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contraction in this cottage industry, and
all of the innovation that has been going
on will be washed away.”
To combat that effort, VTA intends
to work to educate mainstream media
and legislators about vapor technology,
helping to get both consumers and
policymakers the facts that they need to
understand the products and the issue.
A first priority is to dispel information
that is sending a confusing message
to consumers, notes Abboud. “There
doesn’t seem to be a coordinated
positive direction as far as the media is
concerned,”he explains.“More and more
people are believing that vapor products
are as dangerous as traditional [tobacco]
products, which is a disconcerting
trend,” he says, noting that it takes an
enormous amount of time to educate
the media. “If we don’t do something
about that, the policy won’t matter. All
of the people trying to scare folks away
from the product segment will succeed
and people will continue smoking. At
the end of the day, unless we balance
the discourse and get people the actual
information that is truthful, then there
really is no hope.”
While Abboud acknowledges that
there are already several industry
associations working to represent the
needs of the nascent vapor community,
he says that VTA will distinguish itself
by bringing a more inclusive, disciplined
approach to representation. “No one
has been taking a comprehensive,
coordinated approach to the issue; that
is the big differentiator we have—the
fundamental distinction between us
and the other associations out there,” he
says. “Our membership will include the
entire distribution chain—importers,
manufacturers, distributors, suppliers
and retailers, both online and brick-
“At the end of the day,
unless we balance the
discourse and get people
the actual information that
is truthful, then there really
is no hope.”