I have this feeling that the POTUS and senators are, perhaps, so conditioned to receiving similarly-worded letters that their eyes just glaze over (I know ... assuming they even bother to read them at all). So, I decided to change it up just a little bit, maybe make it a bit simpler and flowing, and definitely make mention of the latest discussions going on in the UK. Just want to share what I submitted this morning to the POTUS and my senators.
As a consumer of vapor products, it is vitally important to me that the variety of quality products currently on the market are allowed to remain available to former tobacco consumers, like me, that have chosen a reduced harm lifestyle. Millions of Americans like me have experienced remarkable and important health benefits after switching to these low-risk, smoke-free products. Further, a great deal of research published in the United Kingdom has provided clear evidence that vapor products are at least 95% less harmful than combustible tobacco cigarettes. As you may know, the British Parliament has elected to promote vapor products as a safer alternative to the millions of cigarette smokers in the U.K. It should be a public health priority that millions of Americans have access to the same experience.
That is why I am writing to you to express my support for the FDA Deeming Authority Clarification Act of 2015 (H.R. 2058). I strongly urge you to co-sponsor H.R. 2058 which would amend the Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act to change the predicate date for newly deemed tobacco products from February 2007 to a date when the deeming regulation is finalized. It is important to note that the market in 2007 was dominated by tobacco cigarettes. Only a handful of early generation, minimally effective vapor products were available in 2007. As a consequence, most American tobacco consumers continued smoking.
Since 2007, however, many advances in the vapor industry have given rise to safer and more effective products that are helping millions of tobacco consumers to choose a reduced harm lifestyle. If the February 2007 predicate date is not changed, however, nearly all vapor products currently on the market will be no longer available to consumers soon after the regulation takes effect. This will be (i) devastating to thousands of small, independent businesses across the nation, and (ii) will ban the products that millions of consumers like myself use to remain smoke-free.
H.R. 2058 makes a reasonable accommodation for newly deemed products to be allowed to remain on the market based on the date they are brought under the FDA’s jurisdiction. Such a simple clarification of the FDA’s authority will provide millions of consumers continued access to a much less harmful alternative to combustible tobacco and ensure that thousands of small businesses across the country will be able to continue to contribute to our economy.
I look forward to your response on this issue. I, along with my fellow members of CASAA (Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association), thank you for considering my comments and strongly urge you to support H.R. 2058.
Cordially, ...
That is why I am writing to you to express my support for the FDA Deeming Authority Clarification Act of 2015 (H.R. 2058). I strongly urge you to co-sponsor H.R. 2058 which would amend the Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act to change the predicate date for newly deemed tobacco products from February 2007 to a date when the deeming regulation is finalized. It is important to note that the market in 2007 was dominated by tobacco cigarettes. Only a handful of early generation, minimally effective vapor products were available in 2007. As a consequence, most American tobacco consumers continued smoking.
Since 2007, however, many advances in the vapor industry have given rise to safer and more effective products that are helping millions of tobacco consumers to choose a reduced harm lifestyle. If the February 2007 predicate date is not changed, however, nearly all vapor products currently on the market will be no longer available to consumers soon after the regulation takes effect. This will be (i) devastating to thousands of small, independent businesses across the nation, and (ii) will ban the products that millions of consumers like myself use to remain smoke-free.
H.R. 2058 makes a reasonable accommodation for newly deemed products to be allowed to remain on the market based on the date they are brought under the FDA’s jurisdiction. Such a simple clarification of the FDA’s authority will provide millions of consumers continued access to a much less harmful alternative to combustible tobacco and ensure that thousands of small businesses across the country will be able to continue to contribute to our economy.
I look forward to your response on this issue. I, along with my fellow members of CASAA (Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association), thank you for considering my comments and strongly urge you to support H.R. 2058.
Cordially, ...
