FDA Starts Issuing Marketing Denial Orders
Roughly one year after the PMTA deadline, the FDA has finished reviewing many of the PMTAs submitted. A current press release from the FDA highlights their progress, which has resulted in MDOs (Marketing Denial Orders) for over 946,000 products.
Ruthless Starts the Review Phase
On August 16th, Ruthless Vapor has now moved onto the scientific review phase of the PMTA process!
Philip Morris Plans to Stop Selling Cigarettes in UK
Without context, the claim that Philip Morris was going to stop selling cigarettes in the UK within ten years would sound ridiculous. The claim alone surprised many - it was hard to believe that a cigarette company would willingly stop selling cigarettes. However, with a little more context, it is not surprising at all.
Extreme Tobacco Restrictions in Brookline, MA
Brookline, Massachusetts - a town that has prided itself on being early to adopt tobacco and electronic cigarette restrictions, has voted to implement a relatively untested form of tobacco restriction called the Tobacco-Free Generation Law.
Germany's New Tobacco Tax Laws
Germany, one of the better countries to vape in, has passed the Tobacco Duty Modernization Act, which will add an additional tax to e-liquids. The tax begins at 0.16 euros per milliliter starting July 1, 2022 and increases until it reaches 0.32 euros per milliliter on January 1, 2026.
Black Teens Subject to Police Violence Over Vaping
A few days ago, videos concerning Black teens vaping on the Maryland Beach City Boardwalk went viral. People were understandably upset when they saw videos featuring the Boardwalk’s cops removing the vaping teens with an excessive amount of force. The vapers were Black teenagers who were attacked, kneed in the stomach, and tied before being removed and arrested.
SBA requests additional year for PMTA related sales
A section of the SBA (U.S. Small Business Administration) has sent a letter to the FDA requesting that they delay enforcement on products that have submitted PMTA forms for another year.
FDA Finally Publishes Submitted PMTA List
The FDA promised long ago that it would provide a list of products that were allowed to be sold during the PMTA’s one year grace period. After many delays, the list has been released, and it is huge.
PMTA Grace Period Not Extended
Some small vape manufacturers are being contacted by the FDA stating that they have an additional year to sell their products. After some confusion, the FDA has clarified that there will be no additional extension. Rather, they are attempting to confirm acceptance of PMTA applications before September 9th, 2021 with an outdated script.
Deadline for decisions on menthol and nicotine limit approaches
April 29th is the deadline for the FDA to respond to a citizens’ petition to ban menthol cigarettes and state whether or not they intend to go through with such a policy.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Biden administration is also considering another policy that attempts to regulate cigarettes - a limit on the amount of nicotine in cigarettes. Cigarettes would only be allowed to contain non-addictive levels of nicotine.
Marvel Publishes Anti-Vape Comic
After many vape companies have stopped using cartoonish characters for fear of FDA retaliation, the FDA has decided to return vaping products to cartoons themselves. Marvel has created a new series of videos designed to be anti-vaping propaganda.
Cambodia Bans Vapes Twice
One of the difficulties in regulating vaping has been the constantly evolving state of the market. Not only has the FDA had issues defining problematic vapes, other countries have as well. This has led to a second ban on vaping products in Cambodia. However, this ban includes HTPs (Heated Tobacco Products), which means IQOS and similar devices would be banned in Cambodia.
