US: New Bill Would Would Limit Nicotine Levels In E-Cigarettes

Earlier this week, US Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi announced a legislation which would put a cap on the level of nicotine in vaping products.

According to an announcement by Krishnamoorthi’s office, the proposed bill would restrict nicotine content to over 20 milligrams per milliliter with the aim of making the products “significantly less addictive and appealing to youth”.

“As a concerned parent, I am committed to preventing a new generation of nicotine addicts,” said Krishnamoorthi, who has been at the helm of a congressional investigation into youth vaping. “Capping the concentration of nicotine in e-cigarettes is integral to ending the youth vaping epidemic by making these products less addictive, less appealing to youth, and less harmful to public health. After all, while flavors hook kids, it’s nicotine that nets them and pulls them on the boat into a lifelong vaping habit and addiction.”

Meanwhile, across the EU, where such a regulation has already been set in place by the local Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) public health experts have argued that the measure has been counterproductive to public health.

In fact, health experts in the UK are concerned, as the rapid growth in the numbers of people switching from smoking to vaping has dropped significantly. Despite the fact that Public Health England has openly endorsed the safer alternatives as smoking cessation tools, the number of smokers switching per year has dropped from 800,000 to 100,000.

“The rapid growth in e-cigarette use has come to an end while over a third of smokers have still never tried e-cigarettes, saying the main reasons are concerns about the safety and addictiveness of e-cigarettes. It’s very important smokers realise that vaping is much, much less harmful than smoking,” said ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) in a 2017 press release.