Omfg

[Wyniverrn]

I would have vaped walking in the door to that PD. No kidding.

LOL! I didn't quite have that much guts. I vaped up to the no smoking sign, then I put it away.

 

[PansSiren]

All I can say is Take me to jail, I beg ya.

 

[patkin]

Wyniverrn, it sounds to me.. and did before actually... that what you have is a predominantly, ideologically, anti-smoker PD there. Some of us know those types to be so self-righteous that no matter how despicably they treat a smoker or x-smoker they see it as okay to do. Smoking long ago became a moral issue that made discrimination okay. Chalk it up to this: vapin has them runnin scared. They're more scared than you were last night but... yes... scared people do irrational things.

 

[tA71ana]

Hey everybody. I went to the PD this morning! Here's what happened...

Okay, so I spoke to one Officer Johnson about what had happened yesterday. I brought my kit with me, along with a printed copy of that poster that shows the health effects of smoking compared to vaping. I also brought my smartphone with some vendors' websites loaded up, and this forum, and a business card for the only shop in town I've found thus far that sells more than disposable e-cigs. I explained what I had been doing, and how the officer had treated me, and how much it had upset me. This whole time, I was very sweet and polite. Officer Johnson was polite as well. He told me that there currently wasn't a policy for e-cigs that don't look like e-cigs, and that he wasn't aware such a thing existed. "Normal" e-cigs are treated exactly the same as tobacco cigs. I educated him as much as I could, and told him that there clearly NEEDS to be a policy about it. Things like what happened to me shouldn't happen to innocent citizens. He agreed, and apologized, and said he would bring it up with his superiors to work on getting something in writing. He took the materials I had offered, and I prayed he wasn't just being nice to get rid of me.

The only thing that ...... me off was that when I asked him what steps he thought I should take to ensure I didn't run into this trouble again (should I carry the labeled bottle with me, should I carry business cards, what?) he told me that, "Honestly, if want to quit smoking, should just try some Nicorette and leave this controversy alone."
I told him that I wasn't trying to "quit smoking" so much as I was trying to "replace smoking." For people like me, I explained, it's not just the nicotine that's a factor. It's the hand-to-mouth thing, and the warm inhale, and the mental break that comes with stepping out for a smoke. I'm under a lot of stress as a performer and a student, and I don't really have the fortitude to just "quit." I've tried patches and lozenges and gums in the past, and I've always gone right back to the pipe as soon as life gets hairy. Vaping is a way to get off of the pipe for good, but still keep the behavioral aspects of the habit that are so much more important to my ability to cope with stress. It's much, much healthier for me and everone around me, and totally legal. I told him all this with as gentle a smile as I could muster, even though I sortof wanted to bludgeon him to death.

He didn't give me the officer's name. I told him that a youngish (maybe 25-30?) hispanic officer in an unmarked black SUV had pulled me over as I was leaving Walmart Neighborhood Market, and that I had been so upset I forgot to get the officer's name. Officer Johnson said he would "look into" who had been in that area at the time, and see if he could find out who had pulled me over. He asked me why I had been pulled over in the first place, and I had to admit I didn't know. The officer in question pulled up next to me at the traffic light, rolled down his window, flashed his badge, and yelled at me to pull over, which I did. Then, the situation I described in the first post happened.

When I was pulled over, I was driving an enormous and ancient Ford F250 (circa '81). I was dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and a hooded sweatshirt with my college's logo on it. I'm young, white, and VERY babyfaced (as in, I routinely get carded to see R movies, and have been pulled over before for looking like a runaway that's too young to have a driver's license), especially when I'm not wearing makeup, like last night. I didn't tell the PD this, but I'm telling you guys so that you can understand the situation a little better. It also helps to know that I live...Well...There's no polite way to put this, so I'll just say it: I live in the barrio. When I went to the Walmart, I'm pretty sure was literally the only white person in there. Not to be racist, but I think that's part of why the cop pulled me over. He saw a little white girl and figured I wasn't from the area, and would therefore be a good target to bully. Not to mention that the poor little white girl is probably going to run back to Baldwin Park and cry rather than actually do anything about his ***hattery. *grumblegrumble*

So yeah...That's the update. I'm in contact with the CASAA currently, and hoping that maybe they can help me figure out where to go from here.

Thank you guys again for all your support. Reading this thread gave me the guts to vape all the way down to the PD this morning, and go in with confidence and a smile. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU all for backing me up. I am so glad I found this place. If I hadn't, I don't know if I might have just let the incident go, or if I'd have been too scared to keep vaping, or what I would have done. Thank you all.

You go girl!!!

