New Rules for E-Cigarettes May Create Black Market
The federal government's seemingly heavy-handed oversight and regulation of the e-cigarette market is reportedly going to sniff out the life of an emerging alternative to tobacco industry which might trigger a black market for the increasingly popular vaping devices.
In a recently published regulations by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), all e-cigarette vendors and retailers are required to have all its pre-February 17, 2007 vapor products go through an extremely difficult and costly Pre-Market Tobacco Application process (PMTA).
According to Wall Street Journal many of the vape shop owners, device manufacturers, and liquid nicotine suppliers argued that the approval process is almost impossible to comply given the onerous details involved in the paper work and the estimated cost of $2 million to $10 million per item.
Apart from the millions of dollars spent on product approval, 1,700 hours of paperwork is just too much for any business owner and the entire supply chain which could virtually wipe out 99% of the market.
"There's definitely need for regulation. In anything there should be some form of regulation. But the regulations they're trying to put in place is all about money," Mr. Terrance Pounds said in an interview with Toledo Blade.
In a possible backlash, a massive surge in do-it-yourself e-cigarettes might result from FDA's regulatory onslaught which is quite impossible for the government to rein in.
"We can teach anyone how to make any flavor of E-liquid in less than 10 minutes without stepping foot in a store!" said White Clouds Vaping Co. CEO Zach Jacobs as quoted by the Daily Caller.
According to National Institute of Drug Abuse, smoking accounts for over 400,000 US deaths each year. However, there is no definite medical evidence to date that would link e-cigarettes to any potential health hazards.
Meanwhile, United Kingdom's traditionally anti-smoking Royal College of Physicians has recently published a report promoting the use of e-cigarettes as a tobacco alternative and as a way of helping smokers kick off their tobacco use habit, New York Times reported.
