It seems vaping is not as well embraced in the United States as it is in the UK. At the weekend, the FDA announced some big changes. The new rules will come into play from August and will impose stricter control on the use of e-cigarettes and liquids.
Health authorities in Britain have a very different attitude when it comes to e-cigarettes and vaping. This became apparent at the end of last year when an e-cigarette was licensed for distributed as an anti-smoking medication. It’s hard to say for sure, but his decision could be related to a report published by Health England. It was published around the same time and states e-cigarettes are 95% less damaging to the health than normal cigarettes.
Even the prime minister, David Cameron, admits he’s a fan of vaping and an article published in The Telegraph quotes Cameron as saying e-cigarettes are a “legitimate” aid to help people to stop smoking.
Cameron praised vaping during Prime Minister’s Question Time.
“We should look at the report from Public Health England.”, said Cameron. “It is promising the see that overall, one million people are estimated to have used e-cigarettes to help them quit or have replaced smoking with e-cigarettes completely.”
Continuing to affirm his support for e-cigarettes, Cameron said, “I think we should be making clear that this is a legitimate path for many people to improve their health and the health of the nation.”
So what has the American FDA got against vaping? Comments made by FDA tobacco czar Mitch Zeller suggest it may be the fact that the amount of vaping American high school students increased 900% in just four years (2011-2015). In an interview with Vox, Zeller calls it a “real problem”, but it’s a problem that Britain does not have because vaping is not particularly popular with teenagers.