Vaping Faces Negative Public Opinion: What Is Its Fate in the US?

As the world's largest e-cigarette consumer market, the U.S. federal and state governments have tightened their surveillance of e-cigarettes, and a comprehensive ban on the sale of novel flavors of e-cigarettes has gradually been put on the agenda.

Since 2019, e-cigarettes have frequently appeared on the hot search list. In addition to being sought after by consumers and contributing to the proliferation of brands, there are more negative public opinions such as smoking e-cigarettes causing illness and even death. Some countries and regions have included e-cigarettes in the scope of bans and pushed e-cigarettes to the forefront of the wave.

As the world's largest e-cigarette consumer market, the United States 'sales supervision of e-cigarettes, especially the ban on sales of young people, has also become stricter. A comprehensive ban on the sale of novel e-cigarettes has gradually been put on the agenda.

What do Americans think of e-cigarettes?
 

At present, e-cigarette products on the market are divided into three categories: heated non-combustible tobacco products, electronic atomization systems containing nicotine, and electronic atomization systems that do not contain nicotine.

In my country, e-cigarettes have become an emerging and fast-growing industry in recent years. The consumer group has increased significantly, and the number of companies producing e-cigarettes has continued to rise.

According to information obtained by a reporter from Financial and Economics National Weekly from the Electronic Cigarette Industry Committee of China Electronics Chamber of Commerce,In 2018, the total sales of private e-cigarette companies in my country reached 33.75 billion yuan, of which exports accounted for 85% of total sales, and domestic sales accounted for only 15%。At the same time, the output of my country's e-cigarette private enterprises currently accounts for 95% of the world's total output, and exports account for about 90%, forming an industrial pattern of manufacturing in China and consumption in Europe and the United States, highlighting the exclusive nature of my country's e-cigarette enterprises in the global market.

Particularly worth mentioning is Shenzhen, whose e-cigarette production accounts for about 90% of the global total, has a complete industrial chain and more than 500 e-cigarette companies.

Tsinghua University's Public Health and Technology Supervision Research Group recently released the "Public Health and Technology Supervision Research Report on the Regulation Status of the Electronic Cigarette Industry (2019)." Yan Fei, head of the research team and associate professor of the Department of Sociology at Tsinghua University, told reporters that China is currently the largest producer and exporter of e-cigarettes in the world, and most of the e-cigarettes consumed globally are produced by private enterprises in my country. Overall, my country's private e-cigarette enterprises have absolute competitive advantages in international trade.

However, Wang Haiyu, a researcher at the Center for Globalization Studies at the School of Social Sciences at Tsinghua University, also pointed out that e-cigarettes are currently facing a series of challenges such as insufficient basic research, prominent quality and safety issues, missing standards and weak supervision. How to effectively supervise the e-cigarette industry and promote the healthy, sustained and orderly development of the industry has become the focus of attention of society and the market.

On October 1, the newly revised "Regulations on Smoking Control in Shenzhen Special Economic Zone" came into effect, notably including e-cigarettes into the scope of tobacco control. Previously, the "Regulations on Smoking Control in Public Places of Hangzhou City" also clarified that smoking refers to the inhalation and exhalation of tobacco smoke or harmful e-cigarette aerosol, as well as the possession of lit tobacco products.

In the future, how this technological and fashion consumer product will face the test of government supervision has entered the consideration of global regulators.
 

The United States is the world's leading e-cigarette consumer market, but the vast majority of the vapor products it consumes are produced in China, which includes multiple reasons.

First, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has imposed very strict restrictions on electronic liquid fragrances in the United States。Although the U.S. government imposes a 25% tariff on e-cigarettes from China, U.S. companies still choose to build factories in China or commission the production of e-cigarettes, and then import finished products from China to meet the needs of the local market to maximize benefits.

The FDA stipulates that products produced after August 8, 2016 are prohibited from being sold without an FDA sales order. This means companies need to invest millions of dollars in each new product to gain approval for premarket tobacco applications (PMTA), making it rare for an independent manufacturer to risk huge costs. At the same time, no company will be willing to produce obsolete products before 2016.

Second, China has been mass-producing e-cigarettes and other steam equipment since 2003。Well-known China manufacturers such as Zhuoyi and Smoak have been engaged in production for ten years or more. China manufacturers understand the e-cigarette market better and all the required components are made in China. At the same time, China manufacturers have designers and engineers that are in short supply in the e-cigarette industry, and this infrastructure and talent team cannot be achieved overnight.

