VAPOR TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION CALLS ON REGULATORS & LEGISLATORS TO TAKE SERIOUS ACTION ON LIMITING MARKETING OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS; SAYS FLAVOR BANS ARE SHORTSIGHTED AND WOULD NOT ADDRESS YOUTH USE OR DANGERS OF BLACK MARKET ILLEGAL PRODUCTS

VTA Calls On Regulators And Lawmakers To Come Together With The Industry To Implement Meaningful And Critical Alternatives That Address Youth Issues While Maintaining Choice for Over 10 Million Adults Who Rely On Vapor Products

Washington, D.C., September 25, 2019 —The Vapor Technology Association (VTA) today called on the Trump Administration, the FDA, the FTC and Congress to implement eleven important steps to help ensure controlled distribution of all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, and limit access and appeal of all tobacco products to youth.

The flavor ban proposed by the Trump Administration and certain members of Congress will do little to address underage use of e-cigarettes and, more importantly, will do nothing to control the marketing of vapor products.

Tony Abboud, Executive Director of the Vapor Technology Association, said, “We have listened to our critics complain for years that the vapor industry is ‘marketing to youth’ but those same critics have focused on banning products and refused to do anything to address marketing. VTA has long been a proponent of strict marketing and advertising standards. We first developed and implemented marketing restrictions in 2017 and asked FDA and FTC to enforce them early in 2018. We have advocated for such standards at the federal and state level and have led our industry in implementing and advocating for them. Now, we call on regulators and lawmakers to come together with the industry to formally implement meaningful and critical alternatives that have thus far been unaddressed. To be clear, removing flavors in nicotine-containing vapor products will not address any of the serious illness issues that the CDC and FDA are reviewing since over 80% of those tragic incidents are being tied to the use of black market THC products, not store-bought FDA-registered and FDA-regulated nicotine vapor products (otherwise known as e-cigarettes). Regulators at the federal and state levels have refused to clearly acknowledge the direct link between black market THC products and the recent outbreak of lung illnesses, and are instead focused on implementing flavor bans that would adversely impact the American public.”

Dr. Michael Siegel, Boston University Professor of Public Health, who has made clear that there is no connection between flavored e-cigarettes and the illnesses being reported, said “CDC has hyped up the risks of vaping so much that they have literally said nothing about youth vaping of marijuana.”

Additionally, a ban on flavors would have serious and immediate adverse effects on the U.S. and state economies causing thousands of small businesses to close and tens of thousands of American workers to be laid off, competition to be eliminated, and adult smokers left with no choice other than to start smoking again or resort to a black market.

The economic impact and potential for the American vapor industry to compete with the combustible cigarette is enormous: $24.5 billion in total economic impact; $7.5 billion in wages generated for American workers; and $15 billion in federal, state and local taxes generated.[1]

Much of the American vapor industry utilizes a new and independent supply and distribution channel separate from the traditional tobacco distribution channel. It sells a wide variety of flavored e-liquids, which 10-13 million adults rely on to quit and/or reduce smoking cigarettes. Without flavors and a wide variety of products on the market, the licensed, FDA-registered and FDA-regulated American vapor product distribution chain will close. No business model would enable these vape shops to remain open if they can sell only “tobacco, mint and menthol” as has been proposed. The result is that upwards of 166,000 direct and indirect jobs would be lost.

Most importantly, continuing down the road of banning flavors will only cause millions of adult smokers and former smokers to go back to smoking or rely on what will be a new and larger black market.
Fortunately, many alternatives to a flavor ban exist to directly address youth vaping, while preserving 14,000 small businesses and preventing a significant adverse economic impact.
VTA calls on the Administration, FDA, FTC and lawmakers to come together with the industry to implement meaningful and critical alternatives that have thus far been unaddressed:

1. “Tobacco 21” – Raise the age from 18 to 21 to purchase tobacco and nicotine vapor products, instead of restricting flavors.

Rationale: Nearly 90% of minors obtain vapor products from schoolmates, friends, family, and others, and public health experts say that raising the age to purchase will have the greatest impact in keeping all tobacco products, including vapor products, out of the hands of minors. Leader McConnell has introduced his bill to accomplish this goal, and with support, this major piece of legislation to curtail youth access to tobacco products will be signed this year.

2. Implement Strict Marketing Standards to prevent nicotine vapor products from being marketed to or attractive to youth.

