HAMILTON, Ontario, Sept. 12, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Canadian Vaping Association (CVA) would like to respond directly to the announcement made today by President Donald Trump that he has directed his administration and the FDA to ban the use of flavours in e-liquid products: “Trump Administration Combating Epidemic of Youth E-Cigarette Use with Plan to Clear Market of Unauthorized, Non-Tobacco-Flavored E-Cigarette Products.” By banning access to flavoured nicotine e-liquid, President Trump is creating a massive public health risk in the United States. The resulting ban would drive those who have used this life saving tool to quit smoking either to the black-market for their vaping products or else back to combustible tobacco, which is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide. Either outcome will result in increased consumer risk for lung disease, thus perpetuating the current cycle surrounding the use of combustible tobacco, which is the cause of death for an average 500,000 Americans every year. By villainizing flavoured nicotine e-liquid rather than addressing the true source of the recent health issues, the vaping of cannabis concentrate cartridges or “THC carts”, President Trump and his administration are actively supporting the interests of big tobacco under the guise of youth protection.
Flavoured nicotine vape products have been in use for almost 20 years and, to date, there have been absolutely no lung issues nor deaths associated with nicotine e-liquid vaping. These facts can’t be ignored, and clearly indicate that flavoured nicotine vaping is not the problem. The most significant problem at the present time is that the American government is perpetuating a bias against this extremely successful life saving platform and supressing education that would allow consumers to distinguish between nicotine e-liquids and the array of non-regulated products currently available in the black-market.
“A true understanding of the factors that are driving these lung issues and unfortunate deaths is completely missing from the administration’s response and ban on flavouring” said Darryl Tempest, Executive Director and Lead Advocate of The Canadian Vaping Association. “In Canada, vape products were introduced in non-age restricted sales channels in 2018, and this has directly coincided with the rise here in youth vaping. Thousands of flavours of nicotine e-liquids have been available throughout the past decade and have been used by more than 40 million adult vapors across the world with no impact on youth uptake and without any reports of lung issues. Youth vaping is about access, not about flavouring. It would appear that the Trump administration does not monitor their own news reports nor those released by health officials which clearly state that cannabis concentrate cartridges or ‘THC carts’ are the cause of these unprecedented illnesses and deaths. The actions being taken by this administration are poorly thought out at best. The sudden banning of flavoured nicotine e-liquid by US lawmakers creates a massive public health risk in the United States, without including any of the regulatory changes relating to access that could truly provide youth protection. These actions will only serve to drive those who have quit smoking to the black-market for their vape products or else back to combustible tobacco products, which are the leading cause of preventable deaths. The focus must be on developing regulations that reduce youth access while still providing all tools at our disposal that have proven effective in a global movement towards the goal of eliminating combustible tobacco forever.”
We ask the administration to look to the stance taken by governments in countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom, both from the perspective of regulatory design and government support for vaping as a harm reduction strategy. The government bodies within these countries understand that e-liquid nicotine vaping is a solution to address the public health impacts prevalent globally as a result of the widespread use of combustible tobacco. The vape industry is critical, as it offers adult smokers and political leadership an unprecedented harm reduction opportunity. Through their support of this industry, political leaders can defeat the leading form of preventable death, thus saving smokers and their families from the pain and suffering that comes with smoking related illnesses, and saving billions of tax dollars spent by the government on combating and treating illnesses related to smoking.
The CVA’s Board of Directors and membership is comprised of individual organizations from manufacturing and retail speciality product vape shops. It is the board’s undertaking to provide counsel and guidance in the direction and operation of the CVA, whose mission is to educate policy makers and the public on the safer alternative of vaping as a replacement for combustible tobacco.
For more information or to arrange an interview contact:
Darryl Tempest
Executive Director, The Canadian Vaping Association
dtempest@thecva.org or media@thecva.org
Phone 1-800-826-7146