Pros: Flavor ban no good against creative vapers
President Donald Trump’s proposed ban of electronic cigarettes with anything but a tobacco flavor could kill a big part of the vape store business, but it may have a limited impact on curbing use by young people who can already flavor their own cartridges with readily available and attractive dessert tastes, industry experts say.
Trump’s move came after new data showed teen vaping increased even as the availability of more kid-friendly flavors decreased. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb last year proposed restricting flavored e-liquids to vape stores that are age-restricted, but Trump’s move would go much farther.
The announcement came amid an outcry over the mounting death toll and hundreds of serious lung illnesses linked to vaping. Nearly all of the nowpublic cases involved young men who vaped both nicotine and THC oil.
Gottlieb told USA TODAY that the deaths and illnesses and teen vaping concerns have been “conflated” and calls them “separate actions and separate public health concerns.” On CNBC Monday, Gottlieb called for a “federal reckoning” and regulation of cannabis due to its link to most of the reported lung illnesses and deaths.
The proposed flavored vape ban, he said, is an “eminently reasonable step
to take” given that the logical alternative would have been banning all e-cigarettes due to the rising use by teens. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said new data show about a quarter of high school teens vaped in the last 30 days, up from 20% from the prior year.
As for whether companies could still sell separate flavors, Gottlieb said, “if they’re just selling a flavor, I think they might be able to.”
The FDA declined to comment. “The FDA plans to share more on the specific details of the plan and its implementation in the coming weeks,” spokeswoman Stephanie Caccomo said.
Kyle Doerfler, owner of Liquid Nicotine Wholesalers in Phoenix, says he has been discussing the proposed ban with FDA officials in recent weeks and plans to meet with them in the next month or so. He says the focus is on what’s sold in stores and the agency understands the products can be separated into the flavorings and nicotine liquid, which is widely available but seldom used alone.
Doerfler started his company in 2012 selling flavored e-liquids with nicotine, as well as separate flavorings and unflavored e-liquid. He now uses an age verification company and sells flavors and e-liquids to consumers with nicotine levels all the way to 0 milligrams.
“(The FDA’s) stance is they’re not regulating the manufacturing sector or the ingredients,” said Doerfler. “That’s not being looked at right now, but that can change at any time.”
The FDA regulates nicotine, but industry officials don’t believe it has authority over flavorings sold separately.
Nicotine Liquid Wholesalers will sell you banana split or apple pie flavoring you can vape with unflavored nicotine or alone if you just want a good taste and the feeling of smoking after years of cigarettes, said Doerfler.