Latest news from Washington has broken in relation to the conglomerate giants of the e-cigarette and cigar world. These big guns have decided that it’s time to change the momentum and future of e-cigarettes and cigars to the point of engaging renowned lobbyists alongside several influential allies in Congress with the focus of stopping the latest FDA’s intentions of being able to retroactively examine all e-cigarette and cigar products on the basis of it being a public health risk and/or having such power to ban them completely and indefinitely from the consumer market. This particular campaign though, has the major focuses on the extension of the FDA’s purview over cigars, e-cigarettes, pipe and hookah tobacco.
Without a doubt, you would already know that these major companies (especially those that involved in the cigarette industry) have a load of power and a great backup of ammunition to bring on a fight the authorities will not forget. We’re talking how this particular industry holds so much authority over the authorities (no pun intended) despite it being almost two decades since there was a $200 billion USD settlement reached between a handful of major tobacco companies and the state AG for the compensation to the public for negative health consequences equated with smoking. Point is, you really don’t want to get on the bad side of these powerful conglomerates.
With over 75 lobbyists already engaged, the tobacco, cigar and e-cigarette industry giants stand ground in argument that the FDA’s “Deeming Rule” has the possible outcome of damaging public health through its forceful actions of shoving e-cigarette companies out of the limelight and risking individuals resorting back to the old school traditional tobacco ways which have been arguably shown to be more damaging to health than the former.
According to Christian Berky, the Chief Executive of Johnson Creek Enterprises (which is one of the founding companies to have starting selling e-liquid ingredients used in e-cigarettes and other types of vape products), “The FDA has blatantly ignored evidence that our products improve people’s lives”.
On the other hand, the FDA officials have made several acknowledgements that e-cigarettes, despite it containing nicotine which has been derived from tobacco, are indeed not as harmful as traditional tobacco cigarettes. This comes from several case studies executed at both authority and at a higher educational level. Despite this acknowledgement, the FDA is still headstrong on its insistence that examination of whether e-cigarettes or e-liquid may comprise of toxic chemicals the likes of diethylene glycol (which is use in anti-freeze) or flavoring such as cotton candy or bubblegum flavors that increases the number of younger individuals using e-cigarettes. Given the very recent rise in battery-related burns caused by use of e-cigarettes, the FDA views that is a concerning point that should also be regulated under their purview.
Mitch Zellar, Director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products states that “in the absence of science-based regulation of all tobacco products, the marketplace has been the wild wild West. Companies were free to introduce any product they wanted, make any claim they wanted, and that is how we wound up with a 900 percent increase in high schoolers using e-cigarettes and as well as all these reports of exploding e-cigarette batteries and products that have caused burns and fires and disfigurement.”
As the decisions are still pending on the finalization of whether the FDA shall have a wide enough ambit to cover the scope of e-cigarettes and all things vapor related, we’ll have to keep you posted on any updates as soon as we receive them. Hopefully, with the pressure the major corporations are placing on the FDA and Congress, a settlement or an alternative compromise can be reached for the sake of the advancement in the e-cigarette world’s future.