Anti-
vaping opportunists are trying to use today’s public health crisis to capitalize on last fall’s public health hysteria. Citing concerns about vapers’ potential susceptibility to COVID-19, several states are looking into including
vaping regulation as part of their coronavirus response. In a similar vein, the House Oversight Committee urged the Food & Drug Administration to “clear the market” of e-cigarette products.
Such regulation was misguided long before the pandemic developed. In fact, if anything, vaping’s record as a tremendously effective smoking cessation aid makes it as important now as ever. Good coronavirus policy — and good public health policy in general — will leave the vaping market be.
To understand how public health policy is going awry, consider the newly-approved New York state budget. It bans flavored vaping products and prohibits the sale of both conventional tobacco products and vaping products in pharmacies. It also restricts the distribution of e-liquid products only to state-licensed retailers, making online sales of e-cigarettes and other nicotine products to New York residents a Class A misdemeanor. Moreover, vapor manufacturers must post detailed ingredient lists and byproduct notices more exhaustive than any other tobacco product.
With this legislation, New York ropes vaping with conventional smoking as a public health crisis, and in some aspects, it regulates vaping more harshly. Considering how many smokers use vaping as a harm-reduction substitute, and given the evidence that vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking — comparable to other forms of nicotine replacement therapy — these regulations will only shorten life spans.
