White House Abruptly Cancels Meeting With Vaping Advocates

Juul threw millions of dollars at Washington. It hasn’t bought much.

Juul Labs has spent millions of dollars on lobbying, hired high-profile Trump administration officials, and blanketed Washington with ads touting its efforts against underage vaping.

None of that was enough to keep President Donald Trump from moving to ban flavored e-cigarettes on Wednesday, delivering a blow to the dominant vaping company and its rivals.

“Vaping has become a very big business as I understand it, a giant business in a very short period of time,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, sitting alongside Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. “But we can't allow people to get sick and we can't have our youth be so affected.”

Neither Trump nor Azar mentioned Juul in their remarks. But Scott Gottlieb, who pressed for greater regulation of vaping as Trump’s Food and Drug Administration commissioner before stepping down earlier this year, said the move would have an outsize impact on the San Francisco-based company.

“This problem was largely created by the cartridge-based Juul products in my opinion,” Gottlieb said in a statement to POLITICO.​
 

And so it begins......

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said Wednesday it plans to ban the sale of non-tobacco-flavored electronic cigarettes amid a vaping crisis.

“The Trump Administration is making it clear that we intend to clear the market of flavored e-cigarettes to reverse the deeply concerning epidemic of youth e-cigarette use that is impacting children, families, schools and communities,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement. “We will not stand idly by as these products become an on-ramp to combustible cigarettes or nicotine addiction for a generation of youth.”

Michigan became the first state to prohibit sales of most flavored e-cigarettes last week in a bold move to curb the underage vaping epidemic. The ban, which will take effect in a few weeks, will cover both online and in-store sales of all e-cigarette flavors except tobacco.

Trump administration plans to ban sale of flavored electronic cigarettes  

IL – Public Meeting 09.23.19 – Mental Health Committee to Discuss a Response to “The Vaping Crisis” - CASAA

The Illinois General Assembly’s Mental Health Committee will hold a hearing on the subject of “Addressing the Vaping Crisis” on

Monday, September 23, 2019
2:00 PM
Michael A. Bilandic Building

C-600, 6th Floor

160 N LaSalle St

Chicago, IL 60601

(notice)

The likely outcome of this meeting might be a recommendation that flavors other than tobacco be banned.

While this is a public meeting, many of the speakers are being selected in advance. If there is time left over, speaking will be limited to 2 – 3 minutes. Please be respectful and have your remarks prepared.

A witness slip is required whether you plan to speak or not, please submit a witness slip, here .

If you plan to speak, the witness slip is the only “sign up sheet” available.

Fill out the form with your contact information; under section III, select “Addressing the Vaping Crisis” from the drop down menu and click the “Opponent” radio dial; and specify written or oral testimony (Section IV).

Click Here to Send a Witness Slip
If you would like to have written testimony delivered to the committee, please send it to board@sfacoil.org.

Even if you do not plan to speak, your presence is important as it demonstrates the large numbers of people affected by this issue.

In addition to participating in this meeting, Illinois residents who vape and are not “sick from vaping” are being asked to fill out this survey from the IL Dept. of Public Health (IDPH). THIS SURVEY IS FOR ILLINOIS RESIDENTS ONLY! Do not encourage people outside of Illinois to participate by misrepresenting where they live.

Click Here to Take the IDPH Anonymous Survey
_________________________

I will be there - hope to tell my story.
Illinois - ONLY - residents - if you haven't yet Please take the survey.
Can't make it or don't want to speak? Please send a witness slip.
Let's pack this place!  

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.  

We got the attention of President Trump's GOP staff by crashing the White House switchboard.

Now its Round Two.



You know what to do. The message remains the same. If you have Twitter, continue to tweet, and continue to call the White House to remind Trump's staff that we won't let them forget about us.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE. BE THE DIFFERENCE.
​
 

I am supper pressed for time. I have just found out about a town meeting taking place at 5:00 tonight and the BOH is trying to ban flavored Ciggs amongst other things. So far they have lumped vaping in with ciggs in almost all town by-laws. I am going to go and try and see that vaping is separated from the tobacco regulations and that flavored E-juice is not banned along with it. What I would like specifically is some hard numbers on the effectiveness of vaping for tobacco cessation, numbers of ex smokers who are vaping Etc. I will check back in about a half hour and the meeting is in two and a half hours so give me some direct info (numbers,stats) that I can quickly digest and regurgitate.  

