The new threat to vejpare - bears!

As a vejper, you're used to being attacked from all sides when you want to suck in some tasty vapour. If it's not tougher laws, soaring nicotine costs or new bans, it could be - bears. The threat is real, it turns out, and vejpers out there should take immediate action to protect themselves. 

If you're not used to hanging out in places where bears hang out, you might want to take this advice with a pinch of salt. But the fact remains that the website backbacker.com has taken the problem quite seriously and set out to investigate the matter. In Colorado. 

Do artificial fragrances have the same appeal?

With the background and knowledge that bears are attracted to food odours, they wanted to find out about artificial scents - like those you find in e-cigarettes. Is fake chocolate or key lime pie as irresistible to the big bears as the real thing? And what about marijuana?

In Colorado in particular, marijuana use is sky high, and they have plenty of bears, so the question suddenly becomes more serious in that context. Are vejpers and marijuana smokers living dangerously out in the big parks? Is a bunch of free spirits around a campfire with jazz tobacco in their pens dancing on a tightrope over high altitude?
Backpacker.com turned to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) for clarification.

Smells from three kilometres away

CPW has an important role in educating the public about wildlife safety. According to Kara Van Hoose, Public Information Officer at CPW, vejp pens CAN potentially attract bears. This is because bears are attracted to scents, and many juices smell like candy or food. Bears have an impressive sense of smell and can detect scents from up to three kilometres away.

Van Hoose therefore recommends being careful about what flavours you take into the wild. Unscented or tobacco-based vejps are less palatable to bears, while fruity flavours can be more appealing. If someone has had fun creating an e-juice that smells like grilled steak or smoked wild boar, it should be skull and crossbones labelled and left safely at home in an urban environment.

The same advice may apply in Sweden

In the Swedish context, the same advice should be followed, although fauna and bear varieties may differ. If you are out in the open, you should think about vejp flavours in the same way as you would about how you prepare and store your food. 

When it comes to storing e-cigarettes in the wild, like other strong-smelling items, they should be kept in a bear-proof container or hung in a properly secured bear bag when leaving camp, says CPW. Bears are known to rummage through unguarded campsites and will not be deterred by a small human shivering in a tent.

Prefer fast food to cannabis

On the specific question of whether bears are particularly attracted to marijuana, there is currently no strong evidence that this is the case. However, there are plenty of anecdotes that suggest there may be some interest. In 2019, a bear was caught trying to break into a container behind a marijuana dispensary in Colorado, writes backpacker.com. However, it is more likely that the bear was drawn to some discarded fast food than the marijuana itself. But since it was not possible to ask the bear about the matter, one can never be completely sure.

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