A village fights the FDA to defend vaping
The story is somewhat similar to Asterix and his village of indomitable Gauls who resist Roman occupation.
In the US, Hartland and its 9200 inhabitants have decided to confront the powerful FDA (Food & Drugs Administration). The FDA will shortly be in charge of controlling vaping products according to a decree of the Obama administration.
More generally speaking, this decree considers vaping as exactly similar to the tobacco industry and the traditional cigarette. This regulation change rattles the whole vaping industry. Launching a new product on the market could cost up to one million dollars and represent a tremendous amount of work. It would also concern the products that have been on the market since 2007. And this would therefore pose a true threat to all industry actors.
The village authorities have a simple goal. They want to prove that the FDA has acted outside of its authority. Their main argument relies on a 1976 law according to which the FDA is required to coordinate with municipalities when it introduces rules that will affect them. And a major e-liquid producer, Johnson Creek Enterprises is based in Hartland. And they could suffer the consequences from the new regulation. This, in turn, would have an impact on the whole community. Local authorities have prepared supporting documents during a three-day public hearing and will shortly send them to the FDA.
An unprecedented mobilization for the vaping industry
While the FDA demonizes vaping and is almost aiming at a death sentence of this industry in the US, e-cigarettes have helped more than 6 million Europeans stop smoking (study published in the Addiction review in 2016). Research led by ‘Public Health England’ consider that e-cigarette is 95% less harmful than traditional cigarettes. Many actions are taking place in the US to fight this regulation: we have recently talked about the Cole-Bishop and Hunter initiatives. Unfortunately, the Cole-Bishop has been rejected by Congress.