In summary, opening a new factory anywhere that mass-produces e-cigarette equipment is extremely expensive, and material and labor costs in the United States are much higher than in China。Gregory Conley, chairman of the American Electronic Cigarette Association, said that one of the few e-cigarette equipment manufacturers in the United States simply does not have the ability to increase production to meet the demand of the U.S. e-cigarette market. For example, Smoking Vapor opened a factory in China in 2015. The relevant person in charge of the company said that we cannot manufacture in the United States because of the lack of parts, parts supply chain and logistics issues, and the lack of specific manufacturing expertise in e-cigarettes in the United States. rdquo;

Data shows that among the top five small cigarette brands (e-cigarettes that only contain tobacco rods and cartridges)in the U.S. market, three are manufactured by China factories, and the top five big cigarettes (e-cigarettes) brands in sales are all produced by China factories. Take JUUL, the largest e-cigarette manufacturer in the United States, as an example. Its operating income in 2018 exceeded US$1 billion. The products it produces account for three-quarters of the e-cigarette market in the United States. Its e-cigarette equipment is also manufactured in Shenzhen, China.

Conley said that for the vast majority of American consumers, they would not choose e-cigarettes made in the United States, but would rather choose e-cigarettes made in China that impose tariffs. There is no doubt that there is not much room for choice at all. rdquo;
 

A notice issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and U.S. media reports show that a recent pulmonary epidemic related to e-cigarette smoking is breaking out in the United States. As of October 15, a total of 1479 cases have been recorded in the United States, covering 49 states, the Washington District of Colombia and the United States Virgin Islands. Only Alaska has not yet been affected by the epidemic.

At the same time, as of October 15, 33 people have died from illnesses due to e-cigarette smoking, covering 29 states, up from 18 less than two weeks ago. A key official at the CDC is not without concern, saying that the epidemic has shown no signs of a large-scale decline and the number of cases has not yet reached its peak.

As the number of deaths caused by e-cigarettes increases, e-cigarettes have triggered a public opinion storm in the United States, and the FDA has become the target of public opinion in the United States.。

In fact, as early as September 2008, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that e-cigarettes were not a reasonable means of quitting smoking and banned the use of slogans such as WHO believes e-cigarettes are safe in packaging and promotion. However, the FDA's regulation of e-cigarettes is relatively loose. Public opinion generally believes that the tragedy was caused by the FDA's inadequate supervision of e-cigarettes. Because the supervision of e-cigarettes did not reach the level of tobacco products, various e-cigarette products, brands or marketing methods have proliferated, resulting in a large number of young people smoking e-cigarettes.

As an e-cigarette giant, JUUL has been pushed to the forefront of public opinion and has become the target of attack by the U.S. government and many people. U.S. regulators believe there are elements in its early advertising marketing that attract teenagers. In September this year, the FDA warned JUUL not to promote e-cigarette products as a safer alternative than cigarettes in marketing activities, requiring the latter to make corrections within a time limit and give plans on how to comply with U.S. federal laws.

In August, a JUUL filing with government regulators showed that the company had raised nearly US$800 million through stock and bond issues to expand globally. The company's rapid growth has attracted the attention of U.S. regulators. It is reported that the U.S. Attorney General of Illinois and the Washington District of Colombia are examining the reasons why JUUL's best-selling e-cigarette devices are popular among underage teenagers. Among them, the Illinois Attorney General's investigation focuses on whether JUUL violated state consumer fraud laws and other laws by designing and selling its products to attract underage teenagers.

In addition, four other state attorneys general are also investigating or prosecuting JUUL, including Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts and North Carolina. In May, the North Carolina Attorney General filed a lawsuit against JUUL, asking the court to restrict the latter's sales and marketing in the state.

The discussion about whether e-cigarettes are safe for the human body is also heating up。Although a February report by PublicHealth England showed that e-cigarettes are less harmful to health than ordinary cigarettes and recommended that smokers should use e-cigarettes to help them quit smoking, U.S. officials, the media and relevant experts hold a completely different view.

