A leading advocate for the e-cigarette industry told Fox News Digital that Democratic positions on cracking down on e-cigarette and nicotine pouch use are counterproductive because many Americans across the country are single-issue voters on this issue. He said it was possible.
Tony Aboud, executive director of the Vapor Technology Association, told Fox News Digital that the Biden administration has “made it clear” that “we have no intention of bringing less harmful nicotine products to market.”
“I don't know how to explain it other than to say it's a special interest group in this country that's often funded by people like Mike Bloomberg who have made it clear that they want to take flavored e-cigarettes off the market.” said Aboud. Said. “That's what's at stake here, it's an ideological battle. It has nothing to do with science, and it certainly has nothing to do with what the FDA is legally required to do.”
Aboud's trade association represents independent e-cigarette industry companies across the supply distribution chain, from manufacturers to mom-and-pop retailers to consumers.
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Tony Aboud speaks to Fox News Digital about US e-cigarette regulations (Getty Images)
“These consumers are the ones who are using the various flavored e-cig products available to help them quit smoking, because this is the first thing that has helped them. Because for a lot of smokers who've tried it, this is the first time.'' I think that's what really contributed to their success and that's one of the reasons why this product is so important to people. . In everything we do, we must not forget that we are talking about products such as: It has changed people's lives. ”
Democrats across the country, from Sen. Chuck Schumer to vice presidential candidate Tim Walz. Supported heavy taxes on Zyn In Minnesota, people are rising up against flavored e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches, which Aboud said could motivate voters in the next election.
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Democrats across the country are pushing for a federal crackdown on nicotine pouches. (Fox News)
“So we looked at this issue back in 2019 and we looked at it again this year, and the numbers are very clear: Voters who vape may be single-issue voters. Because, as I said at the beginning, this is a very important product,'' Aboud told FOX News Digital. “And the idea that the government is trying to take away their freedom to vape, their freedom to choose what to use or not to use, has a huge impact on them.”
“The same is true for small business owners. They start businesses that support their families, and that creates jobs. Tens of thousands of jobs in various states, and more than 100,000 jobs nationwide. “Jobs are being created,” he continued. “This is a real industry with real people, and the calls, primarily from Democrats, to take these products out of the market are calls to shut down these small businesses. In 2019, we will “President Trump did the right thing by fighting hard for small businesses,” he said. , we're not going to ban flavors to address the youth vaping epidemic we had back then, but the rate of youth vaping is now 71% lower than it was then. That's when the law changed. ”
Aboud told Fox News Digital that voters concerned about easy access to alternatives to cigarettes would be more likely to support former President Trump.
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Various e-cigarettes and nicotine products photographed at Sultan's Smoke in Arvada, Colorado on May 21, 2024. (Reuters/Kevin Mohat/File Photo)
“I think voters really just have a choice, right?” Aboud said. “They have supported the freedom to vape in the past, championed small businesses, and ensured that there are safer, lower nicotine alternatives to what they have traditionally smoked.” For the last three and a half years, the administration has done everything in its power to remove these products from the market, while at the same time, as I mentioned, it has approved hundreds of new cigarettes. . ”
“We know where President Trump was in 2019, and when you think about the common sense approach he took, he changed everything in this country as it relates to youth vaping. So we're hopeful that that thinking will continue and that there will be a continuation of the common thinking that the sense regulation will replace this mess that the current FDA administration has created. . ”
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A woman buys a Juul refill at a smoke shop in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
“A majority of voters in swing states agree that e-cigarette products and flavored e-cigarette products should not be banned, and that the FDA should instead focus on harm reduction and do everything in its power to fill the market. We're already seeing in our data that they agree with that.''If you look at Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, the majorities I'm talking about are 60%, 59%, 58%. What that tells us is that Americans are smart and voters are smart. They know that the government is acting in ways that are not in their interest. ”
Aboud also noted that crackdowns on smoking alternatives often hit minority communities the hardest.
“The people who smoke and suffer from smoking-related illnesses and deaths are primarily those in low-income areas,” Aboud said. “People in today's low-income communities are already being hit hard by rising food and housing costs.”
“So when politicians like Governor Walz impose a 95% tax, it's a regressive tax, a regressive tax on people who need relief,” Aboud said. “In this case, he is making it more difficult and more expensive to use the safest and safest form of nicotine available on the market.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Harris-Waltz's campaign for comment, but did not receive a response.
