Tropical Bob is right.
All this bellyaching about how this is government overreach and other utopian libertarian claptrap is just hot air.
The reality is that the FDA has a legal obligation to enforce U.S law regulating safety standards of foods and drugs sold with in the borders of the United States.
Cry all you want about Chantix the fact is that the manufacturer jumped through the requisite regulatory hoops to get approval. Further it requires a prescription to get which implies that there will be monitoring by a trained medical professional (the prescribing physician) which is the furthest thing form some **** that's sold off a random website by some anonymous individual. Sure it has side effects many of which may not have shown up in the limited testing that was required by law.
Remember all the drugs that get pulled after approval? That's because the FDA has a continuing obligation to manage these products after their innitial approval and if some horible side effect only shows up after the drug is approved it the agency is still obligated to take action.
I find it mind blowing that the companies marketing these devices didn't do their due dilegence in the first place by contacting lawyers to research this matter and putting into motion the necesary steps to get these devices approved.
By sidestepping those procedures they have demonstrated an intent to try to ignore the law which is hardly going to play in their favor from either a legal or a public relations standpoint.
You may disagree with the rules but they are there to create a level playing field for all players. These manufacturers are intentionaly breaking the law and that begs the question of why?
The best that could happen now would be for the manufacturers to finally get off their asses and start going through the needed regulatory steps. I still suggest that the suppliers form a tradegroup and fund a legal defense team to file an injunction to delay enforment of any ban. Ideally such action could tie the ban up long enough in the court system to allow the manufactures to go through the requisite due dilegence to acheive approval.
It would also be worthwhile for consumers to continue to contact their representatives to try and gain popular support for a delay on the ban while proper testing is done.
But be perfectly ****ing clear here. The FDA is well with in their authority to regulate these devices in fact they have a legal obligation to do so. Further if they do not take action on these devices they will be the ones people will be mad at for any negative consequences.
These regulations were not created simply because people in congress were bored one day. They were created to protect us the citizens from irresponsible individuals and companies who are interested in nothing but short term profit.
Myself I want to know that the product I'm using has gone through the appropriate due dilegence to be as safe as is reasonable for it's intended purpose. I want to be sure that the only poison in my
e-liquid is nicotine that I am not ingesting some unknown such as say arsenic or some other highly toxic substance.
If all all the things we believe and have been told about these devices are true then we have nothing to fear from following the proper regulatory framework other than some slightly increased prices. Personaly I'd be happy to pay a little more and know what I'm getting rather than simply trust that my supplier is a stand up guy on nothing more than faith.
