Op-Ed: The FDA (Finally) Embraces Harm Reduction for Smokers
Lawmakers and Physicians Should Applaud It
In a recent op-ed published by the Washington Examiner, CUSP Senior Advisor Dr. Michael Burgess addresses the FDA's recent approval of flavored vapes and nicotine pouches to help adult smokers by offering lower risk alternatives.
Dr. Burgess, who practiced medicine for 30 years and served in Congress for 11-terms with a focus on health policy, shares with readers his longstanding concerns with the FDA having responsibility for tobacco regulation, a concern he has seen play out with agency hampering—not fostering—access to reduced risk alternatives to cigarettes.
“And yet, FDA mismanagement led to a result that defies both common sense and good public health policy. For years, the FDA rejected 99% of all vapor product applications) and thereby ceded the market to illicit sellers (now accounting for 70-80% of the total vapor sales). No one knows the content of illicit vapes, and many are marketed to kids. These were all problems of the FDA’s own making,” wrote Burgess.
However, the FDA’s recent approval of flavored vapes and nicotine pouches, coupled with enforcement of illegal products, signals an important change because effective harm reduction requires products adult smokers are willing to use.
“The FDA now embraces the “historic” (their word) opportunity to reduce smoking offered by reduced-risk nicotine products such as vapes and nicotine pouches. At the same time, the agency has bolstered enforcement against the out-of-control illicit vape market driven by unregulated Chinese manufacturers and the outlaw smoke shops that sell these products.”
Dr. Burgess recognizes the importance of keeping nicotine products out of the hands of America’s youth, and highlights effective efforts to help protect them, writing
“We can work to better protect the small remaining percentage still at risk by ensuring responsible retailers are trained to scan IDs and educating the retail workforce through programs like WeCard. We must also recognize how underage users obtain these products. Social sourcing remains the primary pathway, which means adults have a responsibility too: never purchase adult-only nicotine products for someone underage.”“As a licensed physician, and a former lawmaker, I support the FDA’s action to leverage the “historic” opportunity reduced risk products offer to meaningfully reduce the health burden of smoking for the benefit of the 28 million adults who currently smoke cigarettes and encourage others to do so as well,” Burgess concludes.