The FDA Has Granted PMTAs to Several Tobacco Flavoured Vape Products

While public health advocates are frustrated as most PMTAs remain pending despite a September deadline set by the US District Court in Maryland, several anti-tobacco groups keep pressuring the agency to flat out deny applications for flavoured vaping products.

With regards to the newly approved Logic Technology products, the FDA said that given that they are just tobacco flavoured, they may be less appealing to teens and could probably be of benefit to adult smokers seeking an alternative to traditional cigarettes. The agency added that their smoking cessation benefits to adults likely outweigh the risks to young people.

Similarly, fifteen past Presidents of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) have recently published an article highlighting the importance of weighing the benefits of e-cigarettes against their risks, when debating and considering vape regulations.

Titled, ‘Balancing Consideration of the Risks and Benefits of E-Cigarettes,’ the article reviewed the health risks of vaping, in comparison to benefits related to smoking cessation, and addressed the need to balance these two factors when considering vape regulations.

The authors point out that e-cigarettes would have a more positive impact if the health community recognized their benefits. “While evidence suggests that vaping is currently increasing smoking cessation, the impact could be much larger if the public health community paid serious attention to vaping’s potential to help adult smokers, smokers received accurate information about the relative risks of vaping and smoking, and policies were designed with the potential effects on smokers in mind. That is not happening.”

Discussing the paper, Executive Coordinator of the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) Nancy Loucas, said that the article highlights the absurdity of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) stance. “One American Journal of Public Health article is proving to be a watershed moment in the vape debate. It has singularly pushed the World Health Organisation to the compete outer when it comes to considered international opinion and research,” she said.