Vapers, business owners and advocates came together over the weekend to call on President Trump to reform the PMTA process or extend the September 9 deadline.
Protesters at the United Vapers Alliance (UVA) rally held ‘We Vape, We Vote’ placards to express the fact that small, under-threat businesses have the power to change outcome of the upcoming election.
The UVA believes that 14,000 small businesses are ‘in jeopardy of vanishing overnight’.
As it stands, businesses have until September 9 to submit an application to the FDA for any e-liquid or hardware to be sold legally in the States.
The PMTA process will cost companies hundreds of thousands of dollars in testing and legal fees.
Dimitris Agrafiotis, executive director of the Tennessee Smoke-Free Association (TSFA), said:
“If President Trump does not deliver on real reform at FDA, he is not only risking the destruction of an American industry, but he will be also be creating a situation where millions of adult ex-smokers could return to deadly combustible cigarettes.
“HHS Secretary Alex Azar has pledged PMTA reform, but he failed to deliver.
“Now, it is up to President Trump to stop the FDA from destroying 99% of the industry and leaving 160,000 Americans unemployed in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
More than 20 former smokers provided powerful testimony about how quitting smoking with e-cigarettes had changed their lives.
Some detailed how switching to vaping had also had a hugely positive impact on the lives of their friends and families.
TSFA’s Agrafiotis was also joined by industry experts and leaders, including American Vaping Association (AVA) president, Gregory Conley.
Source: CISION
Header Image: UVA
