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E-CIG REGULATIONS COMING SOON TO A CITY NEAR YOU

brian yaeger

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The future of electronic cigarette regulations
Posted by brian yaeger on 7/18/2014
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How the FDA plans to deal with electronic cigarettes

Electronic cigarettes are not technically tobacco products but in April of this year the FDA came to the conclusion that ecigs were in fact to be labeled as such. The electronic cigarette in the meantime has gained a lot of attention from the government.
There are three major big tobacco companies, Reynolds American, Lorillard, and Altria which all have their own brands of ecigs flooding the market. Researchers and scientist have been tasked with finding out how users of these products are affected and to determine all the risk factors involved with a myriad of untested products.
The FDA has spent close to 270 million dollars on subsequent research projects all in an effort to better understand all of the risk involved. They are trying to complete all this research before electronic cigarettes take over the American economy as it relates to the tobacco industry. It is my opinion that this has already happened in much of the United States.

What’s to come of future regulations?

The FDA has conducted approximately 48 studies designed to assess factors like how price promotions effect and influence minors, and other related studies to health concerns in general.
There is a new type of vaping that is storming the nation where ecig users are modifying their devices to deliver more vapor and nicotine. This is raising alarm bells inside the FDA as to how healthy something of that sort would be to the human body. I can only assume that more long term studies will be conducted to come to a proper conclusion as to the effects of “mods”.
Since the FDA does not believe that some of these studies will not be done until the year 2018 this allows the manufacturers of electronic cigarettes to continue making these devices without challenge from the government. This is good news if you ask me.
These studies are still far from being over. Researchers at the University of Louisville are in the midst of conducting a study that will determine and analyze the effects of the flavorings, organic matter, and the amount of particulate matter that is contained in electronic cigarette delivery systems. They do not intend for the results of these test to be complete till sometime in 2015.

The “substantial equivalent rule”.
As stated earlier the FDA branded ecigs as tobacco products. The FDA gained control over all tobacco related items under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act which was passed in 2009. Under this new act any tobacco related products that are brought to market after this date need to substantially prove that they are equivalent if not better than their predecessors.
To go about proving this to the FDA can be a daunting task. In 2009 only 25 of the massive 3000 applications to bring new products to the market were approved which only tells me with all the hoopla going on with the new regulations that things will only get tougher. To be specific these applications that were filed only pertained to tobacco products and not ecigs.
It is a shame to say but the big tobacco companies will probably and more than likely win out. Let’s face it, the tobacco companies have plenty of money to throw around a persuade regulators in their favor. This means the little guy such as myself will have a tough time submitting applications and getting them approved due to lack of experience.
In the meantime companies can continue to sell their products until the FDA’s regulations become law. After the fact there will be a two year grace period in which companies may still sell their products, but after that a great amount of uncertainty lies ahead. It seems the little guy will be snuffed right out of the market.

Summary of the facts
The FDA is aiming to better understand how to regulate these products and to conduct studies on what adverse effects these devices may have. It is my belief that in the end most ecig companies will not survive under these regulations unless something is done to make sure these studies are done without bias. Also, if you are a vendor you need to get involved before it is too late. You can do this by going to www.casaa.org and answering there “calls to action”. There are also plenty of other ways to get involved but I believe that since CASSA is already so organized that this is the best option for someone with little or no experience when it comes to lobbying the government.

Read more great articles at www.coolvapin.com
 

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