FDA Rule Could Keep Cigarette Smokers Hooked

Published May 31, 2017

Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should reverse a rule subjecting e-cigarette or vaping products made after 2007 to FDA approval, American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) President Hank Campbell wrote on March 1. FDA issued the rule under former President Barack Obama on May 5, 2016, potentially criminalizing vaping devices long in use.

If left in place, the FDA rule could slow the transition of young smokers from cigarettes to vaping devices, which lack the 200-plus toxic chemicals present in cigarettes. 

Removing the rule is step one toward a policy of reducing harm to smokers in the process of quitting cigarettes, as ACSH science and policy advisor Dr. Brad Rodu argues in Vaping, E-Cigarettes, and Public Policy Toward Alternatives to Smoking, a February 2017 Policy Brief by Health Care News publisher The Heartland Institute parsing myths and facts about vaping and why current regulatory policy could send smokers back to cigarettes.

Jay Lehr ([email protected]) is science director for The Heartland Institute.

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