Last October, former U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to “save vaping” after a private meeting with an e-cigarette industry lobbyist. The pledge stands in stark contrast to actions under his administration, which implemented several regulations on nicotine products, including vaping.
Tevi Troy, author of the book The Power and the Money and a former policy appointee at the Department of Health and Human Services under the George W. Bush administration, he also served as vice president of popular vaping company Juul Labs from 2018 to 2020. He said the Trump administration worked with the vaping industry to raise the legal age for purchasing e-cigarettes, responding to growing demand from the industry.
Troy says the main goal of these products is to offer adult smokers a less harmful alternative to traditional cigarettes, which, let's remember, cause hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. However, the Trump administration had also taken restrictive measures by limiting the sale of certain vaping flavors, a decision that was not well received by all players in the sector.
The former Juul vice president points out that the debate and pressure around vaping did not only come from the industry, but also from public interest groups. Between 2018 and 2019, a certain “panic” related to vaping had emerged in the United States, although this frenzy seems to have calmed down in recent years.
At the same time, the number of young e-cigarette users has declined significantly since 2019, an encouraging sign according to some. However, Troy says some regulations may have been too harsh, hurting adult smokers who were looking to use the products as a way to transition away from traditional smoking.
Between 2018 and 2020, when he represented Juul, the industry was concerned that over-regulation could undermine access to vaping products for adult consumers seeking an alternative to tobacco. Today, the industry and regulators are still trying to find a balance in the face of these new products, while regulations continue to evolve.
