Trump to Ban Flavored e-Cigarettes

President Trump recently released a public statement regarding his intentions to pull the majority of vaping products from the market.

According to the president’s statement, his reasoning for doing so is due to the growing concern of health hazards and rising usage of tobacco alternatives by teenagers. The proposal would ban all non-tobacco flavored vape products. However, it is important to be educated on the matter to truly understand the statement Trump is making, and to understand how this is going to affect the vaping market in the United States.

ENDS products, or Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems, have recently been lumped in with Cannabis, or THC products, particularly the products under suspicion, THC Vape Cartridges due to some reported cases of pulmonary illnesses. Many articles and news releases have misleading headlines; they do not distinguish the difference between products containing nicotine such as e-liquid, and the suspected THC Vape Cartridges, but the construction and contents of these products are very different. The chemical in the THC cartridges that seems to be in question is called Tocopheryl Acetate, or Vitamin E acetate, which was linked to at least 34 of the patients being investigated after testing samples of the cannabis products they were using before the patients fell ill. It should be made clear that Vitamin E acetate has never been linked to ENDS products or known to be used in the production of any E-liquid.

The “health concerns” that Trump is referring to is the growing public concern due to a possible 450 cases of pulmonary illnesses that officials are investigating. Many of these cases have been linked to products containing Cannabis derivatives such as THC.

Trump mentioned that there is also a concern due to the rise in teenage use of vaping products, and he is associating the increase in usage to the variety of vape flavors on the market. According to the data provided by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, the current percentage of teen Tobacco use has decreased by more than half of what the percentage was ten years ago, around the same time that vape products began to gain popularity as a tobacco alternative.

The correct information is available, but misleading headlines and popular news articles have possibly caused confusion amidst the general public. Millions of ex-smokers who rely on ENDS products as an alternative to combustible tobacco are going to be at a disadvantage due to the President’s proposal, especially those individuals who have quit tobacco from the help of non-tobacco flavored e-liquids. 

How will this vape ban go affect you? Will you find yourself going back to cigarettes or will tobacco flavored vape suffice?