Having trouble viewing this email? View it in your web browser

Tips for writing your comment:

• Tell Your Story! How long did you smoke and how long have you been smoke-free? Also, if you tried to quit in the past, how many attempts did you make and what products did you use?
• What flavors did you use and is variety important to you?
• Explain what a flavor ban will mean for you. Will your favorite shop be forced to close? Will you shop out of state, online, or turn to an underground seller?
• Note any changes in your health. Most people report recovering their sense of taste and smell, but others are experiencing more significant improvements. Have you experienced positive changes to your health since switching to vaping?

You can also send your comment by mail to:
Department of Health and Human Services
Population Health and Community Services
MDHHS - Bureau of Legal Affairs
333. S. Grand Avenue, 5th Floor
Lansing, MI 48909

The flavor ban proposed by MDHHS goes well beyond the standard established by the TCA by indiscriminately banning flavored products whether they have a marketing order or not. While states are well within their rights to adopt laws that are stricter than FDA regulations, state legislatures and departments of health are not equipped to perform the type of scientific review that might support such restrictions. As a case in point, the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) has spent the past several years hiring hundreds of new employees just to meet the anticipated needs of the agency as it reviews potentially thousands of PMTAs.

By way of background, all tobacco and non-therapeutic nicotine products that were not on the market in the U.S. before February 15, 2007 must receive market authorization from the FDA. Manufacturers of new, safer nicotine products must submit a premarket tobacco application (PMTA). If the FDA accepts their application, a manufacturer has up to one year to continue selling their products. This is one of many steps toward receiving a marketing order.

The Tobacco Control Act established the PMTA process. The law also grants FDA the discretion to allow new products on the market while applications are being reviewed. This is a provisional authorization subject to revocation at any time. Not only is this standard enshrined in US law, but it was recently upheld in federal court.