 

[tA71ana]

Honestly, I am going to Cafepress and ordering me some t-shirts and hoodies that say the following

I AM NOT SMOKING TOBACCO
I AM NOT TAKING ILLEGAL DRUGS
I AM USING AN ELECTRONIC CIGARETTE
FEEL FREE TO INQUIRE.

Maybe ECF can print some with their logo included
This incident has totally bugged the crap out of me..that cop was a jerk

 

[elmattias]

As ...... off about this as I was last night, all I can say is:

Girl, ya did good, and you stuck to your guns in the pd...you may not realize it, but you just won a small battle in this war.

Sent from EVOLTEd

 

[cags]

told him that a youngish (maybe 25-30?) hispanic officer in an unmarked black SUV had pulled me over as I was leaving Walmart

I have to say........
I would never pull over for an unmarked car!
I might go to the closest PD and then pull over.............

I told him all this with as gentle a smile as I could muster, even though I sortof wanted to bludgeon him to death.

lol

I wish I'd remembered to suggest that you ask the PD to let you know how this was handled within the dept......
but good you are in touch with casaa

 

[islanderamy]

Take the greatful dead sticker off the back of your car lol. He really made you jump through some hoops. At least he gave you a warning. Just keep vaping on. Here's a song this thread reminds me of:
william elliott whitmore - johnny law Video Watch Online Playback Time 4 Min 31 Sec uploaded on 2 Nov 2011 | Whatiexpect.in

Take the Grateful Dead sticker off the back of your car! ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I should WARN my husband. He is a Dead Head, and he vapes. WATCH OUT!

 

[Robino1]

As ...... off about this as I was last night, all I can say is:

Girl, ya did good, and you stuck to your guns in the pd...you may not realize it, but you just won a small battle in this war.

Sent from EVOLTEd

Agreed 100%. Any battle won is a step in the right direction. Yes 1 person CAN make a difference.

Wyniverrn, YOU my dear ROCK!!!

 

[purelyscientific]

Great!
Make sure to follow up by calling a couple days from now to see if he could identify the officer.
Press the issue and request that he(the officer) pay you for a new bottle of juice.
If they refuse take them to small claims court.

 

[BeardedVapr]

You were a victim of a headstrong cop that felt he had the upperhand in a situation and made you feel like you were in the wrong. The best thing you can be is informed. Get your local laws on smokeless devices or ecigarettes and get to know them, carry a copy of them in your car if you must. Do not let the cops dictate what is legal to you , that is not their job.Also if this comes up again offer to follow the officer to the headquarters for full testing of you and your device as well as your liquid, but that you will not dump out the liquid because it is not a medicine prescribed by a doctor nor is it an illegal substance.DO NOT BE AFRAID. Dammit even if you get arrested you have to stop letting your freedoms as American citizens be taken from you. I had a very close loved one die from lung cancer due to smoking at the age of 49, once you live thru that you kinda get a second set of balls and get tired of the idiots that are uneducated and try to get you to go back to smoking death.GET EDUCATED! you can say look this is my body I choose to vape or cower like a abused dog in the corner afraid to touch your device cause the big bad cop made you afraid. Stand up and know what is legal and isnt and dont let .......s bend you into thinking what might be illegal, KNOW WHAT IS ILLEGAL!

 

[Elnroth]

So if you had torn the label off a bottle of coke, would you have had to dump that as well? That's an unlabeled substance in a bottle. What he did is illegal, I would file a formal complaint.

 

[worthatry]

Good for you OP. Too bad you didn't get his name so you could've put in a solid formal complaint but I think you handled it well.

I live in a place where they train the deputies. We have them trawling all over the place. EVERY time I see a cop car I make sure to have my PV to my lips with vapor soon to follow. I am begging them to pull me over so I can educate them. None of them ever do

If they are going to "grow up" to be the kind of cop that you met, I want to meet them early and get them off the job. Darn it, they NEVER pull me over.

I would have vaped walking in the door to that PD. No kidding.

To this person sorry but your mentality and attitude is probably as bad as the cop's in OP's story. You just don't see it the same way because you see it from your side as I am sure the cop sees it from his side but he probably says things just like you do.

 

[Bullette the Cowdog]

I used to live in Miami. I think you said it was an unmarked vehicle?
If he was in an unmarked vehicle & did not turn on lights & sirens, are you sure he was a cop?

 

[Fjnissim]

To the OP: Wow, that does not sound like a fun time at all and I feel bad you had to be treated that way.

Being completely new to vaping this has been a concern of mine. In all honesty one of the things that kept me away from the larger ecig configurations initially was the fact that they look suspicious. My wife still says "that thing does not look legal" when referring to my LT but I made my decision based on functionality, price, and battery life (tech geek too).

