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TOBACCO BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL
MARCH/APRIL 2016
I
n June 1966, Robert F. Kennedy made a speech in
Cape Town, South Africa. In it, he said: “There is a
Chinese curse that says, ‘May he live in interesting
times.’ Like it or not, we live in interesting times, times
of danger and uncertainty; but they are also more open
to the creative energy of men than any other time in his-
tory.”
Kennedy’s speech presents a relevant idea as we re-
late to our fortunes in this time of industrial, economic,
legislative, moral and cultural uncertainty. From a busi-
ness perspective, the regulatory hubris of the FDA is
reminiscent of the Chinese curse upon us. In point of
fact, FDA is caught in the vice of legal entanglement,
while twisting in a wind of demanding enforcement by a
tobacco control law that does not address the needs of
today’s public health and tobacco control.
It is said that the Chinese characters for “opportunity”
and “danger” are one and the same. In truth, this is lin-
guistic hocus-pocus. The FDA’s seeming ignorance of
the wisdom of smokeless nicotine delivery is akin to that
linguistic
faux pas
. The Chinese character for “danger”
is
not
the same as that for “opportunity.” Literary hijinks
distorted the character’s accurate meaning. All is remi-
niscent of the fable of the Emperor’s new clothes.
For some years after the Japanese surrendered and
ended WWII in the Pacific, pockets of Japanese soldiers
hiding in the thousands of atoll island mountains were
still engaged in fighting. They had to be rooted out, told
the war was over, and be rehabilitated. Is it time for FDA
to recognize that its steadfastness on the wrong side of
history will be righted by “men of creative energy?”
The founding of FDA dates back to President Theodore
Roosevelt. The Wiley Act, also known as the Food and
Drug Act, was signed into law by the president in 1906,
establishing the basis for what became the regulatory
FDA in 1930. As with the case of the Japanese soldiers,
does the aged FDA bureaucracy need to be dug up from
the past and rehabilitated?
After the 1911 Supreme Court ruled that the 1906 act
did not apply to false claims of therapeutic efficacy, an
amendment added “false and fraudulent claims of ther-
apeutic effect” to the act’s definition of “misbranded.”
However, these powers continue to be defined narrowly
by the courts, which have set high standards for proof
of fraudulent intent. Is FDA living in the past, given its
apparent efforts at adjudication of new generations of
nicotine delivery? Can fraudulent intent be proven with
respect to electronic and vapor nicotine delivery? Likely,
not now—and not ever. In fact, the Family Protection and
Tobacco Control Act forbids both the reduction of nico-
tine to zero in tobacco products and the illegalization of
any tobacco product.
Can education open minds to Kennedy’s notion of
creative energy and its driving force during our own
currently interesting times? I think so. The root of edu-
cation,
“e-ducere”
in Latin, proposes to “lead out.” Col-
legial and associate relationships facilitate our being led
out to the realization of Kennedy’s idea of creative en-
ergy. Education points the way to opportunity in these
interesting times. It points further toward today’s most
powerful idea in the tobacco industry, the concept of the
“continuum of risk” and thus, the surety of our futures.
Education: Where, if not at trade shows and trade as-
sociations? How, if not in league with collegial doers and
thinkers? When, if not now? Why, if not to gather collec-
tive strengths? What, if not to understand? Who, if not
you?
Welcome to TPE 2016. If you miss Vapor Expo Interna-
tional on June 15-16 at the Stephens Convention Center
in Rosemont, Illinois, do so at your peril.
My best to all of you,
Interesting Times, Critical
Thinking and Trade Shows
PUBLISHER’S LETTER
BY ed o’connor