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Washington, D.C., November 22, 2019 — The Vapor Technology Association (VTA) today released an analysis called the “Economic Impact of a Ban on Flavored Vapor Products” by economist John Dunham & Associates (“Dunham”) that reveals that more than 150,000 jobs would be lost in the independent vapor industry if the Trump Administration moves forward with a ban on flavored vapor products.

The new report analyzes sales of flavored vapor products in the independent vapor distribution chain and finds that approximately 91.6% of sales of vapor products are flavors other than tobacco (with 85.7% being other than tobacco and menthol). Dunham concludes that “if a flavor ban was implemented, the independent vapor segment of the market would cease to exist in any meaningful way since the vast majority of the 13,480 independent vapor shops in the country (which currently generate 58,430 full-time equivalent jobs) would likely have to close. No business can continue to exist were it to lose 90 percent of its revenue.”

Many e-cigarette users are outraged at President Trump for proposing to ban flavored vaping liquids, saying he failed to address the real culprit for the rise in vaping-related illnesses: a rise in black-market products that combine THC, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana, with poisonous oils. 

Rebecca Deighan, a Trump supporter and co-owner of the Salt Lake City tobacco shop The Smoke House, told the Washington Examiner that the government is unfairly targeting a product that has helped countless people, including her husband, quit smoking cigarettes. She said she has seen it firsthand in her store. 

“We were very upset with Trump when he came out to say we’re banning e-liquid," Deighan said. "I mean what the hell?" She noted that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said most of the patients who've fallen prey to the illness have reported using e-cigarettes with THC. 

Today, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced she intends to completely ban the sale of flavored e-cigarette products in the state of Michigan. The Governor’s edict is not based on science or common sense. Science demonstrates that flavors are not the primary reason youth illegally use vapor products. Instead, research clearly shows that flavors play a critical role in helping adult smokers quit deadly cigarettes. The only thing this flavor ban will accomplish is the loss of more than 1,200 Michigan jobs, hundreds of Michigan small businesses, $51M in state and local taxes, and the creation of a black market.

The Vapor Technology Association will evaluate every option at its disposal, including litigation, to prevent implementation of this ban. The Governor’s unprecedented misstep will force a mass exodus of products from the market and will result in what the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) itself has described as “a public health crisis” as a result. The quarter of a million adult vapor users in Michigan will now be unfairly limited in their access to these life-changing smoking cessation products. Moreover, flavor bans like this one ignore the larger issue of improper marketing by outlier companies - which is where the focus should lie to thwart youth access and exposure to vapor products. This is the reason why not a single state has implemented a flavor ban to date.

In light of the seriousness of reports regarding lung disease in youth, the Vapor Technology Association (VTA) strongly urges public officials to thoroughly investigate the circumstances which might have led to each reported hospitalization before making statements to the public as to whether certain products are implicated in these incidents. To date, several public health agencies have failed to provide clear information and, instead, are unnecessarily frightening consumers by failing to distinguish between e-cigarettes and non-nicotine vaporizers.

Recent reports increasingly indicate that these adverse events are linked to illicit substances such as THC and cannabis, not e-cigarettes. For example, the New Mexico Department of Health has clearly determined that products containing THC are likely responsible for the cases highlighted in New Mexico. Despite this, virtually every other public health official continues with their generalized and repeated references to “e-cigarettes.” Such inaccurate warnings will result in either (1) people continuing to use the risky products actually causing the harm about which

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday voiced her opposition to e-cigarette company Juul and its efforts to pass a San Francisco ballot measure, Proposition C, that would overturn a sales ban on e-cigarettes and allow the company to continue selling the products in San Francisco with some new restrictions.

“No on C. We can’t afford this brazen special-interest attempt to addict our children to cigarettes,” Pelosi said at a San Francisco Democratic Party ceremony honoring her with a lifetime achievement award. “With all the unknown short-term and long-term consequences of e-cigarettes, we cannot let corporate special interests buy themselves this proposition. So, children, teachers, parents, leaders, policymakers — say no to Juul, no on C.”

Juul has spent $4.3 million to back Prop. C — more than other San Francisco ballot initiative backers combined for the Nov. 5 election. The contributions have gone to a committee created to back the ballot measure, called the Coalition for Responsible Vaping Regulation.

Yesterday, Juul Labs announced that it would not be renewing its membership with the Vapor Technology Association (VTA) citing the lawsuit that VTA recently filed against FDA and policy differences.

VTA is surprised by Juul’s stated opposition to the filing of VTA’s complaint against FDA because Juul recently opposed the efforts of the American Academy of Pediatrics to grossly accelerate the PMTA deadline in another lawsuit and sought similar relief in that federal lawsuit. In addition, Juul’s designated VTA Board member participated in the VTA Board meeting held to consider the lawsuit against FDA, but never objected. In fact, the vote to move forward with the lawsuit was unanimous. Prior to the meeting, Juul had the relevant documents relating to VTA’s consideration of a potential lawsuit against FDA, but never objected or expressed opposition to the action.

