I actually posted part of this in response to an e-liquid thread and I wanted to re-post it here for discussion. I would love to hear the opinions of the ECF community about what I think the FDA will eventually do with vaping/e-cigarettes.
I don't know if I agree that they will never approve it. I think that as more and more people make the switch from smoking cigarettes to far, far less harmful vaping they will have more pressure to actually do something. Right now the vaping "community" (I use that word in the same way that you would call cigarette smokers a "smoking community") although growing, is still too small to cut through all the bureaucratic red tape of the FDA. Once enough people start doing it they will certainly be forced to rule one way or another and since they haven't and won't fully ban traditional cigarettes, they certainly won't do the same to vaping.
I will probably post my thoughts on this more in depth for anyone who cares to read it in the future but in short I think it is a very safe bet to say that vaping will eventually be regulated with set age restrictions, point of sale restrictions, quality control restrictions, production restrictions and of course everyone's favorite, Taxation. I certainly don't fear any kind of abolition or prohibition. In contrast to what many vapers believe, DIY e-liquid and to a lesser extent homemade mods may actually be the part that become more strictly regulated due to fears of people using a controlled substance (nicotine) in improper quantities much in the way that brewing your own alcohol can only be done in small controlled batches. Also, the dangers of making an electrical device without the proper know-how (e.g. electronics, chemical reactions of certain metals with e-liquid, battery safety, etc.) I feel that we can expect to see a combination of alcohol and tobacco legislation applied to vaping in the (possibly near) future. Whenever there's a big enough demand for something, there is an opportunity for the government to make money from it. Whether this is a good or bad thing is up for debate, but I certainly think it will bring vaping more to the forefront of the mainstream which I think any enthusiastic vaper would like to see.
Anyway, I would love to hear what some of you other fellow vapers have to say on the subject so please respond. In the words of one of my favorite online reviewers (or at least on his poster), "keep calm and vape on"
P.S. Couldn't be using these at work right now if they were combustion cigarettes
I don't know if I agree that they will never approve it. I think that as more and more people make the switch from smoking cigarettes to far, far less harmful vaping they will have more pressure to actually do something. Right now the vaping "community" (I use that word in the same way that you would call cigarette smokers a "smoking community") although growing, is still too small to cut through all the bureaucratic red tape of the FDA. Once enough people start doing it they will certainly be forced to rule one way or another and since they haven't and won't fully ban traditional cigarettes, they certainly won't do the same to vaping.
I will probably post my thoughts on this more in depth for anyone who cares to read it in the future but in short I think it is a very safe bet to say that vaping will eventually be regulated with set age restrictions, point of sale restrictions, quality control restrictions, production restrictions and of course everyone's favorite, Taxation. I certainly don't fear any kind of abolition or prohibition. In contrast to what many vapers believe, DIY e-liquid and to a lesser extent homemade mods may actually be the part that become more strictly regulated due to fears of people using a controlled substance (nicotine) in improper quantities much in the way that brewing your own alcohol can only be done in small controlled batches. Also, the dangers of making an electrical device without the proper know-how (e.g. electronics, chemical reactions of certain metals with e-liquid, battery safety, etc.) I feel that we can expect to see a combination of alcohol and tobacco legislation applied to vaping in the (possibly near) future. Whenever there's a big enough demand for something, there is an opportunity for the government to make money from it. Whether this is a good or bad thing is up for debate, but I certainly think it will bring vaping more to the forefront of the mainstream which I think any enthusiastic vaper would like to see.
Anyway, I would love to hear what some of you other fellow vapers have to say on the subject so please respond. In the words of one of my favorite online reviewers (or at least on his poster), "keep calm and vape on"
P.S. Couldn't be using these at work right now if they were combustion cigarettes