Rationale: VTA created the industry’s first marketing standards in January 2018. Industry agrees that vapor products should not be marketed to youth. Imposing strict marketing, advertising, labeling and packaging restrictions is the only way to address the real issue. Some of the following provisions go further than other age-restricted industries and should be applied to all tobacco products, including vapor products:

• Ban print advertising except in adult-only publications or media (adults are >85% of audience).
• Ban advertising and/or sponsorship at stadiums, concerts, sporting or other public events that are not primarily targeted to adults (adults are >85% of audience)
• Ban offers of any school or college scholarships by any company selling tobacco products.
• Ban television advertising of any tobacco products, including any vapor products.
• Ban advertising, marketing and sale of tobacco products that:
  • Use the terms “candy” or “candies” or variants in spelling, such as “kandy” or “kandeez,” “bubble gum,” “cotton candy,” and “gummi bear”, and “milkshake.”
  • Use the terms “cake” or “cakes” or variants such as “cupcake.”
  • Use packaging, trade dress or trademarks that imitate those of food or other products primarily targeted to minors such as candy, cookies, juice boxes or soft drinks.
  • Use packaging that contains images of food products primarily targeted to minors such as juice boxes, soft drinks, soda pop, cereal, candy, or desserts.
  • Imitates a consumer product designed or intended primarily for minors
  • Use cartoons or cartoon characters.
  • Use images or references to superheroes.
  • Use any likeness to images, characters, or phrases that are known to appeal primarily to minors, such as “unicorn”.
  • Use a video game, movie, video, or animated television show known to appeal primarily to minors.
• Ban advertising and marketing of tobacco products, including vapor products, that:
  • Makes any reference to the product as a smoking cessation device or as a product which may be used to help quit smoking.
  • Makes a claim of therapeutic value, as being safe or healthy for consumers, or as not producing secondhand health effects.
  • Using modified risk descriptors or claims such as “light,” “low,” and/ or “mild”, having no ash or smoke, having no tar, being less harmful, posing lower risk of disease or as containing reduced or zero levels of harmful ingredients.
  • Does not accurately represent the ingredients contained in the products.
  • Uses health professionals to market or otherwise endorse a tobacco product, directly or indirectly.
  • Uses contracted spokespeople or individuals that do not appear to be at least 25 years of age.
• Ban advertising on outdoor billboards near schools and playgrounds.
• Require labels to include warnings protecting youth such as “Sales to Minors Prohibited” or “Underage Sales Prohibited” and/or “Keep Out of Reach of Children”.
• Require all advertising to be accurate and not misleading.

3. Close Loopholes by Banning Sales on Third-Party Marketplaces like Alibaba, Amazon, eBay, et al. 

Rationale:  Third party sales from unregulated, unlicensed tobacco product distributors are not age verified. Third-party online sellers should be prohibited from allowing the sale or re-sale of nicotine-containing products and allowing the sale or re-sale of unregulated cannabis or THC vaping products, including any packaging for unregulated cannabis or THC vaping products. The FTC and FDA should immediately demand that third-party sellers remove all such products from their marketplaces, block the sale of any such products in the future, and actually enforce that policy going forward. Congress should act accordingly. Without strict enforcement, such platforms can provide a third-party sales channel for counterfeit products, unregulated cannabis and THC products, and packaging or other materials that enable black market sales of illicit products.

4. “Three Strikes and You’re Out” for any retailer accumulating three violations in three years for selling nicotine vapor products to minors lose the right to sell nicotine vapor products.

Rationale: Enforcement has not kept up with the times. This must change.  Today, all retailers, including convenience stores and gas stations, can be cited for selling tobacco products to minors seven (7) times in a three-year period before losing the ability to sell tobacco products. Three strikes in three years is serious and necessary enforcement.

5. Restrict Sale of “Super High Nicotine” Products to Adult-Only Stores.

Rationale: Prior to 2018, flavors had been available for sale in the U.S. without any material increase in vaping. The spike in youth vaping appears associated with the wide-spread introduction of a super high nicotine concentration – a product containing a concentration of nicotine higher than 50 milligrams per milliliter. While these “super high nicotine” products can help adult smokers quit smoking combustible cigarettes, restricting such a product to adult-only stores would dramatically limit youth access and potential addiction.

6. Tax, Enforce & Educate. Impose taxes and/or user fees to pay for education and enforcement by implementing a 3% ad valorem tax and/or user fees on vapor products instead of restricting flavors.

Rationale: Taxes create a significant deterrent to youth use of tobacco products. Imposing an ad valorem tax on vapor products and/or user fees would provide FDA more resources to better enforce the laws and conduct anti youth-vaping education campaigns.

7. Ban Self Service Displays. Require all tobacco products, including vapor products, to be behind a counter or in a locked display and accessible only by an employee.

Rationale: Requiring employee assistance will limit and discourage youth access.

