Midweek Vaping News: 12/06/2019

Vape News Headlines: FDA Guidelines Threat To Vaping – San Fran Vape Ban Closer – Vape Influencers Warned – JUUL Launches New Pods – Thai Vapers Need You – Vape On A Plane Means Lifetime Ban!

Will FDA Guidelines Kill Off Vaping In America?

As promised the Food and Drug Administration has released it’s ‘guidance’ for manufacturers to submit ‘pre-market’ applications for all things vape.

The guidelines haven’t gone down well with the wider US vaping community – industry or indeed advocates and advocacy groups with a Twitter spat between former FDA supremo Scott Gottlieb and in particular the American Vaping Association – more on that later lol.

Known as the Premarket Tobacco Product Applications [PMTA] any new vape products or e-liquids will need to pass through an expensive checklist of red tape which if passed will meet FDA approval for sale. As it stands now there’s not a single FDA approved device or liquid on the market.

Leading vape advocate Clive Bates suggests this so-called ‘pathway’ to get FDA approval will in effect wipe out the chances of 90% of all vape products ever making it to point of sale

Gottlieb’s Tweet appears to be a response to one from AVA that pointed out the image used in the FDA’s announcement showed the kind of vape products that would have no chance of passing through the pathway.

Pictured in the FDA’s tweet — products that have no hope of getting a PMTA because of the huge barriers FDA is putting in front of manufacturers.

Great work @ScottGottliebMD — you pledged to create an efficient and transparent pathway. You left achieving absolutely nothing.

Gottlieb just can’t seem to let it go.

BTW in another Tweet the AVA again called Gottleib out saying they’d arranged a meeting last summer which he cancelled and never bothered arranging another!

The statement launching the guidelines from acting FDA supremo Norman ‘Ned Sharpless’ doesn’t begin well either with dire warnings of the need to protect the kids from dying through vape products – yeah really!

The FDA’s ongoing oversight of e-cigarettes and other ENDS products is critical to our public health mission and, especially, to protect kids from the dangers of nicotine and tobacco-related disease and death.

Yeah I know – WTF!

In a nutshell, vape companies will have to jump through a whole raft of expensive hoops to maybe – and the word maybe is important – get approval as the FDA explains:

That statutory standard requires the FDA to consider the risks and benefits to the population as a whole, including users and non-users of tobacco products.

The FDA must also consider the likely impact of the products on people’s behavior—specifically, the likelihood that existing users will stop using such products and the likelihood that those who do not use tobacco products will start using such products.

This is especially important for youth.

The agency’s evaluation also includes reviewing a tobacco product’s components, ingredients, additives, constituents and health risks, as well as how the product is manufactured, packaged and labelled.

And there’s a ‘warning’ of possible future flavour bans – especially those deemed by the faceless FDA mandarins that appeal to children:

As part of the FDA’s comprehensive plan for tobacco and nicotine regulation, the agency also continues to explore clear and meaningful measures to make tobacco products less toxic, appealing and addictive with an intense focus on youth.

This could include measures on flavors/designs that appeal to youth and product labelling to prevent accidental child exposure to liquid nicotine.

It really is a money making lottery for the FDA, a case of spinning the expensive red tape wheel of vaping fortune in the hope your t’s have been crossed i’s dotted and that mind-blowingly expensive scientific report passes the beady eyes of the faceless mandarins.

You can read the FDA full statement HERE

San Fran Vape Ban Inches Closer

Despite the possible ban of all things vape within the city limits, including the eviction of JUUL from its offices, the vape giant says it plans to stay.

Not only that the company has begun talks with the local politicos and is offering to pay for the installation of state of the art age verification scanners throughout the city at a cost of around $5million.

The bill to ban the sale of all vape products from San Francisco now moves to the city’s full board on June 18th.

Behind the scenes, JUUL management has held talks with the board and say they were ‘constructive’.

The company employs over 1,000 people in the San Francisco office, which given it’s owned by the city would mean JUUL being evicted. It’s understood they are currently looking at purchasing a new one.

In a somewhat conciliatory interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, JUUL’s CEO Kevin Burns said the company was ‘partly responsible’ for the alleged teen vape epidemic, however, pointed out that once things became clear JUUL acted immediately. By that, he means the removal of flavoured pods from point of sale and the closure of social media sites.

He says he plans to continue raising signatures for a ballot that would essentially shut down the vape ban.

Burns said:

Ultimately our preference is to work with the city to figure out a solution, working together, but if we have to go the ballot initiative route, we’ll work with our coalition and pursue that option.

Source

Vape ‘Influencers’ Warned Over No Nicotine Warning

Four vape companies have been warned by the FDA for paying so-called social media ‘influencers’ to promote e-cigs without a nicotine warning.

The letters were jointly signed by the FDA and the Federal Trade Commission and sent to Solace Vapor, Hype City Vapors, Humble Juice Co. and Artist Liquid Labs – none of whom have so far responded.

Acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless told the media:

It’s critical we ensure manufacturers, retailers and others are including the required health warning about nicotine’s addictive properties on packages and advertisements — especially on social media platforms popular with kids.

As it stands at the moment neither Facebook or Twitter allow outright e-cig adverts, however, companies have been getting around that by paying online ‘celebrities’.

Source

JUUL Launches New Style Pods

The silica wicking is now gone and replaced by the more traditional cotton and the company has launched new 9mg nicotine pods.

I alluded to the JUUL bringing something ‘new’ to the market in my review of the product – let’s hope these cotton wicks bump up the flavour and even the throat hit a bit.

John Patterson, Sales Director of JUUL Labs UK said:

Every adult smoker is unique and choosing a nicotine strength that satisfies alongside their preferred flavour is important in helping them make the switch.

JUUL now offers adult smokers a choice of products, nicotine strengths and flavours that will widen its appeal and encourage a greater number of UK adult smokers to make the switch from cigarettes.

Most shops I’ve been into recently seem to be stocking JUUL, including my corner-shop and supermarket…they really are rolling out big time across the UK.

Source

Thai Vape Advocates Need You!

Vaping in Thailand is a crime and many tourists ‘caught’ vaping have been arrested – fined and imprisoned.

Now the advocacy group Thai Vapers ECST are calling for any victims of the vape police of Thailand to come forward with their stories.

Check out the tweet below for more info.

and finally…Vape On A Plane Equals Lifetime Ban!

A passenger on a flight from Detroit to New Orleans apparently snuck into the bathroom for a crafty vape but managed to set the smoke alarms off.

Reports say he had already been stopped from vaping in the main cabin and thought he could get away with beating the alarms.

It’s no laughing matter as the pilot was forced to make a rapid decent to 35,000 feet to get the alarm to shut down.

On landing the guy was allegedly smelling of alcohol but wasn’t arrested.

That didn’t stop Spirit Airlines from punishing him with a lifetime fly-ban with their company.

Just remember guys and gals vaping in the clouds isn’t a good idea – do check out our Rough Guide To Travelling article for more info.

More vaping news on Sunday!