Vape Shops Saved for Now: Dodged One Bullet, But Now Must Dodge Another One

I am expecting the FDA to announce this afternoon that it plans to enforce a ban on the sale of all flavored e-cigarette pods and cartridges for closed vaping systems, with the exception of tobacco and menthol flavors, but that it is exempting e-liquids and vape juices sold for open systems. This means that the restriction will primarily affect the vaping products sold by convenience stores, but not all of the products sold by vape shops.The decision of the FDA not to ban all flavored e-cigarettes is a huge victory for public health. By allowing vape shops to continue selling flavored vape liquids, the FDA is preventing hundreds of thousands of ex-smokers from being forced to return to smoking. It also ensures that this important off-ramp from smoking remains available to adult smokers.However, the battle is not yet over because if the FDA implements the PMTA deadline in May of this year, it will wipe out most of the vaping industry, handing it over to the tobacco companies. The results would be devastating to the public ’s health, as many ex-smokers would return to smoking and many more would turn to a new black market for these products.Hopefully, the FDA will re-think its overall approach to tobacco product regulation and announce a more sensible policy —one that regulates products based on their level of risk. Such a policy would remove the addictive nicotine from combustible cigarettes and restrict their sale to tobacco shops open only to adults. It would also direct...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs