Okay I think it's a bit alarmist to say production and trade will be "forbidden". This is regulation, not prohibition. Not saying it's a good thing but this isn't a ban on all vapes.
I think a big question here is what constitutes a "tobacco" product here.
Many herbal vaporizers do not suggest or support the use of tobacco, instead insisting they're for herbs like lavender, chamomile, etc. Underdog calls itself an aromatherapy vaporizer.
How will these laws be enforced on products that make no claim for tobacco use?
I for one am all for calling new products "personal breathe heater" or "air flavor enhancer"
From what I'm reading, this doesn't
ban vapes, but the fees and research requirements basically mean the smaller manufacturers and the mom & pop shops are out of luck.
From the FAQ
On
page 94 (Table 14) of the "deeming" Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA), the FDA has estimated the average cost for each premarket review pathway for newly regulated tobacco products to be:
- an SE exemption report = around $1,500
- an SE report = anywhere from around $3,500 to around $22,700
- a premarket tobacco application (PMTA) = in the low to mid hundreds of thousands of dollars (around $117,000 to around $466,000), not in the millions of dollars described by some others
So it could potentially cost a vape maker half a million just to get out the door. -assuming they're approved through the process.
I dunno, I get where the FDA is coming from here -they're trying to catch up to ecigs and not let it get out of control and dangerous like regular cigarettes are, but it seems that these regulations are really just closing the doors for small businesses in this industry, and that's just not right. It's regulations like this that keep the 1% in power. When you have to be a millionaire just to attempt to enter a market, or to even have a part-time business, the rest of use are stuck in our place.
Two things:
