NEWS
NEWS
US Election : Libertarian Party Advocates Your Right to Vape
uring his 2016 Presidential election campaign , the Libertarian party presidential candidate , Gary Johnson , reached out to e-cigarette users by endorsing vaping . The 63-year-old openly opposed the Food and Drug Administration ’ s ( FDA ) “ excessive ” regulations on the industry , saying vaping should be a free-market innovation and entrepreneurship should be encouraged to help smokers quit . In the US , e-cigarettes are currently regulated by the FDA as recreational products , after the Congress gave the FDA jurisdiction over those products , enacting The Tobacco Control Act on June 22 , 2009 . The act authorises agencies to regulate the manufacturing , distribution and marketing of tobacco products . Prior to this rule , Mitchell Zeller , J . D , director of the FDA ’ s Center for Tobacco Products explains : “ These products could be sold without any review of their ingredients , how they were made , and their potential dangers . “ Under this new rule , we ’ re taking steps to protect Americans from the dangers of tobacco products , ensure these tobacco products have health warnings , and restrict sales to minors .” Currently , the vaping industry faces harsh regulations recently introduced by the FDA , and critics say these could put around 12,000 vaping stores at risk and potentially out of business .
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Johnson was the first presidential nominee to address the subject of vaping . He has also campaigned on several other issues including wasteful spending , taxes , foreign policy , civil liberties , immigration , abortion , religious freedom and education . The former Governor of New Mexico was the only vocal pro-vape candidate in the elections .
“ Under this new rule , we ’ re taking steps to protect Americans from the dangers of tobacco products , ensure these tobacco products have health warnings , and restrict sales to minors .”
Johnson campaign ’ s national director Jim Wallace released an official statement on supporting vaping : “ In the first presidential debate , voters listened to two candidates dance around the American economy . What you ’ ll never hear from those candidates is how the economy is being killed by excessive regulation . Vaping , a new industry offering products as a healthier alternative to smoking , is about to be regulated out of existence . That doesn ’ t make any sense . “ The vaping industry currently counts about nine million customers , producing about $ 4 billion a year in annual sales . With the excessive regulations recently introduced by the FDA , it ’ s estimated that as many as 12,000 vaping shops will be put out of business . As Gov . Gary Johnson has said , the free market and entrepreneurial spirit should be encouraged , not destroyed . “ Nowhere is this more obvious than the vaping industry .” Johnson has certainly raised the bar , attracting attention from the vaping community , offering them a glimmer of hope with his stance on the matter . However while he may have gained a lot of support amongst vapers he was not able to make a big impact with the majority of voters who were focused on the big two candidates - Clinton and Trump . A national poll carried out by the Johnson / Weld Campaign a month before the election , revealed that 16.7 % registered voters had never heard of Johnson . Other major party candidates have not given priority to the topic of vaping and are yet to respond with their own statements about the issue . But , for now vapers as always continue to hope for a favourable outcome in congress but at the same time prepare for the worst .