Why Was The First Disposable Vape Ever Made Discontinued?

In recent years, the number of smokers in the UK has fallen dramatically, and one of the biggest reasons for this change is the rise of vaping as a form of nicotine replacement.

The right e-cigarette with help and support can be twice as effective in helping people to quit, and schemes such as “swap to stop” have proven to be effective in encouraging longtime smokers to quit.

Vaping is effective, which makes it somewhat sad that the first disposable vape ever made, and the product which even coined the term vaping, did not get a chance to do so in the 1980s, what Dr Hon Lik achieved in the 2000s.

It was like no cigarette that came before it and like no vape that has emerged since, but in one very important respect, The Favor smoke-free cigarette left an enduring legacy in the world of vaping.

Proving The Principle

Whilst it has perhaps always been known that smoking is inherently harmful, it took until 1950 for the first medical studies to be published that connected smoking to lung cancer.

Once these studies were confirmed by the British Doctors Study in 1956, there was a slow but noticeable change in the perception of smoking from a cultural norm to an inherently harmful and addictive habit, although it would take until the 1990s and 2000s for this shift to be significant.

These studies proved the principle that smoking was inherently connected to lung cancer, but they could not initially find a cause and therefore a way to avoid it.

There were several theories posited, including tar content, but the core principle behind vaping came from inventor Phil Ray who wanted to prove a theory he had about nicotine.

Mr Ray was a heavy smoker, and he discussed with his doctor, Dr Norman Jacobson, the notion that whilst nicotine was the substance that made him addicted to cigarettes, it was not the ingredient that was causing him harm as a smoker.

The pair, along with Dr Jacobson’s pathologist brother and Dr Michael Russell, a leader in smoking research at the time, found that someone could soak a piece of filter paper with nicotine and generate the same result as smoking.

Doing The World A Favour

The concept of the Favor smoke-free cigarette is remarkably simple in comparison to modern vapes; the entire product consists of a plastic cigarette-shaped tube with filter paper soaked in pure nicotine. You inhale nicotine and exhale.

The term vaping came from Brenda Coffee, Phil Ray’s wife, as an analogue for smoking for a product that produces no smoke.

Developed by Advanced Tobacco Products in 1984, Favor was originally soft-launched in California, Texas and a few neighbouring states in the South West of the United States.

The product proved to be surprisingly successful once introduced in 1986, and it initially appeared as if it could be an alternative to smoking if rolled out nationwide or even globally. Unfortunately, it would never get that chance.

The Controversial End To The First Vape

Exactly what happened next is unclear, not helped by multiple inconsistent accounts.

According to Dr Jacobson, Favor had a major defect which they could not fix; nicotine is volatile as a liquid, and when it evaporates it becomes the bitter-tasting compound cotinine. This meant that Favour would have to be refrigerated or sold in very limited quantities.

Ultimately, the company that owned the patented technology sold the rights rather than continue with Favor.

However, there is an alternative issue with regards to the Food and Drug Administration. In February 1987, they sent a letter to Phil Ray stating that they believed that Favor was classified as a drug under the law, and would need specific licensing and regulatory approval to sell.

Rather than enter the complex process of doing so, Advanced Tobacco Products instead discontinued Favor immediately.

The Complex Legacy of Favor

The link between Favor and the later history of vaping is complex, in part because Favor attempted to replace smoking in a very different way to a cigalike, pod mod or even disposable vape.

The most direct legacy it left is in the word vaping, even if the nature of Favor’s design meant that it did not produce the same type of vapour expected from vape juice or nicotine salts today.

It proved the concept was successful and that people wanted a nicotine replacement product that felt more like smoking, even if it would take decades for such a product to find its audience.

There is also the question of whether it could have succeeded globally had ATP attempted to seek regulatory approval. Could we have had a vaping revolution two decades earlier?

Written by: Matt H.