FDA Declares War
After weeks and months of speculation and irresponsible statements, the FDA has launched its offensive that could eliminate most vape products.
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by Dave Cross
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The FDA is to:
- Ban the sale of flavoured closed-system devices like Juul from all outlets other than vape stores
- Only allow other outlets to supply tobacco, mint, and menthol closed-system devices like Juul
- Release guidelines for future online sales
- Push to ban menthol in cigarettes and probably eliquid
Gottlieb issued a statement: “The actions the FDA announced today are a response to our deep concern over the epidemic growth in kids use of e-cigarettes. The data released by the CDC shows a trend in use that simply cannot stand. We must reverse this trajectory of youth use and addiction.”
“If today’s proposals can’t achieve that purpose, we will have to consider other steps. And we call on manufacturers to join us and immediately take steps to comply with the new policies we are pursuing.”
Given that the data doesn’t support this action – there is no epidemic – the measures can’t possibly achieve their goal. Therefore, according to experts at the Ecig Summit, further action is almost guaranteed. Clive Bates was deeply pessimistic in his assessment and worried that there will be no American vape market in the future.
Charles Gardner pointed out: “US National Youth Tobacco Survey - 2.3% of 9th-12th graders vaped >20 days/month in 2017. FDA now says 2.99% in 2018. Most vaping ‘use’ is rare & experimental. Teen vaping DOUBLED from 2013-2015, then decreased 2016-2017. Hasn't changed much.”
Gottlieb continued: “The issues are both access and appeal. The e-cig products are too appealing to kids, and too accessible. And so we are taking steps to address both these variables. On the issue of appeal, it is clear that the flavours are a critical on ramp to youth use of tobacco products, and we cannot address flavours in just the e-cig products. The menthol in combustible cigarettes, and the fruity flavours in cigars and cigarillos, are a pernicious feature that makes these products both more appealing and more tolerable to children.”
“While we are pursuing measures to prevent access to fruity flavoured e-cigs, we are not taking the same steps for the mint and menthol e-cigs. That's because we still have a market where menthol is available in combustible cigarettes and I didn’t want to tilt that market in favour of the combustible products and away from e-cigs at the very time we are trying to get more adult smokers to quit traditional cigarettes. But that's the world we are in today.”
“If rate of youth use doesn't decline we're ready to consider additional steps. We won't allow a generation of kids to become addicted to tobacco products through e-cigs, and risk reversing dramatic public health gains we’ve made in recent years by lowering youth smoking rates.”
Stanton Glantz commented: “This is a start, but it is too limited to have much impact. How long will it take the FDA and Scott Gottlieb to recognize this and do what needs to be done? Ban all flavours in all tobacco products, including menthol.”
Billionaire Mike Bloomberg predictably agreed: “The FDA’s ruling on e-cigarettes does not go far enough—we need a comprehensive, nationwide ban on selling all flavoured e-cigarettes. Without it, the tobacco industry will continue to endanger public health, especially among children.”
The American Vaping Association contends that these measures will simply serve to prevent adult smokers from quitting.
Greg Conley said: “No youth should vape and there is room for more rigorous enforcement to ensure youth are not accessing these products. However, this move by Commissioner Gottlieb will only serve to make it harder for adult smokers to switch to a far less harmful alternative. Not every town has a vape shop, meaning that for many adults, it will be much easier to pick up a pack of Marlboros or Camels -- or even an unrestricted cherry-flavoured cigar -- at a local convenience store than it will be to make the switch to a vaping product that can truly help smokers break their desire for cigarettes.”
"Notably, the FDA has never released a list of Internet retailers that have refused to sell to minors in sting operations. Meanwhile, the FDA has documented tens of thousands of compliance checks on traditional retail stores. The FDA's continual failure to release data on their Internet operations is worthy of questioning."
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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