Vaping, as we know it, is one of the most successful and beneficial smoking cessation aid, that helps millions of people quit smoking every year. It reduces harm and financial burden and helps people pull themselves out of their former lifestyles, which only deteriorates their health. Despite its huge success, vaping came under a lot of criticism from a lot of people. Some claimed, the vaping industry was marketing its products toward children, while others claimed it would end up developing more severe diseases in the body than cigarettes. Vapes and e-liquids have been highly scrutinized and tested, and so far, the results show no harmful toxins and chemicals present in e-liquids. On the slip side, there are 5000 known toxins and carcinogens that get released upon the combustion of tobacco when you light up a cigarette. 

Vape Market in The US:

The impact of all the disinformation and misreporting on vaping was mostly absorbed by the US vape market. The EVALI-related false information that was propagated by most of the media sources across the US, caused a lot of damage to the US vape industry, when it wasn’t responsible for it, in the first place. The CDC website now clearly says EVALI is caused by vitamin e oil used in illicit THC vapes and not regular vape e-liquids. There is not one vape e-liquid manufacturer or vendor who adds oils of any sort to their e-liquid. This was also followed by the roar of claims that came from parents and politicians, that the vape industry was marketing vaping products to underage kids when it was never the case.

All of this resulted in legislation after legislation, where vape products started being heavily taxed even more than tobacco. A few US states banned flavored vapes and e-liquids, while others banned the sale of online vapes. Still, others banned the sale of flavored pods and Juul. The FDA also proposed a new PMTA process, that put all the producers and vendors of vape products under the law, and made it imperative for them to get authorization for each product before it can be sold in the US market. On top of that, the US government also passed a bill that brought all synthetic nicotine products under the same laws as those applied to nicotine products. Hence PMTA is also applied to all synthetic nicotine products. 

A few other initiatives taken by the US government for vaping and synthetic nicotine products include

-       Ban on USPS from shipping any vaping or synthetic nicotine product under the PACT act

-       Ban on all pod flavors except tobacco and in some cases mint

-       Approval of only those e-liquid products owned by big tobacco brands

-       Heavy taxes on vaping products

Vape Market in The UK:

The government of UK has been on the forefront to promote vaping products among smokers in order to promote a healthier lifestyle. The NHS also stated that Vaping is 95% safer than smoking cigarettes. However, vaping in the UK doesn’t function without any regulation. The EU tobacco products directive, in 2016, laid some basic ground rules on the manufacturing, and sale of e-cigarettes. But the application and implication of these rules differ from country to country in the EU.  In general, the regulations imposed by EU tobacco products directive include

-       Maximum nicotine strength - 20mg/ml (2%)

-       Maximum cartridge or tank size - 2ml

-       Maximum e-liquid bottle size - 10ml

So Is the Vaping Industry On the Brink of Collapse?

When we consider the use of vaping, the benefits always outweigh the cost. However, the growing criticism and backlash have caused a lot of damage to the vape industry. The ban on Juul is another incident, that sprung forth because of the misinformation and miscalculations that were circulated about vaping. However, despite the negative vaping discourse, the vape industry has also seen some dramatic growth and goodwill within the last few years. The discourse and questions, sometimes, are also valid and come from a place of concern, but the industry itself is predicted to expand and grow in the upcoming years.

The market for e-cigarettes in the UK is forecasted to reach more than 6.5 billion dollars by 2024 as per P & S intelligence, with a compound annual growth rate of around 19.6 %. Whereas the global e-cigarette market is expected to reach over 45 billion dollars around the same time. This estimate doesn’t hint at the demise of the e-cigarette industry, but at its growth and expansion along with fluctuations and difficulties along the way. To sum up, while the industry may be witnessing sanctions and regulations, that are sometimes unreasonable, the industry itself is not on the brink of collapse. If anything, we all know that vaping is not an aesthetic or subculture, but it’s a healthy and beneficial tool to pave the way for a better, smoke-free lifestyle.