One in a while, we get the ConWeb writer who is determined to defend vaping (i.e. Hans Bader). This time, it’s Jared Whitley, who frets in a July 28 Newsmax column:
Unfortunately, agencies within Trump’s purview are taking this elimination mindset a step too far and nearing the eradication of a vital U.S. industry.
Vaping as we know it in America may soon cease to exist thanks to officials at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP),
Officials at the border, under the orders of the FDA, are actively refusing entry of vapor product shipments attempting to enter the U.S.
This halt on the supply chain endangers the lives of millions of Americans who depend on flavored vaping products to quit smoking harmful cigarettes.
It also puts a multi-billion dollar U.S. industry, the tens of thousands of jobs it supports, and the hardworking small business owners running shops that sell these products at risk.
When President Trump called for tighter borders, this is not what he meant.
In fact, vaping can be just as dangerous as smoking, and is not a recommended way to quit smoking. Still, Whitley continued to fret:
President Trump has long been a champion for flavored vaping.
He saved the industry in 2019 by doing away with an all-out ban and instead enacting a common sense Executive Order raising the age to buy flavored nicotine products to 21.
When he promised to save it again last year, he knew he’d be inheriting a Biden-era campaign to destroy the industry using China as a scapegoat for bureaucratic loyalties.
The idea that illicit Chinese vapes must be stopped from entering our country intentionally neglects the fact that all vapes are from China.
Some vapes from China are in fact illicit.
These are the ones that have not submitted the pre-market Tobacco Product Applications (PMTA) required by the FDA and target children with nefarious tactics.
It’s deplorable that leaders within his own administration are continuing to use this China narrative as a motive for their actions, despite President Trump’s clearly stated intentions to protect the industry.
[…]The demise of a multi-billion-dollar industry that millions of Americans depend on is avoidable. Don’t let your legacy be one of government overreach and economic failure.
Join President Trump on the right side of history and fight for the flavored vaping industry.
Whitley didn’t explain why a “multi-billion-dollar industry” deserves to live if it only benefits the Chinese and harms those who use it.
Whitley’s column was problematic enough that Newsmax stuck an editor’s note at the top of it stating that “The following opinion column does not constitute an endorsement of any product or service; nor is it to be construed as medical advice, on the part of Newsmax.”