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Synthetic nicotine has received the attention of state and federal lawmakers in the past, but it has never received mainstream attention in the past few weeks. Although the rate of e-cigarette smoking among young people has declined, it has quickly become the next target for policymakers.
On November 16, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein launched an investigation into Puff Bar. Puff Bar is a disposable e-cigarette manufacturer that recently switched to synthetic nicotine. It seems to have surpassed Juul to become a teenager. The most popular electronic cigarette. On the same day, nine Democratic senators including Elizabeth Warren (Democrat of Massachusetts), Richard Blumenthal (Democrat of Connecticut) and Amy Klobuchar (Democrat of Minnesota) wrote to FDA Acting Commissioner Janet Woodcock, "expressed great concern about the public health challenges posed by synthetic nicotine products, including their role in prolonging the prevalence of e-cigarettes among teenagers."
"We are writing to urge your institution to take immediate action to ensure that these products will not take advantage of the power granted by Congress through the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) to regulate synthetic nicotine products as drugs to ensure that these products will not evade Regulation," they said. "We are also writing to ask what additional powers or resources will help the FDA regulate synthetic nicotine as a tobacco product."
The developments-and the potential panic-should not be so shocking.
A few days later, CBS morning show host Tony Dokoupil (Tony Dokoupil) and Patrick Beltran (Patrick Beltran) and Nick Minas (Nick Minas) sat down, these two mysterious 27 The year-old Lamborghini driver claims to be the co-owner and co-CEO of Puff Bar. (As they explained to Dokoupil, they are no longer lurking in the shadows.)
The developments-and the potential panic-should not be so shocking. As they said, articles have been hanging on the wall: Many small and medium-sized manufacturers have failed to obtain authorization for their tobacco-derived flavored nicotine products through the US Food and Drug Administration's Pre-Market Tobacco Product Application (PMTA) process. It belongs to the jurisdiction of FDA. Some people have publicly stated that they will switch to synthetic nicotine made in the laboratory-technically, this may not be possible. (Through the PMTA pathway, companies must prove that their e-cigarettes are “fit to protect public health”—in essence, this means they must prove that their products will help adult smokers transition to safer alternatives without introducing new A generation of nicotine.)
Because the FDA, which was granted the power to regulate tobacco in 2009, defines "tobacco product" as anything "made or derived from tobacco", some people in the e-cigarette industry believe that synthetic nicotine is almost impossible to distinguish chemically from conventional products. Come. Seed as a loophole. Currently, bypassing this regulatory gap allows manufacturers to continue selling flavors. Of course, if the FDA manages to find a way to regulate it as a drug, or if a bill of Congress redefines “tobacco products” to include synthetic nicotine—both options, senators such as Warren and Blumenthal are both Think this is a gap, then the gap will be narrowed. Is actively encouraging.
Earlier this month, on November 8th, on behalf of Raja Krishnamoorthi (Illinois Democrat), Chairman of the Economic and Consumer Policy Subcommittee, and a common enemy of tobacco harm reduction supporters, it can be said to make things go smoothly: He sent letters of inquiry and Next Generation Labs to two Puff Bars, perhaps the largest producer of synthetic nicotine in the United States. He asked for more information about the business practices of these companies and how they use, buy or manufacture synthetic nicotine.
It is easy to describe this situation as self-inflicted.
For those who see that the continued supply of non-tobacco-flavored vapes that most adults prefer is critical to reducing harm, there is an image issue here. Just like Juul uses pod-based devices, "Puff Bar" has been transformed into a generic term for disposables, and is now synthetic nicotine. (For ordinary consumers, it is difficult to distinguish a counterfeit Puff Bar from the genuine one.) And the new face of Puff Bar—a pair of millennials who show off their wealth on social media—is not helpful in public relations. However, for the short-sighted attorney generals and senators, they are convenient scapegoats. They understand how easy it is to find manufacturers in China and flood the American market.
However, in a predictable alert cycle—the so-called “epidemic” of e-cigarettes among teenagers, the outbreak of the “EVALI” lung disease, and claims that e-cigarettes have exacerbated COVID—it is easy to describe this situation. Self-inflicted. The FDA's lengthy bureaucracy, the spice ban that appeared in city council meetings, and now—perhaps—the federal tax may make e-cigarette products more expensive than cigarettes, at least driving a surge in synthesis, if not directly.
Synthetic nicotine has come to the center stage because science and tobacco policy—and of course policies that should be dedicated to helping smokers quit successfully—have been out of date for a long time.
Photographed by Gage Skidmore via Flickr/Creative Commons 2.0
Alex is a contributing writer for Filter. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor at VICE, and has published articles in the New York Times Magazine, Columbia News Review, The Nation, and The Daily Beast. He was also a freelance editorial consultant for the Smokeless World Foundation; the Impact of Operating Filter Foundation has received funding from the Smokeless World Foundation. Alex currently lives in Los Angeles.
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