• FDA is proposing to end current compliance policy as it applies to flavored electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) products such as electronic cigarettes (other than tobacco-, mint-, and menthol-flavored products), and prioritize enforcement of such products offered for sale in ways that pose a greater risk for minors to access these tobacco products. 

• In addition, FDA expects manufacturers of all flavored ENDS products (other than tobacco-, mint-, and menthol-flavored) that remain on the market under these new conditions to submit premarket applications to the agency by Aug. 8, 2021. This application date is one year earlier than the agency previously proposed. 

Harmful Constituents (HPHC) reporting deadline.  

VTA has been focused on this issue for some time.  When we met with FDA last Spring, we explained the importance of having clear guidance on what HPHC testing FDA will require and how there was a lab space shortage that would have made complying within the established deadline of November 2019 next to impossible. 

Then, on December 20, 2018, VTA sent a detailed letter to FDA Center for Tobacco Products Director Mitch Zeller and Director of the Office of Science Dr. Matthew Holman asking for detailed guidance and an extension.  Specifically, the letter highlighted the following: 

The debate over taxing e-cigarette products could pick up in the new year as public health officials look for innovative ways to curb the teen vaping epidemic.

An estimated 3.6 million youth reported vaping or using e-cigarettes in the past year, representing the fastest increase of an illegal substance among teenagers, according to the most recent federal data.

States with high taxes on cigarettes have seen a decrease in smoking in general and among youth in particular. Yet since 2007, when e-cigarettes first came on the market, states have varied in classifying and restricting the devices.

Tobacco giant invested $12.8 billion in Juul, taking a 35 percent stake in the e-cigarette maker that valued it at $38 billion as they begin to embark on a new path that relies less on traditional cigarettes.

The all-cash deal announced Thursday has drawn criticism for Juul, which has positioned itself as an enemy of Big Tobacco.

As a physician who cared for hospitalized cancer patients, I saw first-hand the devastation that smoking-related diseases had wrought on the lives of patients and their families, and dedicated myself to helping ease this suffering.

As a cancer survivor myself, I understand too well the uncertainty, grief and struggle that accompanies a cancer diagnosis.

These brands may have accidentally or knowingly decorated their bottles with logos designed in a way that could be considered child appealing or perhaps accused of Intellectual Property Theft.

Out of professional courtesy and maintaining balance by distancing biased journalism no names shall be listed as examples. If you’re reading this, I’m grateful, impressed and hopeful there are not as many apathetic people as I assumed there were. However, if you’re seriously reading closely and you are a vaper, you already know some, so no examples are necessary.

The rise of legal marijuana in the U.S. is already proving to be profitable. From breweries to wineries to seafood restaurants in Maine, everyone seems to be searching for a piece of the action. It's no surprise, then, that the luxury vape market is already opening up to us. 

Double Barrel (as smoked by Russell Brand on the HBO Original Series, Ballers) teamed up with L.A. jeweler Gerard Alexander of Saint Jewels to create the Double Barrel Diamond, the world's first $100,000 vaporizer. Clocking in at 180 grams of solid white gold and studded with over 3,000 21-carat diamonds, each device is made to order—a custom objet d'art for the cannabis connoisseur with money to spend.

Here’s why parents need to know about e-cigarettes. First, many more teens are using them. In 2017, 3% of middle school students and 12% of high school students reported using them, and while that may not sound like a lot, since 2011 use has gone up about 500% in middle school and 800% among high school students. And, e-cigarettes can be dangerous.

E-cigarettes are basically delivery devices for nicotine, the addictive chemical in tobacco. The hope of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is that they might possibly decrease smoking — which would be great, as smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. It’s the smoke itself that causes the vast majority of the health risk, so the idea was that perhaps if you gave people a way to inhale nicotine that didn’t involve burning tobacco, you might get them away from tobacco, especially if you were able to gradually decrease the amount of nicotine they inhale.

Last month, I issued a call to action – to the FDA and to the e-cigarette industry – to stem the alarming increase in youth use of e-cigarettes. For the FDA, that has included an escalating series of steps that utilize the full range of our regulatory authorities, including increased enforcement of age- and identification-verification requirements, as well as re-examining aspects of our comprehensive plan on tobacco and nicotine regulation in order to strengthen our Youth Tobacco Prevention Plan. We’re committed to announcing a new action plan by mid-November that will set forth a series of new, forceful steps to firmly confront and reverse the youth addiction trends that are at epidemic levels.