ICYMI: “Trump FDA’s Chance To Crack Down On Chinese Black Market Harming Our Children”

In new op-ed for the Washington Examiner, Regulate Smarter Chairman Richard Burr praises recent FDA action to prioritize enforcement of illicit Chinese vapes flooding the U.S. market and targeting kids

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a new op-ed for the Washington Examiner, Richard Burr, chairman of the Coalition for Smarter Regulation of Nicotine (Regulate Smarter) and former U.S. Senator, praised the increased enforcement actions taken by the Trump Administration against the illicit nicotine product crisis, while urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to embrace a, “regulatory approach with harm reduction at its core.”

Sounding the alarm, “that that in our country today an estimated 85% of the U.S. e-cigarette market is illegal,” Burr adds that the market “is filled with bad actors ignoring FDA regulation altogether and using flavors freely in egregiously youth-oriented product designs more dangerous than anything FDA would or should authorize.”

“Lawmakers and regulators who care about protecting America’s youth cannot in good conscience support the broken status quo. The illicit market is fueling a widespread illicit market of distributors and vape shops unconcerned with what they are selling or to whom. The path forward is clear: better enforcement and more legal, regulated smoke-free choices,” adds Burr.

“If the prohibitionists have their way and there are no legal vape or pouch products on the market, consumers face two unappealing choices – buy illicit products or continue smoking cigarettes,” he concludes.

Last month, after FDA authorized four flavored electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), Regulate Smarter was outspoken that, “President Trump and Secretary Kennedy deserve tremendous credit for their leadership that has driven combustible smoking rates to new lows,” while also reiterating the need for both authorizations and enforcement to reverse the influx of illicit Chinese product.

Read the entire op-ed published in the Washington Examiner HERE.

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