US Republican representative pushes bill in favor of the vaping industry
The US vaping industry is holding their breath. GOP rep Duncan Hunter is expected to present to the House of Representatives a game-changing bill for the e-cigarette business. “The Cigarette Smoking Reduction and Electronic Vapor Alternatives Act of 2017” aims at creating a new framework for vaping products.
It would stop electronic cigarettes from being categorized as a tobacco product. This means e-cigs would be taken out of the FDA’s (Food & Drug Administration) jurisdiction. Actually, it was the Obama administration that decided that all vaping product introduced on the market after 2007 should be authorized by the FDA. With this bill, the market would stop suffering from demonization and could benefit from more choice, new products reaching the public more quickly and with less costs.
Hunter is a strong supporter of e-cigarettes. He was seen blowing a smoke vapor from his e-cigarette during a congressional hearing last year!
Another bill is also presented
The Cole-Bishop proposal, named after its two Republican advocates, defends in a lesser extent the e-cigarette. It would however enable thousands of e-cigarette products that are today on the market not to seek FDA approval. The Cole-Bishop bill is more advanced that the Hunter text and would represent a first step towards a less regulated vaping industry.