8. Point of Sale Age Verification. Require use of third-party age verification software or technology for all online sales and all brick and mortar sales.

Rationale: Eliminate potential purchaser fraud and/or employee error and fake IDs by implementation of third-party software or technology that can verify age and identity.

9. Brick & Mortar Warning Signs. Tobacco product retailers must display signage indicating that (a) “Unaccompanied Minors Are Not Allowed on Premises” or (b) “Products are Not for Sale to Minors” or (c) “Underage Sale Prohibited.”

Rationale: Warning signs deter youth. Each clear statement makes it harder for youth to access.

10. End “Straw Man” Sellers. Make it illegal for any person who is not a licensed tobacco product dealer to sell, barter for, or exchange any tobacco product.

Rationale: Close to 90% of youth purchases of tobacco products come from social sources (i.e., friends, family, and adults – even strangers – who legally buy those products). Penalizing straw purchasers is a must since this is the primary point of access for underage users.

11. End Bulk Sales. Prohibit the retail sale of more than 2 devices or 5 packages/bottles of e-liquids in one transaction.

Rationale: Illegal straw man sellers buy in bulk. This practice should be prohibited for both online and brick and mortar retailers to thwart illicit trade.

My heart is breaking and I’m so sick and disgusted over what is going on. I’ve often said we work in a unique industry. An industry that allows us to feed our families while saving lives. Thank you government and main stream media for preventing us from doing both. Sickening…

I’m sorry to bother you. I know you’re a busy guy. I just wanted to say thank you. I’ve been vaping almost 10 years. Your videos really did help me a lot. I appreciate everything you do for the vape industry. I became so passionate about vaping I launched 5 eliquid lines and a retail store. We’ve been going strong for 5 years! We have came to the conclusion to shut down. We are beat and honestly, with everything going on, the stress is just to much for our health. We’re not rich. We don’t have a back up plan. We’ll have to file for bankruptcy. But I just wanted to know, you did make a difference and we thank you for that. Take care,

Not sure how you have done it all these years. Seems to me Vaping keeps stumbling from one crisis to another. Both real and imagined. Hold your head up high and well done. For getting information out to folks that need it when misinformation or lack of information is available to “regular” vapers like myself. I’m also quite proud of Dash Vapes here in Canada. They sent a newsletter out to all their customers and made a video to address this latest round of stuff. Unfortunately it does sound like some of their customers have returned to smoking due to the misinformation. It reminds me of the “old” days. When mom and dad believed everything that came on TV was true.

I had a conversation with another viewer on the last smoker’s show from Greece and he is from the UK.  One thing he told me is that over there they have vape shops in hospitals and the Royal College of Physicians and the Government both support vaping.

I can’t understand how we can be so far apart in the understanding of vaping.  The worst part is the frustration we feel because there are known truths about vaping that is not being considered while the media, government and politics speedily put the public into a panic so that to enforce a ban as soon as possible to please the big tobacco folks.I will do just what you said to do and make those calls, whatever it takes.  Thank you for being my guide these past 8 year

So I’m sitting here in the airport thinking about all these proposed flavor bans and those that have already been shoved down our throats AGAINST THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE.

First of all let me be clear that I’m against youth vaping and youth marketing. I would hope you know that about me by now.

Do the flavor bans fix the issue with the rash of illness and deaths due to “vaping”?  No, not even a little. It completely misses the target as that issue is due to illicit THC carts containing vitamins E acetate. Flavor bans do ZERO to address that problem.  However, the problem is being used against the entire nicotine vaping industry by our health organizations and our government.  Truly disgusting what is going on.   ILLEGAL DRUG DEALERS are being used to decimate and demonize an entire industry that can save more people’s lives than anything Big Pharma has ever done to combat cigarettes.

Does it help the youth vaping issue? No, I actually believe its going to make it worse and add to the “gateway affect”.

I’ve talked to a several teens and vaping is certainly an issue in schools right now. First, they don’t call it vaping, they call it “Juuling” and that’s telling. When I ask why, they say its because of the buzz or the head rush they get. No one ever said anything about the flavor.

The sale of vape products to minors is already illegal. How about we focus on enforcing the laws.  Let’s blame the parents, the kids, the shops or people selling or providing to minors.  Let’s figure out a way to shut THAT down.  RESPONSIBILITY, NOT BLAME!!  STRATEGIC STRIKES, NOT CARPET BOMBING!!

Save the children yes, but in a way we also remember and save adults as well… adult nicotine vapers and smokers who are being completely forgotten about and ignored.  ADULTS ENJOY FLAVORS TOO!

If the youth are after the head rush, they’re going to seek it out and get it whether its in the form of mango, tobacco, or no flavor at all.

