What Will Happen Next?
By: Tiffany Davis
Flavor Vapor Media Specialist
FDA commentary period ended last week on the 9th. For many it
leaves us wondering what will happen next. The general population agrees that
regulations cannot come before the FDA & CDC’s testing of vaping devices.
This seems like the only logical thing to do. Because, why heavily restrict the
use and purchase of vaping devices if the test find that it is not harmful? Or
at least a harm-reduction device or course of action.
With the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration is spending $270 million on 45+ research projects to
determine the risks of e-cigarettes. Some of this test is; one team of
researchers assessing the risks of electronic cigarettes is counting the puffs
taken by volunteer “vapers.”
Another will comb
Facebook for posts on how people are tinkering with e-cigarettes to make the
devices deliver extra nicotine.
“They want data, and
they want it yesterday,” said Dr. Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin of Yale University,
who is leading four projects.
“Yesterday,” however,
is years away.
Final results might
not be available before 2018, according to researchers leading the FDA-funded
projects. That is how the slow pace of science is contributing to a regulatory
system for the sale and use of e-cigs, allowing makers of e-cigarettes to sell
their products virtually unchallenged.
Every big e-cigarette
manufacture is getting their top lawyers in the ring to keep vaping free of
unrealistic and fear persuaded regulations.
“There shouldn’t be
regulations akin to those for cigarettes without evidence of similar health
impact, especially since the preliminary evidence is positive for the industry”
when it comes to comparing the contents of e-cigarette vapor to tobacco smoke,
said lawyer Bryan Haynes, whose firm represents an e-cigarette manufacturers.
The FDA “will always
make regulatory decisions based on the best available science,” said an agency
spokeswoman. “With regard to e-cigarettes, the agency does not believe it will
take many years to create the regulatory framework,” once the FDA gets all the
necessary authority to fully regulate the products, which could happen next
year.
The Yale team, for
instance, will study whether menthol and flavors such as chocolate and cherry
increase the appeal of e-cigarettes, especially to 16- to 18-year-old smokers
or “dual users” who both smoke and vape. If that turns out to be the case, the
FDA would have scientific support for regulating.
“We’ll have the first
results within two years” and complete ones in four to five, Krishnan-Sarin
said.
“If it turns out that people are tinkering
with the electronics to increase the voltage of e-cigarettes, and FDA
regulations limit the maximum voltage, that’s useful to know,” Balster said. It
might justify a requirement that the devices be tinker-proof.
Full results are years
away, he said, “but we’re mindful of getting information to FDA in a timely
manner. They’re under a lot of pressure to get moving.”
Thank you for taking time out of your day to read our blog. Please, get
involved with a CASAA. They have the right vision for the vaping world and our
(the consumers) best interest at heart.
Freetovape.org
&
CASSA.org
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