UPDATE (5/24/2018): Naked 100, which previously partnered with the AVA for VapesGiving, has issued a challenge to manufacturers and distributors in the vape industry. Naked will match donations from manufacturers and distributors up to a total of $50,000! To make sure your donation is counted, please post on this Facebook post (or email it to us using our Contact page).
This is an important call to action for all who have an interest in seeing vaping products remain a viable alternative to combustible cigarettes.
The future of vaping is in danger, and we need your help to #FUNDtheSUIT and ensure that millions of smokers continue to have access to vaping devices that can change — and save — their lives. The ongoing Nicopure and Right to be Smoke-Free vs. FDA suit, currently on appeal in federal court, is critical to the survival of vaping as we know it.
Under the FDA’s 2016 “deeming rule”, vaping products are considered “tobacco products” and subject to extremely strict regulations. The FDA’s rule imposes extremely harsh burdens on vaping product manufacturers that were never applied to cigarette companies. These rules not only threaten innovation in the market, but the continued existence of products that are freely available on the market today.
The FDA itself estimates that up to 97% of vaping manufacturers could be wiped out by the costs of the long and extremely expensive retroactive premarket approval process. Any vaping product on the market — devices, liquids, tanks, coils — that has not gone through this process will be prohibited from being sold. This puts large, multibillion dollar tobacco companies in place to take over the market.
It gets worse. Advertising and marketing rules for tobacco products are extremely strict, and the FDA is preventing vaping device manufacturers from making even making objectively truthful statements like “tar-free” or “no ash.” This keeps smokers from understanding the potential benefits of vaping. Free samples, even for trying different flavors and nicotine levels, are also prohibited, so age-verified adults looking to switch can’t easily find the product that best meets their needs. These rules keep smokers smoking, and that keeps them in danger from the many well-documented health risks of combustible tobacco.
The FDA has the power to tailor regulation to the unique needs of the vaping industry and the many benefits its products offer smokers. That it has chosen not to do so will have devastating consequences for both public health and the thriving independent market that has grown around vaping. It is no exaggeration to say that lives are in danger.
Nicopure and Right to be Smoke-Free vs. FDA challenges the agency’s heavy-handed choices and demands that the FDA regulate responsibly. This fight is so important that the AVA previously helped raise nearly $50,000 for the lawsuit through the Right to Vape Campaign in 2016. Now, we need your help.
Will you get involved?
Join the AVA, the Right to the Smoke-Free Coalition, and stakeholders nationwide by contributing to this important effort on GoFundMe and spreading the word about the battle for vaping. We’re counting on you.
Consumer donations are absolutely welcome. However, as an organization we believe that it is the industry that should stand up to fund important efforts like this.
