Maybe sooner than we wanted.

[VpnDrgn]

Better start making a list of the tools you will need FyreDragon.
Looks like the FDA has figured out how to twist all the current regulations to suite their needs and have started issuing cease and desist letters! Looks like we will need homemade atties and cartos sooner than we thought.

At first the FDA tried to say PV's are a "device to stop smoking" and could be regulated as a drug delivery device instead of the much looser tobacco regs, so everyone changed their websites to say "smoking alternative". Now the FDA has used customers own comments on websites to point out that PV's are being used to stop smoking so that allows them to be regulated as a drug. The letter to JC was a fine example of "spin" of the worst kind. They took bits and pieces of several regs and tied them to customers own comments on the website to build a viewpoint of "untested drugs" being sold with "no usage instructions" or any "quality control" being used by the vendor.
Any ignorant or uninformed political entity reading this drek, is sure to give the FDA all the control they want to shut everybody down.

Now it looks like they have put two strings to their bow; The first being of course the argument that as a drug, e-juice must be subjected to stringent testing and trials to make sure it is safe. They know that 90% of the vendors can't afford this type of testing and of course the FDA will drag it out as long as it takes to kill off the 10% that can. Any person with any common sense ought to be able to see that if e-juice or the basic principle of vapeing were truly dangerous, the FDA would have shut this down years ago.

The second string is less obvious. If the FDA looses its battle in the courts over the question of "drug or tobacco", it looks like they are laying the ground work for such stringent procedures for processing e-juice that again, most vendors will not be able to comply. Of course Big Tobacco and Pharma already have these procedures in place.
I'm talking about - testing and certification of all materials from outside mnf's - random in-house testing of same materials for quality control - testing each batch of processed materials for conformity, uniformity and contamination - controlled environment for storage and processing of materials ( at the minimum this would require seperate rooms for storage with closed systems for mixing liquids and an airlock with all kinds of filters for air control and all employees wearing PPE than can get expensive very quick )
Just the testing for nic levels in processed e-juice would be very expensive and it would have to be done often. Someone like MS T's would not be able to comply or afford the equipment to do so.

Looks like it is time to start stock piling juice and cartos as the FDA is finally going to shut down all the little guys and let Big T and Pharma take over. I just wonder how long it will take to establish a black market for e-juice.

Psst; Hey mister, wanna buy some "juice"?!

 

[FyreDragon]

I hear ya. Unfortunately, the scenario you describe seems all too likely. I figure in a pinch, I would be able to fashion an atomizer that worked at least reasonably well. However, I think the juice is going to be the bummer. This is just my opinion right now, and it may change as the situation continues to unfold, but I honestly expect that the FDA is going to concentrate on making the juice almost impossible to get. At some point after, I expect that the big $$ folks will be coming out with a similar product at a hugely inflated price that doesn't work half as well. It seems to me that a big part of the success of e-cigs is that the vaper has so much control over the process. The way things are now, it's easy for us to adjust our nic level, flavor, etc. to match what the body says it wants. If we need a little more nic for a given day, which seems to be a common experience, it's easy to adjust our juice. In an environment of heavy drug-type regulation, people will probably be lucky if they can afford one or two bottles of something that is probably designed (on purpose) to be too weak to be effective and it will probably be available in one flavor - unpleasant. ("Gotta make it unappealing! If it tastes good, kids might like it!" ah hem.. balderdash!)

And after reading some of the information people have posted to various places on the internet about making your own "pure nicotine", I find myself shaking my head in disbelief. Most of these are just simple water-based tobacco extractions that aren't further separated or purified in any way whatsoever. The spectere of over-regulation pushing people who aren't really knowledgeable enough to even attempt doing so into making their own juice seems even scarier that ever.

Anywho... Just in case... I did manage to stock up some on attys, some other equipment and stuff to whip up some juice, but I realize that when I get through that stash, it may very well be practically unavailable. I hope not. This technology is obviously saving lives. It flys staight in the face of common sense to suppress e-cigs (unless you're BT/BP/BG). But since when lately has politics and big $$ demonstrated much of that, except as it pertains to their bottom lines, human costs be dammed? And lately, it seems like most people around me feel like they don't have the power to change anything about their life. That's sad. It's sad because if they really believe it - so it shall be.

I'm just glad I still have the freedom left to be able to say these things, at least for now.