“I never could have guessed,” reflects Marc Slis, “what would happen when I quit smoking.”
906 Vapor is a short documentary I made about a vape shop owned by Slis in Houghton, Michigan. The population of this quirky, remote Upper Peninsula community is just shy of 8,000. Its heyday as the world’s largest supplier of copper has long passed, but its residents remain proud of their heritage and identity.
A geophysicist by training, Slis smoked for 44 years. He quit the first time he used a vape. He believes vaping saved his life, and has been giving back ever since. So far, he’s helped over 1,400 other people quit smoking.
A fearless advocate for people’s right to access effective harm reduction alternatives, Slis sued the Michigan governor to stop a vape flavor ban, and won in 2019.
906 Vapor, which you can watch above, bears witness to how independent vape shops function as nonjudgemental, educational drop-in centers for people from all walks of life who want to quit smoking.
For some months, I followed Slis and his devoted regulars as he fought to keep his shop open amidst a political anti-vaping backlash.
At Slis’s shop, a pit bull named Bernie sits in the window. A sign above her spot reads, “You can’t pet dogs when you are dead, quit smoking! I can help.” The canine recruiter brings countless new customers into the store.
For some months, I followed Slis and his devoted regulars as he fought to keep his shop open amidst a political anti-vaping backlash. His struggle is emblematic of the wholesale demise of the independent vape industry, encompassing shops like 906 Vapor and artisanal e-liquid producers.
As the ending reveals, the film is something of a time capsule. It’s also a celebration of the communities built by individuals who ushered in a new era of smoking cessation, permanently transforming people’s chances of health and longevity.
Importantly, 906 Vapor preserves the origin story of tobacco harm reduction (THR)—how it sprung from creative people desperate for better smoking-cessation options than those offered by public health providers and doctors. It’s a story that refutes the lazy and widespread conflation of vaping with Big Tobacco.
Slis has the ability to frame tobacco harm reduction in a way that speaks directly to those who remain skeptical, on the basis of how tobacco companies later pivoted to meet demand. People like him line the rapid trajectory from the 2003 invention of the e-cigarette by Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik to the explosion of DIY communities that brought more and more people into the “ex-smoker” fold.
Slis directly contends with the aftermath of that initial rise in vapes’ popularity. He confronts the anti-vaping agenda spread by billionaires like Michael Bloomberg. His story challenges the politicians, regulators and corporations carving up a restricted THR market while offering grassroots vape providers as sacrificial lambs.
The narrative put forward in 906 Vapor, about where tobacco harm reduction came from and where it may be going, is both a warning and a call to action.
The production of 906 Vapor was supported by a scholarship from Knowledge-Action-Change. The Influence Foundation, which operates Filter, has received restricted grants and donations from KAC. Filter‘s Editorial Independence Policy applies.
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