The best strategy according Demetris and PBusardo is to hire a professional PR company to combat the false information that the news media and anti-vaping crowd has been churning out every day/nite on TV and social media. That will take a LOT of money (millions according to D & P). The US vaping industry doesn't have that type of money, but the big manufacturers in China do. China manufacturers will be affected by this if the US vaping industry fails, because it will fail if a flavor ban is successful.



Trump is the key person in all of this. He's the one who will make the final call by using his John Hancock, and he's been known to go against the grain of "The Swamp" in Washington. He is basically only interested in satisfying his voter base. All vapers need to personally contact Trump via the White House and tell him, as a voter, that if he is going to get your vote in 2020 he needs to NOT go forward with a flavor ban. Regardless of how you feel about Trump, or whether you'll actually vote for him when the time comes, this must be done and would take each of us only about 5 - 10 minutes of our time.

_________________________

Contact the White House | The White House

WHITE HOUSE: Comment line 202-456-1111 | Switch board 202-456-1414 (the switch board is the best approach as it will put you on hold and give you a chance to speak)
_________________________

Trump probably doesn't have a clue about vaping. He doesn't understand how important the use of flavored e-liquid is to the success to stop smoking. Having only "tobacco flavors" to choose from just won't cut it for the majority of vapers.

What he must understand is that a flavor ban will likely destroy the vaping industry in the US. Vape shops will not be able remain viable and will close - a loss of thousands of jobs and small businesses. This will affect his "sterling" numbers of the lowest unemployment in recent memory. There has to be at least 10,000 potential voters who have something to do with the vaping community (probably more), about the number of votes that gave him the presidency. He's not going to want to lose that many votes in the next election.

A flavor ban will result in creating its own Black Market. Many vapers will resort to making their own flavored e-liquid. How did that work out for the homemade black market THC vials that killed 6 people and put over 400 people in intensive care?

Smokers looking to quit smoking will no longer have vape shops or US based online vendors to purchase e-cigarettes. Many vapers will return to smoking, which will increase the 400,000 smokers who died last year.

Please tale a few minutes of your time to contact President Trump.  

Received this email this morning...

On Monday, November 4, or early in the week, we are anticipating an announcement from the Trump Administration regarding FDA guidance about sales of flavored vapor products. According to recent reports, this guidance is expected to go as far as banning every flavor other than tobacco and menthol. In spite of years of communications from consumers and meetings with industry stakeholders, it is clear that officials remain unknowledgeable about how the vapor industry functions and what customers need.

Two flavors will not sustain independent vapor retailers and
will unnecessarily make vaping less attractive
to people who want to switch away from smoking.


The White House needs to hear from adult vapers and anyone who loves a vaper! A flavor ban won’t protect our children, but it will kill their parents.

We need to
Light Up The Switchboard
At The White House!
Ph: 202-456-1111
(Comment Line)
or
202-456-1414
(Switchboard)


On your call:

The operator will likely ask where they can direct your call Simply tell them that flavored vapor products saved your life, Tobacco and Menthol aren't enough to save small businesses or help people quit smoking; and, tell them “We Vape, We Vote. Be polite, be brief, and say thank you.
On hold? Here's something to do while you wait: Send a Message! Share this Call to Action with your friends, family, and on social media!  

Have you called yet? If we don't call we won't be heard. I told them I was against the vaping and flavor ban. But I'm one person. It can't be said enough. We ALL need to call. Maybe then they'll see they can lose their jobs if they continue to push these bans!

White house - 202-456-1414  

In surprise move, California governor proposes ban on vaping, similar to Trump's planned policy

The Democratic governor of California launched a plan Monday that is eerily similar to a plan devised one week ago by Republican President Donald Trump. Both plans aim to eradicate widespread usage of flavored e-cigarettes, or vaping, by underage citizens.​

More links ...
California Gov. Gavin Newsom takes executive action on vaping and e-cigarettes https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2019-09-16/new-york-california-ban-some-e-cigarettes