VAPING POWER RISES IN REGULATION FIGHT
Lobbyists pushing to exempt product from approval by FDA
The electronic cigarette industry and its free- market allies are seeing fresh opportunities to ease federal rules on e- cigarettes as Congress races to pass a government spending bill this week and President Trump fills key public- health posts in his administration.
More than a dozen conservative groups wrote to congressional leaders this week, calling on them to add a provaping provision to a spending measure that must pass by midnight Friday to avert a government shutdown. If successful, the measure would be the latest sign of the $ 4.4 billion vaping industry’s growing clout in Washington.
The provision favored by the industry was introduced by Reps. Tom Cole, R- Okla., and Sanford Bishop, D- Ga., and would exempt thousands of vaping products on the market from Food and Drug Administration approval. A rule issued last year by the Obama administration “deems” e- cigarettes to be tobacco products and allows the FDA to retroactively examine all tobacco products on the market in February 2007.
The e- cigarette industry was virtually non- existent before then, and industry advocates say the costly FDA approval process would force most e- cigarette companies to shut down.
Some public- health advocates counter that the agency’s review under the “deeming rule” would allow regulators to guarantee the safety of electronic cigarettes and the nicotine- infused liquid they use in their products.
The potential for the Cole- Bishop provision to become law comes as Trump himself moves to slash Obamaera regulations and the Senate weighs his pick to run the FDA, Scott Gottlieb.
Gottlieb, a physician and former FDA official, served on the board of an e- cigarette retailer. He also has a financial stake in the company and has pledged to sell off that holding if confirmed by the Senate. During a recent confirmation hearing, Gottlieb said “reduced harm products,” such as e- cigarettes, should be available “to consumers to transition them off combustible cigarettes.”
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is scheduled to vote Thursday on Gottlieb’s nomination.
Keith Nelson of the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association said he “is greatly encouraged” by Trump’s moves to reduce regulations across the government and supports Gottlieb’s ap- proach to vaping regulation.
“We want this to be dominated by reason and sound science, not publichealth hysteria,” he said.
The Obama administration’s rule giving the FDA authority to regulate e- cigarettes has sparked intense lobbying to roll back the provisions. The companies also are fighting the rule in court.
Key players include traditional tobacco companies. R. J. Reynolds, for instance, produces e- cigarettes under the brand VUSE, which represents 35% of the electronic cigarettes sold in convenience stores and gas stations.
Critics charge that e- cigarettes’ candy- like flavors lure young people to vaping, which can then lead them to tobacco.
But some say the flavors improve the likelihood that smokers will be attracted to vaping to help quit smoking, says Jeff Stier, an e- cigarette advocate with the free- market National Center for Public Policy Research.
E- cigarette use has climbed rapidly by youth. Among high school students, ecigarette use rose from 1.5% in 2011 to 16% in 2015, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.