Have you seen “No E-Cigarettes” signs being added to existing “No Smoking” signs? Or perhaps you’ve seen high school students blowing what appears to be “fat clouds” which leave a trail of big vapors and a fruity scent behind them? For those of you who have been living under a rock, e-cigarettes, also known as vapes, vape pens, or mods, are battery powered devices that form vapours. They contain nicotine containing liquids known as “juice” which is used to create the vapours.
Recently, The U.S. Foods and Drugs Administration (FDA) extended their authority over all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. The industry will now be required to register every single product, from thousands of different types of juice, to every single component used in a vape pen or a vape mod. I believe this is a step in the right direction, as we need to determine what is safe and is not safe for use. The process of registering vape products is an expensive and tedious process, which requires an application called the Pre-Market Tobacco Application (PMTA). The FDA estimates that it will require at least 1500 hours and several hundred thousand dollars in order to process each application. Although it is a tedious and painful process, this application will finally allow the products to be regulated and tested in order to determine whether they are safe for consumers’ use.
This lengthy process will have a very big impact for stakeholders in the e-cigarette industry. Consumers will most likely have to pay higher prices for the products they love so dearly and see the wide variety of options that are available dwindle. However, I also view this as beneficial. Although e-cigarettes are a healthier option then smoking, there are not enough medical studies to know the long-term health effects of vaping. By limiting the options and making it harder for products to be on the market, it will limit the amount of e-cigarette products in the consumer hands. Because of their proceedings, the FDA has received a negative backlash from the e-cigarette industry. However, is it not the FDA’s job to regulate products they have jurisdiction over and ensure they are safe for the public to use? The FDA is completely ethical in their regulations; this reveals the FDA’s sole commitment to the public’s health and safety. I applaud the FDA’s little regard to the pressures they face from the industry and dedication to creating a safer market for customers.

Main Sources:

E-Cigarettes: Public Health Hazard or Key to Quit Smoking? (n.d.). Retrieved September 12, 2016, from  http://www.livescience.com/48305-e-cigarette-nicotine-replacement-therapy.html

Picture Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/vaping360/16162734659                                                                                 No changes were made to the photo

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