What do you do if you do get pulled over? So far I gather you would just explain then let the officer test the juice with his tester?

 

[mare ze dotes]

Good for you. I too just stared vapeing and will not do it in public, for fear of what happend to you. I am admireing the way you stuck up for your self, and us other vaping people.

 

[vsummer1]

To this person sorry but your mentality and attitude is probably as bad as the cop's in OP's story. You just don't see it the same way because you see it from your side as I am sure the cop sees it from his side but he probably says things just like you do.

Why? I am not smoking, nor am I doing ANYTHING illegal? It's not my mentality and attitude that is the problem, it is your perception that you don't have the right to vape wherever you want to. There is absolutely NO law against it, and I am not harming anyone else. So what is the problem? If I was asked to stop, I would out of courtesy. But I have vaped everywhere (doctors, dentists, hospitals, airplanes, restaurants, bars, offices) and NEVER once been asked to stop.

In my opinion, it is YOUR mentality and attitude about vaping that needs to step up to the plate and make it more main stream so cops like the one in the OP DON'T think it is unusual.

ETA: I understand that some municipalities, college campuses and airlines do ban them, and of course would never vape where it was not allowed. The airline I was on did not ban it, nor does my community. In fact, several hospitals even allow them for patients. I am sure others do not. You must be aware of the regulations where you reside before you vape in places where it may not be allowed.

 

[JudeD]

There is a very fine line to be walked as a vaper. I want vapers to use their PVs in public because I think the more we use them, the more they will become acceptable and things like this will stop happening, but I also don't want vapers to be obnoxious about using their PVs because I want them to become acceptable so things like this stop happening.

I don't think we should have to hide the fact that we vape and I really think acting like we are doing something shameful or something that deserves to be banished to the far corners of the parking lot hurts the vaping community a lot, but I also think vaping when you've been asked not to by the owner or when you're standing in line near a lot of people hurts the cause, too. We're all just finding our way with this new lifestyle and we have to be smart about it. We were often made to feel as though we were bad people because we smoked instead of people with a bad habit. I won't accept being banished with vaping and the public perception of vaping is as important as the facts. If the anti's convince the general public that vaping is as dangerous and offensive to them as smoking, we're doomed. We have to get the public on our side by getting the facts out there and by vaping where we can be seen and have a chance to explain.

 

[Baditude]

Why? I am not smoking, nor am I doing ANYTHING illegal? It's not my mentality and attitude that is the problem, it is your perception that you don't have the right to vape wherever you want to. There is absolutely NO law against it, and I am not harming anyone else. So what is the problem? If I was asked to stop, I would out of courtesy. But I have vaped everywhere (doctors, dentists, hospitals, airplanes, restaurants, bars, offices) and NEVER once been asked to stop.

In my opinion, it is YOUR mentality and attitude about vaping that needs to step up to the plate and make it more main stream so cops like the one in the OP DON'T think it is unusual.

ETA: I understand that some municipalities, college campuses and airlines do ban them, and of course would never vape where it was not allowed. The airline I was on did not ban it, nor does my community. In fact, several hospitals even allow them for patients. I am sure others do not. You must be aware of the regulations where you reside before you vape in places where it may not be allowed.

My feelings exactly, VSummer1.

I personally don't get where people get the idea that when they see a strange-looking device that appears initially to be letting out smoke, why do people assume it is an illicit paraphanalia device? I've never seen one to recognize one in real life. Has anyone else? I haven't been living a sheltered life cut off from the general public, yet I've yet to see what these so-called illicit paraphanalia devices look like. Look at my gear in the link below; none of my stuff looks anywhere close to a cigarette. You tell me, is this what drug paraphanlia looks like?

It's my personal opinion that I am not going to let ANYONE dictate to me what my personal vaporizer looks like. There is absolutely nothing illegal, at least at this point in time, with either my personal vaporizer or my e-juice. If a cop wants to mess with me and my use of my personal vaporizer, let him. I'll calmly try to educate the ignorant, but if that doesn't work, I'll have my day in court with him.

 

[vsummer1]

I am never obnoxious when vaping in public. I don't blow huge plumes of vapor, you can keep it to yourself easy enough. For instance, last night I was at a birthday party at a restaurant. Until I knew if they were vape friendly or not, I limited my exhales so no clouds were visible or bothering anyone. Once the waitress came by and asked me about it and stated she would love more information on it, I was home free and vaped a little heavier, though still not like I do in the comfort of my own space (car, outside, or in my home).

The only time I blew it near someone's face was when they asked me to so they could smell my gooey caramel cookie. Otherwise, I keep it to myself. There is absolutely no need to create a cloud when in a group.