In a possible backlash, a massive surge in do-it-yourself e-cigarettes might result from FDA’s regulatory onslaught which is quite impossible for the government to rein in.
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“To encourage a potentially positive pattern of ENDS replacing cigarettes”, the authors wrote, “it can be argued that efforts are needed by the public health community to reduce the appeal and attractiveness of the cigarette and other combusted tobacco products, namely, decreasing the product, promotion, placement and price advantage of these more lethal combusted tobacco products”.
The FDA rule was issued last week, and it is more comprehensive than the mere regulation of electronic smoking or “vaping”. In the video obtained by NY Times, The Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Mathews Burwell, announced a ban on the sales to students 18 years-old and below after discussing the percentage increase of students who smoke e-cigars. The percentage who said they would continue to use the e-cigarettes of their choice by skating around the law breached 90 percent.
In three month, electronic cigarette and cigar manufacturers, along with Hookah makers, will be subjected to federal reviews before they can begin marketing products. They will require all e-cig products made after 2007 to undergo review and approval.
E-cigarettes, Public Health England says, are about 95% less harmful than smoking, are not a gateway to smoking, and could help smokers quit. If we’re to accept the idea that any government regulation is beneficial, this is one area which is ripe for it. While the product may not be tobacco in its pure form it does involve nicotine, which is pretty much as addictive as heroin. Now, new rules will block sales to people under 18, and require an application process for vendors making e-cigarette liquid. We’ll have to wait for long-term studies to build up more solid evidence on the lasting health effects of e-cigarettes. While there is no proof that e-cigarettes can cause lung cancer, many experts believe they can be harmful. In 2014, more than half the reported exposures were among children under the age of 6, heightening calls for child-proof packaging of e-cigarette cartridges.
The FDA says that limiting e-cigarette access to minors was particularly important, as reports have shown that vaping is a behavior on the rise among high school students – the number of young e-cigarette smokers has jumped from 1.5 percent in 2011 to 16 percent in 2015. Despite industry claims over the virtue of e-cigarettes as a way to kick the nicotine habit, there has been enough doubt among scientists in this country to urge caution.
As one of those companies at risk from the new regulations, Nicopure said they had to turn to the justice system to make things right for themselves and their customers.
Last year, China hiked its wholesale tax rate on cigarettes to 11 percent from 5 percent, an increase the World Health Organization said earned revenue of about 70 billion yuan ($11 billion) for the central government in 2015.
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Anti-tobacco activists praised the move, noting that e-cigarette use is growing among teens.
