The move basically puts cigars, e-cigarettes, pipe tobacco and hookah tobacco in the same category as cigarettes, requiring them to abide by the same guidelines, according to the report, which noted that the rules will take effect after 90 days. Under the new rule, e-cigarettes will be treated as a tobacco product which means companies that make them will have to register and disclose the ingredients in their products for the FDA to review. “My overall complaint is that the FDA has shown more concern for the business of tobacco than the public health risks to youth over four to five years”.
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Because the regulatory pipeline will require time and money from manufacturers-by way of submitting data and paperwork to the agency as well as paying FDA user fees-some critics argue that it will hurt small e-cig businesses and give big tobacco companies an advantage. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FDA say 3 million middle- and high schoolers reported using e-cigarettes in 2015, an increase from around 2.5 million the year before.
The Food and Drug Administration will now treat electronic cigarettes and related tobacco products such as hookahs and cigars the same as traditional cigarettes. “But what about smokers trying to use e-cigarettes to quit smoking regular cigarettes?” Also, the government will have a say on what goes into the products.
But here in Oregon, Multnomah County already prohibits minors from buying e-cigarettes and it’s illegal to use them indoors as it’s considered a violation of the Clean Air Act.
The regulations “will cause a modern-day prohibition of products that are recognized worldwide as far less hazardous than cigarettes”, said Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association. For example, while the FDA intends to phase out flavored cigars, it will allow flavored e-cigarettes to remain on the market, a decision that irked anti-tobacco advocates.
From now on e-cigarettes should also have health warnings which indicates that the product contains nicotine and it is an addictive chemical.
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The full 500-page FDA regulation is here. But sales have slowed recently after questions about their safety. Those products are sold nationwide at convenience stores and gas stations. That includes vape shops that mix their own e-cigarette liquid.
