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FDA Law Could Close New Rochelle Vape Maker

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. -- Will new federal regulations concerning e-cigarettes close businesses and force vapers to return to smoking?

Port Chester Vape Shop and New Rochelle vape manufacturer owners Christopher Mikovits and Cheryl Richter met with legislators in Albany to express concerns over the new e-cigarette laws.

Port Chester Vape Shop and New Rochelle vape manufacturer owners Christopher Mikovits and Cheryl Richter met with legislators in Albany to express concerns over the new e-cigarette laws.

Photo Credit: Contributed

These are among concerns of the owners of CV Vape Den in Port Chester and Cherry Vape LLC of New Rochelle, manufacturer/distributor of vaping accessories and e-liquid, .

This month the U.S. Food & Drug Administration announced it will regulate e-cigarettes as if they were tobacco products, even though they contain no tobacco. The regulation took effect May 10.

“The FDA is sentencing 40 million smokers to die of tobacco related illnesses by encouraging them to smoke, and forcing 10 million vapers to go back to smoking or to purchase products from a dangerous black market,” said Richter in a release. 

Richter is co-chair of the New York chapter of the vaping industry association, Smoke Free Alternatives Trade Association, and a board member of the vaping advocacy organization, National Vapers Club. 

The FDA announced it will regulate vapor products more harshly than combustible cigarettes. 

The new regulations affect vaping product manufacturers (batteries, mods, tanks, e-liquid, coils, etc.) which will be required to fulfill pre-market applications that could cost millions, said the release.

In 2007, the president gave the FDA regulatory authority over tobacco companies, but gave a pass to cigarettes already on the market, the press release said.

Since vaping products were not sold in the United States in 2007, every product on he market will need to provide an estimated 5,000 hours of scientific paperwork for each application.

The product applications could cost manufacturers between $1 million and $20 million to prove to the FDA that each product is a benefit to public health. 

With nothing on their shelves, vape shops will be gone in two years and more than 100,000 people will be unemployed, said the press release.

“My government will put me in a terrible predicament in two years. 'Do I commit a federal offense or 'Do I let hundreds of my customers go back to smoking?' said Richter.

Mikovits and Richter met with legislators in Albany to inform them of public health consequences that prohibitions and taxation have on their constituents and business. 

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