switch after suffering a smoking-induced heart attack – Skip quickly integrated herself in the world of vaping .
And through her dedication to helping smokers - as well as her work in consumer advocacy and online activism – she rose to harm reduction stardom , becoming one
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