STOCKTON — Amid a rising tide of bad publicity about e-cigarettes — locally, nationally and internationally — James Wilson, co-owner of a Stockton vaping shop, says his business performs a public service by providing a steppingstone for cigarette smokers as they try to become nicotine-free.

“My job here is to help people quit smoking,” Wilson said this week. “It’s what we’ve preached since we opened.”

Wilson’s business, Vapor Mo’s, opened a little more than two years ago and is located in a strip mall on Pershing Avenue north of Robinhood Drive. There is also a Vapor Mo’s in Turlock.

Last week, after District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar proposed an ordinance banning the sale of e-cigarettes in San Joaquin County, Wilson decided to speak out about his product, which he says is badly misunderstood.

Wilson comes at the issue from a variety of angles:

• Citing the e-cigarette lobby, Wilson says states such as California have taken anti-vaping stances because, in part, they fear fewer people will smoke cigarettes and tax revenue from that industry will shrink.

• The nicotine in his product does not come from tobacco. He said it comes from eggplants, tomatoes and squash, and is nowhere near as unhealthy as tobacco.

• He flavors his products to make them palatable for his 21-and-older clients, not because he is trying to attract underage users. He said he checks the IDs of all customers, denies entry to those younger than 21, and is adamant that teens should not vape.

• Some countries that provide government-run health care to their citizens support vaping as a means of quitting cigarette smoking and lowering the related medical costs that go with lighting up.

Wilson also noted the presence of vaping shops in at least two hospitals in England. According to The New York Times, the hospitals allowed an e-cigarette company to open the shops to give visitors a nicotine option after banning cigarette smoking in and around their facilities.

The Times also reported that England’s public health agency recommended vaping products be available for sale in hospital shops to promote a smoke-free environment and to encourage patients and employees to stop smoking.

Wilson follows the same logic.

“My goal has always been to help people quit smoking and to help people get off vaping, as well,” Wilson said. “We’re a temporary situation.”

Wilson said his products contain a fraction of the number of milligrams of nicotine found in a cigarette or in some brand-name vaping products that are owned in part by tobacco giants.

The belief in the benefits of vaping is far from universal. Johns Hopkins Medical Center, for instance, said in a report this year that vaping is less harmful than smoking but still a health threat.

“Nicotine is … a toxic substance,” the report said. “It raises your blood pressure and spikes your adrenaline, which increases … the likelihood of having a heart attack.”

Referring to a 2018 study by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, the American Lung Association said, "Using e-cigarettes causes health risks. (The study) concluded that e-cigarettes both contain and emit a number of potentially toxic substances."

Wilson, 49, says he smoked for 26 years before vaping enabled him to give up cigarettes. Though he still vapes, he says he is healthier now than he was when he smoked.

“I’ve had lung capacity tests where even my allergy doctors were not believing I smoked,” he said. “There are people that I have personally saved their lives because they were able to kick the habit and completely kick the ball and chain. That means not vaping. That means not smoking.”

Contact reporter Roger Phillips at (209) 546-8299 or rphillips@recordnet.com.