Despite the current news anti-vape hype

November 16, 2018

which has gone full bore on the narrative that the FDA is outright banning flavors for eLiquids and even actual tobacco products, they have actually not yet taken any such action.

In a USA today interview with Jayne O'Donnel from yesterday (11/15/2018) - When asked what measures the FDA has taken to prevent the youth from accessing these flavors Gottlieb himself said "We've put in place requirements, ahhh, or we're seeking to put in place requirements" he immediately backpedals, acknowledging that the FDA has taken any action yet.  

The interview then goes on to spread some actually useful information, with Gottlieb continuing to say the methods the FDA will be at first employing are going to be stricter age verification methods at convenience stores and gas stations.  He also goes on to state that those stores will probably simply stop carrying those products to avoid the incursion of those additional age verification costs. 

If anything that's fair to the industry but unfair to gas stations and convenience stores. Gottlieb continues on with his line of reasoning for this potential action by stating: "We did the largest single operation in the history of the agency about three months ago looking at youth sales to kids and the convenience stores, based on the resources we put against that operation we expected to find about 300 violations and we found 1,300 violations, so really the youth sales in these convenience stores is rampant right now."

Now this isn't to say that such actions as flavor bans aren't possible.  The FDA has complete control over the destiny of vapes, eLiquids, and of course everything else food and drug related.  I'm just writing this to spread some truth against the anti-vape narrative hype train that seems to be running around spreading gloom and doom rumors. 

To back this up, in a statement released yesterday on the FDA's site - "I  could propose eliminating any application enforcement discretion to any currently marketed ENDS product, which would result in the removal of ALL such products from the marketplace. At this time, I am not proposing this route, as I don’t want to foreclose opportunities for currently addicted adult smokers."  Which seems more than fair considering all the negativity we see in the news lately. 

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