Oregon health officials pointed out that most of the above-mentioned patients were originally very healthy, but their physical conditions suddenly deteriorated. They suspected that lung disease was related to the deceased's habit of smoking e-cigarettes during his lifetime. The Washington Post reported that patients purchased e-cigarettes containing marijuana, and their illness was related to the acetate vitamin E component in the e-cigarettes. David Thickett, a professor at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, also published a research report in the bimonthly medical journal "Thoracic", pointing out that e-cigarettes have disabled important immune cells in the body and warned that earlier statements that e-cigarettes are safe to the human body may be wrong.・“”

CDC said in its announcementMost of the above patients reported smoking e-cigarettes containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)。Surveys at the federal and state levels in the United States also found that THC-containing products are associated with most cases and are the chief culprit in this epidemic. The CDC also pointed out that some patients reported smoking e-cigarettes containing only nicotine, and many patients smoked both THC and nicotine-containing e-cigarettes, so nicotine-containing products may also be the cause of the epidemic.

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, also said after biopsies of 17 patients that the substance causing the lung disease may be a mixture of toxic chemical fumes rather than tar. In this regard, the CDC recommends that Americans not smoke THC-containing e-cigarettes, and that they should also refrain from smoking e-cigarettes containing nicotine.
 

Because e-cigarettes may cause great damage or even death to the human body, federal and local controls on the sales of e-cigarettes in the United States are tightening.

In June, the San Francisco City Supervisory Board approved a proposal to ban the sale and distribution of e-cigarettes in the city until the FDA completes its assessment of the public health impact. San Francisco has also become the first city in the United States to completely ban the sale of e-cigarettes. The San Francisco City Supervisory Board said that while the ban may not completely prevent teenagers from smoking e-cigarettes, it hopes it is a good start.

In mid-September, U.S. President Trump met with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and FDA directors to discuss the health threat posed by e-cigarettes to young people. ldquo; E-cigarettes have become a major problem in American society. They not only have (health) problems themselves, but also involve innocent children. We have to take very, very tough measures.& rdquo; Trump told reporters after the talks that he would call for a ban on all non-traditional tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes sold in the U.S. market.

Since then, U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar has also said that the FDA will soon issue a regulatory policy, planning to completely ban the sale of fruits, mints and other novel flavors of e-cigarette products that attract teenagers online and offline in the United States.

He mentioned thatFive million teenagers in the United States are already smoking e-cigarettes, an alarming trend。Data shows that in 2018, 20.8% of high school students and 4.9% of junior high school students in the United States used e-cigarettes, a year-on-year increase of 78% and 48%. Among them, 82% try e-cigarettes because they like novel flavors. This is also one of the main reasons why novel-flavored e-cigarettes have become the target of a ban on sales by the U.S. government.

At the state level, take New Hampshire in the United States as an example. After the state reported cases of lung disease related to e-cigarette smoking, Gov. Chris Sununu signed into law on September 26 a stricter e-cigarette regulation bill, particularly in prohibiting young people from smoking e-cigarettes. At the same time, the bill expands the definition of e-cigarettes.

Earlier, laws banning young people from smoking e-cigarettes defined e-cigarettes as any vapor product that provides a mixture of pure nicotine and propylene glycol, while the new law defines e-cigarettes as cigarette atomization or vaporization product equipment that contains ingredients including but not limited to nicotine or marijuana.

The regulatory law also stipulates that any equipment used for e-cigarette purposes, whether or not it contains e-cigarette liquid, cannot be sold to people under the age of 18. At the same time, under pressure from New Hampshire Democrats, the law stipulates that cigars, cigarettes and e-cigarettes in the state can only be sold to people aged 19 or over starting January next year, aiming to curb the possession of e-cigarettes by upperclassmen in middle schools and distributing them to lower-classmen.

Secondly, the new bill also imposes a new tax on e-cigarettes, which varies by product; a tax of 30 cents per milliliter is levied on sealed e-cigarette tubes and a tax of 8% of the selling price is levied on open cigarette tubes. The new rule was approved by Governor Sununu, but inevitably encountered opposition from street-facing shops and tobacco shops.

In addition, the bill also stipulates sales licenses for e-cigarettes, which is considered to be the regulation with the greatest impact on the e-cigarette industry. The bill requires e-cigarette sellers to obtain sales licenses similar to tobacco and alcohol products. To obtain a license, sellers must comply with a series of rules issued by the state's Liquor Commission that will be developed in the coming months.

Although as public opinion pressure increases,The FDA's supervision of e-cigarettes is tightening, but it does not blindly deny the existence of e-cigarettes。

As of now, the FDA has not officially allowed but has not completely banned e-cigarettes. As recently as April this year, the FDA approved Philip Morris to sell heated non-burn cigarettes IQOS in the United States. Authorized products include IQOS heating non-burning equipment and three categories of cigarette bombs: Marlboro, Marlboro Smooth Mint and Marlboro Fresh Mint.