House to Vote on E-Cigarette Flavor Ban Today
The House of Representatives will vote today on the Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act which will ban all flavored “tobacco” products. The bill, H.R. 2339, is not just directed at tobacco products as the bill’s name suggests but seeks to outlaw flavored electronic cigarette products. The bill is expected to pass the House but its fate in the Senate is less certain.
Anti-vaping advocates have pushed for a ban on all flavored e-cigarettes (e-cigs) because, they assert, flavored e-cigs have addicted millions of teenagers to nicotine with alluring and seductive flavorings. Therefore, the only solution to this teen e-cig or vaping “epidemic” is to remove the products entirely from the marketplace.
But completely banning flavored e-cigarettes would hurt former smokers who currently use the products as a way to abstain from carcinogenic, combustible tobacco. Flavored e-cigarettes are a more effective tool for smoking cessation than other nicotine replacement therapies and current adult e-cigarette users overwhelmingly prefer flavored products. In fact, according to the CDC, a majority (56.1 percent) of teens say the main reason they experimented with e-cigarettes is “curiosity” and not the the seductive flavoring as anti-vaping advocates claim. One out of five, or 22.3 percent of teens say they used an electronic cigarette because of the flavors.
The House’s proposed ban is as much an attack on former smokers who vape as it is an effort to stop underage nicotine use. Anti-vaping advocates do not explain why they don’t fight to keep e-cigarettes in the hands of those who use them for harm reduction while keeping e-cigs out of the hands of teenagers.
The House bill will be a disaster for the e-cigarette industry. In 2018, the economic impact of the vaping industry included almost $8 billion in wages and more than 160,000 jobs. Heavy handed regulation will not just endanger the health of former smokers who could be driven back to smoking, it will destroy countless small businesses and put tens of thousands of people out of work.
The bill would ban all flavored e-cig products unless the FDA gives its approval and the product is shown to “significantly increase the likelihood of smoking cessation.” It would ban all online sales and give the FDA the authority to impose up to $100 million in user fees to the industry, which would be passed on the consumer. This would certainly disadvantage poor smokers who want to quit their habit with an electronic cigarette but would face a financial burden to do so.
Most importantly, we are only months away from a massive public health crisis originating from black market and counterfeit THC vape products that left 68 dead and almost 3,000 hospitalized. Banning flavored e-cig products will not remove the products from the market, it will push them into a unregulated, underground market ripe for contamination and another health crisis.
Congress has already increased the age to purchase e-cigs from 18 to 21 and the Trump administration has banned the flavored pod-based e-cig products that are popular among teens. In May, all flavored vape products will need to go through a burdensome, redundant and costly FDA approval process so there are plenty of steps being taken to reduce the spread of vape products among underage users without introducing a flavor ban.
The anti-harm reduction movement is a Michael Bloomberg-funded project with a $160,000,000 investment. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has led the effort with other groups that masquerade as grassroots groups of concerned parents who place advertising, opinion editorials and make media appearances as “concerned” citizens. The campaign against harm reduction and electronic cigarettes is just another instance of social engineering by nanny state politicians and interests who want to curtail consumers’ ability to make their own health choices.
Elizabeth Sheld is the senior news editor at American Greatness and author of the “Morning Greatness” news update. She is a veteran political strategist and pollster who has worked on campaigns and public interest affairs. Liz has written at Breitbart and The Federalist, as well as at PJ Media, where she wrote "The Morning Briefing." In her spare time, she shoots sporting clays and watches documentaries. Elizabeth quit smoking with Cuttwood Vapor’s Unicorn Milk.
