Almost seven years ago, in August 2015, I attended Vapefest in Shropshire.
I wrote about it here and described the outdoor event as a "breath of fresh air".
Sadly the annual event, which attracted hundreds of ordinary vapers and had a really friendly atmosphere, hasn't taken place for years.
Instead there are commercial events – often in large but soulless exhibition halls – and industry forums attended by 'vaping executives, parliamentarians, healthcare practitioners, smoking cessation experts and academics'.
I mention this because in a tweet posted yesterday the organisation that represents the UK vaping industry emphasised that "vaping products should only be accessible to adult smokers looking to quit".
I understand why the UKVIA feels the need to make this statement – especially following the news that underage vaping is on the rise – but what does it say about vaping if the industry's own trade association says its products should only be accessible to adult smokers who want to quit?
It's hardly a ringing endorsement, is it, to suggest that non-smoking adults shouldn't vape? I'm not saying vaping products should be targeted at non-smoking adults but it's a bit like saying Diet Coke should only be accessible to people who want to quit the original (sugary) product.
It plays into the hands of public health campaigners who see e-cigarettes as nothing more than a quit smoking tool which is not the best way, in my opinion, to attract the millions of confirmed smokers (many of whom are social smokers) who don't want to quit.
In my view the best way to win that group over is to convince them that vaping is at least as pleasurable as smoking and does have a recreational aspect to it, just like smoking and drinking.
The issue is, when are some vaping advocates going to stand up and defend e-cigarettes as a relatively harmless product that, if used recreationally – even by some non-smokers – is not going to bring Western civilisation to its knees nor is it going to be a pathway to smoking tobacco.
Looking back I enjoyed my day at Vapefest because the consumer was king. There may have been some vaping executives present but there were no parliamentarians, healthcare practitioners, smoking cessation experts or academics.
The sun was shining, we were in a large showground just outside Shrewsbury and it felt like a lovely recreational day out. It didn't feel like an anti-smoking event and no-one was calling for smoking to be banned for good.
It was a quietly under-stated celebration of vaping and an opportunity for vapers to sample a wide variety of products and there wasn’t a suit in sight.
'Vapefest,' I wrote, 'is what I imagine it might be like holed up in a candy floss factory with fans of Black Sabbath.'
There's a place for industry forums, of course there is, but without the consumer playing a central role I fear for vaping.
Unfortunately several groups that began with a consumer focus have either disappeared or been taken over by anti-smoking campaigners.
Vapefest was the future once. A mini Glastonbury-style event for vapers (there was live music in the evening), I loved the informality and the consumer focus.
Above all I liked the fact that vaping was being enjoyed not as a quit smoking product like nicotine patches and gum but as a pleasurable recreational product in its own right.
Somehow, in the seven years since Vapefest 2015, that message seems to have got lost because vaping advocates are worried that it might alarm public health campaigners who are never, with the best will in the world, going to endorse the use of vaping products long-term.
Is that why the number of vapers in the UK has fallen and stalled around three million in recent years? I don't know but I'd hazard a guess it hasn't helped.
Below: Vapefest 2015, West Midlands Showground, Shrewsbury
