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The majority of American vapers were unaware of the new deeming regulations for e-cigarettes from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) until they were published last month – and many may remain so, a new survey seems to imply.
A poll of 300 people undertaken by V2, an American e-cigarette company, found that only 9% had heard about the regulations before the FDA released the final version on 5th May.
A further 18% then heard about them on that date, and 30% subsequently, leaving around 44% who were not aware of the regulations at all before being contacted for the survey.
“The industry missed a giant opportunity to inform and inspire vapers to take action ahead of these regulations,” said Adam Kustin, vice-president of marketing for V2. “It’s unfortunate that the industry and its customers will only be able to coalesce around this issue after the barn door closed.”
However, despite Kustin’s dim view of the FDA rules, the survey also found that 74% of the 300 interviewed thought regulation of e-cigarettes was a good idea – although nearly two thirds of those surveyed did acknowledge it would affect their vaping habits if the cost of regulatory compliance drives up retail prices for e-cigarettes.
If that happened, 8% said they would switch back to exclusively using conventional tobacco products, 18% said they would increase their use of conventional tobacco while vaping less, and 34% said they would not increase their tobacco use but would still vape less.
And if the most dire predictions of sections of the e-cigarette industry were to come true and regulation were to drive e-cigs off the market entirely, nearly half (49%) of those surveyed said they would move back to tobacco products. A further 17% said they would move to nicotine replacement products like patches, mints or gum, while 28% said they would stop consuming any nicotine product.
What This Means: It’s hard to draw a conclusive opinion on the state of American vaping from a survey of 300 people, though it is worrying that so many did not know about the regulations – fewer than one in ten had heard of them before they were published. A large number no doubt remain ignorant, even given that the 44% who V2 found were unaware might have diminished.
On the whole, however, vapers seem less perturbed than the industry by the deeming rule.
– Freddie Dawson ECigIntelligence staff
Photo: Jamie
