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TOBACCO BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL
MARCH/APRIL 2016
O
ver the course of the past five
years, vapor technology has
been one of the fastest-growing
industries in the U.S., in large part driven
by small and mid-size businesses in local
communities across the country. Now, as
regulators and legislators at the highest
levels of government are on the precipice
of making industry-changing decisions,
vapor technology leaders from across the
U.S. and the world have come together to
launch the Vapor Technology Association
(VTA) with the simple goal of giving a
voice to the industry as a whole.
More than 70 members strong and
growing, VTA represents manufacturers,
importers, wholesalers, distributors,
suppliers and retailers who have played a
significant role in developing innovative
and quality vapor products that provide
adult consumers with a safer alternative to
traditional combustible products.
One of the biggest challenges we face
as an industry—and one that our industry
has been outflanked on up until this
point—is the rampant misinformation
disseminated about our technology. Let’s
be clear: vapor products are not only a
safer alternative to traditional combustible
products, but they also provide thousands
upon thousands of Americans with a
viable path to reducing tobacco smoking,
and even quitting altogether.
So it should surprise no one that FDA
Center for Tobacco Products Director
Mitch Zeller, a lifelong antismoking
advocate, stated: “If we could get all those
people [who smoke] to completely switch
all of their cigarettes to noncombustible
cigarettes, it would be good for public
health.”
But what about our institutional
health groups? Yes, groups such as the
American Cancer Society, American
Lung Association and American Heart
Association must be applauded for the
great work that they have done over the
years to reduce the number of smokers.
Still, even with all the antismoking
advertisements, education campaigns,
and the ubiquitous over-the-counter
availability of nicotine gum and nicotine
patches, 43 million adults are still addicted
to tobacco cigarettes and nearly half a
million smokers are dying in the U.S.
every year. At some point these groups
must recognize the limitations of their
abstinence campaign against all things
tobacco.
Yet, in the absence of
any
legitimate
The Vapor Technology Association:
New and Innovative Leadership
in the Vapor Industry
A VAPOR VOICE
By Tony Abboud
One of the biggest
challenges we face as
an industry—and one
that our industry has
been outflanked on up
until this point—is the
rampant misinformation
disseminated about our
technology.