Regulation Stops the Vape – Cole’s proposal to guard alternative from retroactive regs
Published: March 30th, 2017
OKLAHOMA CITY – A new bill sponsored by U.S. Representative Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, would roll back Federal Drug Administration (FDA) regulations on vapor products – existing “regs” which could slow down the products coming to market.
‘The FDA Deeming Authority Clarification Act of 2017’ would change the “predicate date” for new tobacco products, impose new licensing and advertising guidelines for vapor products, and would direct the FDA to create new standards for vapor product batteries, according to a release from Rep. Cole’s office.
That “predicate date” set by the FDA requires any and all products that were not already being sold before this date to apply with the FDA for approval to be sold. Currently, the date used by the FDA is February 15, 2007.
Cole’s new bill would change that date to Aug. 8, 2016. Without the new, updated date, innovation in the vapor market could come to a standstill, and small businesses could suffer, according to the release.
“While there is disagreement about whether certain tobacco products should be regulated or not, there should be agreement that new regulations should apply to products moving forward, and not retroactively,” the Moore, Oklahoma, Republican said in the release.
Vapor products are 95 percent less harmful than traditional cigarettes, according to a report by Public Health England.
Addy McNeil, a manager of Vapor Extreme in Tulsa, said she has customers who are former smokers turning to vapor as a less harmful alternative to cigarettes.
“A lot of people who come to our shop were long time smokers and took up vaping to reduce their risk of cancer without giving up nicotine entirely,” McNeil said. “If vaping weren’t an available option to these people, they’d probably still be smoking cigarettes.”