Robert F. Bukaty / AP
In this Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2019, file photo, a salesman at a vape shop exhales while using an e-cigarette in Maine.
Monday, Sept. 23, 2019 | 2 a.m.
Alex Mazzola, the CEO of a Las Vegas company that produces e-liquid vape solutions, says a threatened federal ban on flavored vaping products would put him out of business and claims small enterprises like his are “getting squeezed by big tobacco.”
The Trump Administration recently said it would instruct the FDA to ban the sale of flavored vaping products after hundreds of people have been diagnosed with vaping-related breathing illnesses nationwide. The cause remains unknown, U.S. health officials said.
“If this ban goes, I close my business,” said Mazzola, the CEO of Mob Liquid Labs and president of the Nevada Vaping Association. He was among industry leaders who met with lawmakers last week in Washington, D.C., to argue against a ban.
“Our products are made to wean people off of smoking,” said Mazzola, who contends that vaping is still safer than traditional cigarettes. “What’s happening is we’re getting squeezed by big tobacco because, by pulling flavors off, they win and people stay addicted to tobacco. It’s the little guy who’s going to get hurt.”
Dr. Joe Iser, chief health officer for the Southern Nevada Health District, said there is “no science behind the idea that vaping weans people off of cigarettes” and warned people against using e-cigarettes.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 530 confirmed and probable cases of vaping-related illnesses have been reported in 38 states and one U.S. territory, up from 380 a week earlier. Seven deaths have been reported.
Three Clark County residents — one under the age of 18 — have suffered severe respiratory illnesses linked to e-cigarette products, according to the Southern Nevada Health District.
“The cause of this outbreak is still unknown, but there is an undeniable association with the use of e-cigarette products,” Iser said. “My continued recommendation is for people not to use any vaping products or e-cigarettes.”
Billy Wilson, CEO of eCigDistributors Inc. of Las Vegas, said vaping liquids that contain THC, the high-producing ingredient in marijuana, represent most of the danger associated with e-cigarettes.
Doctors have said the illnesses resemble an inhalation injury, with the lungs apparently reacting to a caustic substance. So far, no single vaping product or ingredient has been linked to the illnesses, though most patients reported vaping THC.
“This really is an apples to oranges discussion,” Wilson said. “Vaping and vape flavors have been around for more than a decade.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
