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Trump calls for ending FDA authority for regulating tobacco

Should Congress get onboard with this?

President Trump has proposed removing the Food and Drug Administration's responsibility for tobacco regulation in his latest budget request, a task likely to be met with backlash from tobacco control advocates.

The budget request, released Monday, calls for creating an entirely new agency nested under the Department of Health and Human Services to regulate tobacco products, including e-cigarettes.

Dimitris Agrafiotis (Vaping Greek) -- "double sided...at least we have some laws in place to protect us now. an independent body would have more power so depends on who is running it and the administration if it is good or bad... could be very bad."


Thoughts?  

So I have been coming on here and reading posts from people like say, in Washington State who are desperately trying to come up with something vapable after the flavor bans came crashing down, and I went on a pretty serious letter writing campaign in response. Here is the answer I got:

"Thank you for writing me regarding your thoughts on banning smoke-free alternatives to combustible tobacco. I appreciate you taking the time to share your concerns.

The Trump Administration recently announced plans to ban the sale of most flavored e-cigarettes as officials in Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continue to investigate more than 450 health cases, including six deaths, related to e-cigarette use. According to HHS Secretary Alex Azar, the FDA intends to introduce a policy that will remove the sale of all flavored e-cigarette flavors except tobacco, until otherwise specified.

I understand that this is an important issue for parents and consumers of e-cigarettes in our district. As your Representative, I will continue to monitor this situation as it develops and will keep your thoughts in mind if any legislative action is taken on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Again, thank you for contacting my office about this important issue. If you would like to receive regular updates on this and other matters, please visit my website (www.demings.house.gov/) to sign up for my e-newsletter.

Sincerely,

Val Butler Demings
Member of Congress"

The part that instantly grabbed my attention was this:

FDA intends to introduce a policy that will remove the sale of all flavored e-cigarette flavors except tobacco, until otherwise specified.

Is this going to happen ahead of the deeming regulations? Is the FDA going to come up behind us and slip this over our heads while we aren't looking? And while vaping is coming under a full frontal assault, tobacco companies are laughing as they continue to kill 1200 people a day - because the spotlight ain't on them anymore.  

I had to take my roomie to the hospital for a persistent problem he's been having, so, while I was waiting, I went downstairs to vape on the bench outside. A security guard spotted me and told me, "You can't smoke", so I responded, "It's not smoke; it's vapor." That's when I spotted a young lady leaving the hospital and pulling out her PV, so I asked her which B&M she gets her stuff from...we struck up a brief conversation and then parted ways.

A few hours later, I had to take the very same roomie back to the hospital, this time to the ER--again! It was so busy it took him 3 hours to be called in and another 4 to be released. Meanwhile, when I stepped outside for a vape, I spotted another vaper in the wild: an EMT puffing on a Blu cigalike. He saw my MVP and commented, "Ooh, a vaporizer!" He told me he was thinking about upgrading to a mod. I suggested he did so.

 

I was just watching MSNBC and they said (paraphrased) that a study from Belgium has noted that people who smoke seem to be much less likely to get COVID, and they believe it may be because both nicotine and COVID bind to the same cell receptors (or some thing like that - I'm not a medical person lol), so they think nicotine might block COVID from being able to attach to the cell. They're looking into the connection, but say it's waaayyyy too soon to know anything for sure yet. Meanwhile, in the interim, as I refill my vape...

Here's a link to an article (there were actually several articles on google about this): Smokers 'four times less likely' to contract Covid-19, prompting nicotine patch trials on patients  

@bombastinator I saw your article, and I got hit with a "breaking news" alert this afternoon.

Family issues vaping warning as man fights for life after collapsing outside Brisbane club | Daily Mail Online

Condolences to the affected and his family, I'm still not convinced that it was strictly PG/VG/Flavour vapes. I gave it a quick skim and didn't see any mention of what the liquid was, only the effect. Now those who know the Valley in Bris wouldn't be surprised if his vape was spiked in some way. What gets me is how it's taking the guy [affected] his condition and using it to push the anti-vape narrative.  

Bravo Dr. Michael Siegel !
Very well done !

The Rest of the Story: Tobacco and Alcohol News Analysis and Commentary: Massachusetts Department of Public Health Issues Emergency Order Banning the Sale of All Pets for Four Months  

hey All,

I joined here several months ago. Posted that I had done e-cigs for march to about June and then switched back to traditional and came back here for support and knowledge which I have received in spades here.thanks.

32 days ago I came down with low grade fever, 100.5 at most slights aches and fatigue..nothing major but certainly not ordinary. At the time I was back to 10-15 traditional cigs per day. But with the fever and fatigue I immediately stopped tradtional cigs--as I thought it could be Covid and honestly had no desire.

Turns out it was NOT Covid and in the 32 days I have had a total of 3 puffs from an e-cig in my desk drawer. I'm otherwise back to normal and only slightly crave a hit of e-cig and I know can use it I need it but the cravings only are short.

