Tobacco Asia

Volume 20, Number 4

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20 tobaccoasia / Issue 4, 2016 September / October By The Daily Signal On May 5, the U.S. Food and Drug Administra- tion (FDA) finalized a rule known as the Deeming Regulation, extending its authority under the Fam- ily Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, or Tobacco Act, to all tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), also known as vapor products. Some scientific journals refer to these products as electronic nicotine delivery systems. A June 16 consumer update states that FDA's goal is to protect Americans from tobacco-related disease and death. Some of the steps being taken include restricting sales to minors, requiring health warnings, and making manufacturers show that the products "meet the applicable public health standard set by the law." It sounds good, but when all the facts are known, some enduring myths about the new regu- lations emerge from the mist. Do the new regula- tions actually accomplish the following? Five Myths About FDA's Regulation of Vapor Products 1. Help consumers better understand the risks of using these products The United Kingdom's Royal College of Physi- cians has said that e-cigarettes can prevent almost all the harm from smoking. Its report states, "The available data suggest that they are unlikely to ex- ceed 5% of those associated with smoked tobacco products, and may well be substantially lower than this figure." The Deeming Regulation definitely will not help consumers understand this, because the Tobacco Act prohibits companies from making "false and misleading product claims." The law categorically assumes all claims about safety are false, no matter how true they might be. Likewise, even though millions of former smokers have reported that vapor products made it possible for them to switch away from smoking to the practice of vaping, vendors must not make "smoking cessation" claims.

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