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MARCH/APRIL 2016
scientific evidence, these groups have
decided that they are going to do
everything they can to kill the hope of
vapor products. “Unscientific” does not
go far enough in describing the types of
messages that these groups and their allies
are disseminating. Rather,“dangerous”is a
more apt term.
We know this because there is a
large and growing body of research that
proves the promise of vapor products.
We know this because the
entire public
health community
of Great Britain, led by
the British government and physicians
groups, has reached the scientific
conclusion based on its extensive review
of research that electronic cigarettes are
95 percent safer than tobacco cigarettes.
Blatant misinformation and “junk
science” has been circulated in the public
domain for far too long by these once-
vanguards of public health. Rather than
embrace the hope that vapor products
provide, they mislead American citizens
and our policymakers. After all, what could
be easier than claiming that the tobacco-
boogeyman is lurking around every corner,
even if it is not? And how facile is it to cry,
“we just don’t know what’s in them” as a
justification for rejecting the entire category
when the research is already available to
them? You see,the common thread between
denigration out of ignorance and calling
for regulation based on fear is, in a word,
demagoguery. But, as history has shown,
demagoguery has never saved a single life
and has never produced sound public policy.
One of VTA’s primary missions is to
fight unreasonable regulations at the
federal and state level. That is not to
say that VTA and its members are not
committed to strict industry standards.
On the contrary—we must ensure the
quality of our products. So while the U.S.
federal government is falling behind the
rest of the world, VTA is working with
the international community, including
the International Organization for
Standardization and the European
Committee for Standardization, to
establish a set of standards to guide the
vapor industry.
Vapor products are the future, and the
future is here. This is the first time we
have seen a game-changing technology
that has the potential to put a significant
dent in the 43 million adult smokers of
traditional tobacco products.
Unreasonable regulations that treat
vapor products like traditional tobacco
products and impose restrictions that
cannot be met by small businesses will
lead to two consequences: first, all of the
innovation that has gone into the vapor
industry will be lost; second, all of the big
tobacco companies, whose activities the
government is trying to curtail, will only
be strengthened.
Vapor technology is a growing industry
comprised of the best that America has
to offer. We are small businesses. We are
jobs. We are entrepreneurs. We are what
is next in technological innovation. It is
time that our story is heard.
Tony Abboud is
VTA’s national
legislative
director.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
For a related
feature on VTA,
see p. 78.
A VAPOR VOICE
By Tony Abboud
Unreasonable regulations that treat vapor products like traditional tobacco
products and impose restrictions that cannot be met by small businesses will
lead to two consequences: first, all of the innovation that has gone into the
vapor industry will be lost; second, all of the big tobacco companies, whose
activities the government is trying to curtail, will only be strengthened.