I think one part of this is with Covid and being in NYC--I'm not on the streets as much and I never see hardly anyone smoke or even vape. I do go to an office 4 days a week and the walk to the office is 12 minutes. And like a normal city--pre covid you'd always see people outside having a smoke or a vape and enjoying themselves and for me that's what kind of drove the cravings and addiction. now when I come home from work, I don't have a craving need.

After 32 days without a traditional cig and only 3 puffs of an e-cig --does that happen to people? In my head I have committed that I will be a non traditional cig smoker and if I need the e-cigs I'm fine with that. There is a slight concern that if we ever get back to normal and I " see" people smoke that might bring it back..who knows? Hopefully I am far along enough now that it wont' effect me. In fact I saw a bke messenger smoking at a stop light yesterday and just looking at the traditional cig kind of grossed me out. so maybe that's a good sign?

The benefits so far a my apartment and clothes smell normal. I have more energy and can breath better.

Maybe for me (and others) the visual appeal or or just seeing others enjoy a cigarette was part of the addiction?  

You can download all 499 pages of the regulations he https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2016-10685.pdf

We liveblogged the reaction: Deeming Live blog | vaping.com

Clive Bates on Stanton Glantz and the junk science which got us he Professor Glantz brings his anti-vaping crusade to Europe – I review his presentation

Here's the reaction from US vaping organisations:

SFATA:SFATA ISSUES STATEMENT ON FDA’S FINAL DEEMING RULE - SFATA | Smoke Free Alternatives Trade Association
VTA: (via Phil Busardo) - http://www.tasteyourjuice.com/wordpress/archives/12809
AVA: Not yet
TVECA: Not yet

And from ECITA, UK org: FDA ‘Deeming’ of e-cigs – designed to destroy? | ECITA - Electronic Cigarette Industry Trade Association

Individual commentors

Mike Siegel: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary: My Op-Ed in Wall Street Journal Points Out Folly of FDA E-Cigarette Deeming Regulations & The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary: FDA E-Cigarette Deeming Regulations are a Disaster for Public Health

Carl Phillips: Ecig deeming regulation — nothing new to see here

Rich Lowry: http://nypost.com/2016/05/09/uncle-sams-crackdown-on-e-cigs-will-make-it-harder-to-quit-smoking/

Sally Satel: What the US should learn from the UK's wisdom on e-cigarettes - AEI

Consumer organisations:

CASAA: CASAA: FDA Deeming Regulations: Release and Next Steps

Various articles
Washington Post: Why the FDA’s new e-cigarette regulations are a gift to Big Tobacco (and could actually harm public health)

Economics21: FDA’s New E-Cig Regs Will Kill

US News: What the E-Cigarette Black Market Will Look Like if FDA Stomps Industry

Reason: Government Officials Are Determined to Turn Vapers Into Scofflaws

PBS interview with Mitch Zeller: Skyrocketing teen use of e-cigarettes leads to new regulations

Clarityse: When two tribes go to war

Stock Transcript: The government crackdown is he What the FDA regulations mean for e-cigarettes | Stock Transcript

Science Explorer: FDA Announces That E-Cigarette Products Will Now Be Regulated Like Regular Cigarettes

NYT Health: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/11/upshot/e-cigarettes-are-safer-but-not-exactly-safe.html

Weekly Standard: FDA Moves to Kill E-Cigarettes

Think Tanks:

FEE: How the FDA Is Helping Big Tobacco and Encouraging Teen Smoking | Jonathan H. Adler

See also Sally Satel at AEI above
Videos

Brent Stafford (regulator watch): NO MORE CASUALTIES - VAPING BECOMES COLLATERAL DAMAGE IN WAR ON SMOKING - REG WATCH (E28) from Brent Stafford on Vimeo  

"In a letter sent to the FDA on June 7, the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Advocacy asked the regulators to seek a court order extending for an additional year the current moratorium on enforcement actions against small vape manufacturers who submitted Premarket Tobacco Applications (PMTAs) before last year’s Sept. 9 deadline."

"The SBA letter doesn’t mean the FDA will ask Judge Grimm to extend the enforcement grace period, but it is an encouraging development."

See whole article he
SBA Urges Another Year of Sales for PMTA-Submitted Products - Vaping360  

Trump Administration Weighs Ban on Flavored E-Cigarettes

Sitting in the Oval Office with Alex M. Azar II, the secretary of Health and Human Services, and Dr. Ned Sharpless, the acting Food and Drug Administration commissioner, President Trump acknowledged that there was a vaping problem, and said, “We’re going to have to do something about it.”

Mr. Azar said that the F.D.A. would outline a plan within the coming weeks for removing most flavored e-cigarettes that are not tobacco products from the market.

Pressure also began to mount as Michael R. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York, decided to step in by announcing a $160 million push to ban flavored e-cigarettes. Long an opponent of traditional smoking, the former mayor said his organization, Bloomberg Philanthropies, would seek prohibitions of flavored e-cigarettes in at least 20 cities and states.




From left, Dr. Norman Sharpless, the acting F.D.A. commissioner, Melania Trump, President Trump and Alex M. Azar II, the health and human services secretary, discussing flavored e-cigarettes in the Oval Office on Wednesday.