So what does banning flavors do?

1) Trains youth to like tobacco flavor.
2) Prevents adults from finding flavors that appeal to them.
3) Potentially pushes adults who won’t be able to get the flavors they enjoy back to cigarettes.

Really bad in every case, and in every case plays right into the hands of Big Tobacco.

I believe our goal, and the goal of those who CLAIM to care about public health, should be the elimination of combustible tobacco cigarettes. How can we do that if the only flavor we have left is that of the very thing we want to eliminate?

It makes zero sense and truly leads me to believe that flavor bans are NOT about saving the children, but more about saving the interests of Big Tobacco and therefore Big Pharma not to mention cigarette tax revenues.  The side effect of this?  IT HURTS ADULTS!  Adults should matter too.  Smokers should matter too.  Adults who have found vaping and enjoy flavors and adult smokers who have yet to find vaping and a flavor they enjoy.

I’m tired, I’m disgusted, I’m sick to my stomach over what’s going on.  It’s so absolutely and obviously criminal and corrupt.

Time to board the next plane.

So proud to call this man friend. He speaks with passion, conviction, truth,  knowledge, and authority.  This live is packed with information and insight and is well worth the watch and share.

I can only hope to speak on the subject as well as he some day.

Much appreciation and thanks also to Brent Stafford and RegWatch:

RegWatch covers the issues, controversies, and impacts arising from the regulation of economic, social and environmental activity in Canada & U.S.

***Special Guest: Dimitris Agrafiotis @VapinGreek***

It’s been four weeks since news of vaping-related illnesses first made international headlines and during this short time the prospects for the future of nicotine vaping, as a tool for harm reduction, have been shattered. As a mountain of misinformation promulgated by public health agencies and anti-vaping pressure groups stoked a feverish mainstream media, all too happy to vilify vaping.

Joining RegWatch today for this “end of week round-up” is Dimitris Agrafiotis a.k.a. the VapinGreek. He’s a globally known vaping advocate and executive director of the Tennessee Smoke Free Association.

If you’re looking for frank talk and piercing analysis, you’ve got it!

Only on RegWatch by RegulatorWatch.com.

Produced by: Brent Stafford
Released: September 20, 2019

Hey Phil and Dimi.  I live in Clarksville, TN, was a pack a day smoker for almost 20 yrs, and a veteran.  Since 2012 I had  been a dual user of vaping and smoking.  Through deployments and everything else.  I had gotten to the point where I thought I was never going to be able to switch to vaping only and finally get off the cigarettes.  Thanks to the two of you and The Smokers Show, I am a week free of smoking and finally feel like I can do it for good.  Thank you for all you do for the community, for smokers, and for advocacy.  Please keep it up, and I have been trying to do what I can to help.  Thank you again.

Hi Phil,
With all the craziness that is going on right now in this industry, I really wanted to let you and Dimi know how much I appreciate everything that you guys do and represent. I’m 55 and have been smoking since I was about 21. I’ve had a couple of very brief attempts to try to quit  smoking but never was successful. After meeting you online, talking with you, watching the Smoker’s Show and trying the Coolfire that you sent I was motivated to really put all effort into making it work for me and being able to finally be smoke free! My last Dr. appointment that I had I got a rare reaction from my Dr.! He immediately screamed “You quit smoking!” I never even told him lol! 😂 I have never seen him so excited for me! My life has changed so much! I am enjoying flavors I never thought I would! Everything is delicious! 😋 My sense of smell has improved! You guys have inspired and motivated me so much! I want to thank you for everything that you have done for me! You help so many of us! I am grateful! Please keep doing what you do! Love you guys! ❤️

I will say I’m one of your international success stories. After purchasing the wrong device (Direct to lung) and finding your YouTube advice, boom no more cigarettes! 19th December 2019 will be 2 years, since then I’ve helped 14 people successfully give up cigarettes.

My good mate went from 40 cigarettes to zero in 4 days.

The debate on vaping has been brought to the forefront and is getting the ear of your president (Trump). Maybe this might be a blessing. Once the truth comes out that vaping save lives (adult smokers), Trump might support vaping as a tool to stop smoking, then your skirmish with all this disinformation will be behind you. Have Faith.

From CBS News:

Researchers are working hard to determine the cause of more than 500 reported cases of lung illness affecting e-cigarette users. But even before this outbreak, e-cigarettes divided the medical community. Public Health England describes e-cigarettes as “at least 95% less harmful than tobacco cigarettes” – a claim New York University professor David Abrams agrees with. Abrams tells “CBS This Morning” Tony Dokoupil why he’s concerned about what the current panic about e-cigarette safety could mean for public health.