The nation waits with bated breath to see what policies President-elect Donald Trump will champion during his nonsequential second term. Many people will find themselves asking if a second Trump presidency will find more success than the first, and if it will be able to pass the many regulatory and political hurdles set by the Biden administration. When it comes to tobacco policy, the bar is low. Thankfully, there’s only room for this iteration of the Trump administration to improve.
While the Biden-Harris administration prompted the introduction of what could have been disastrous tobacco prohibition rules through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the first Trump administration is not blameless for the current state of tobacco policy.
In a September Truth Social post, Trump responded to the increased public outcry against the potential Biden-Harris bans by declaring: “I saved Flavored Vaping in 2019…I’ll save Vaping again!” While this statement bodes well for the future of tobacco policy, it’s hard to argue that Trump initially “saved” vaping.
The original Trump administration fought back against mounting pressure to clear the marketplace of all flavored e-cigarettes but did so by essentially scapegoating Juul, an incredibly popular vape company that was largely forced out of the legal market. The ousting of Juul left a significant gap that disposable vape products quickly filled.
At the time, demand for e-cigarettes and vapes was high and producers of disposable vape products eagerly seized the opportunity to capture more of the market. However, this shift brought with it a major problem: a large portion of the disposable vape products flooding the market were unregulated counterfeits.
Consumers of these counterfeit disposable vapes were entirely unaware that the vast majority of these products were illegally smuggled into the United States from China. The Biden administration’s FDA fined retailers for selling these illegal products to no avail — just check your local corner store and you’ll see a vast array of disposable vapes to choose from, none of which are likely to be legal.
President-elect Trump’s FDA commissioner nominee, Dr. Marty Makary, could be the key to addressing the agency’s past missteps in its treatment of tobacco and nicotine products. While Dr. Makary has not been publicly outspoken about his views on tobacco policy, he is a prolific author whose latest book highlights how modern medicine can sometimes lead to worse health outcomes.
Well-intentioned policies oftentimes result in poor outcomes. The ban on Juul products occurred due to widespread concerns of rising youth smoking rates. Policymakers naively believed that a product ban was the best solution to stop young people from smoking, but it instead allowed more dangerous products to enter the market and gain popularity with this vulnerable group. All in all, consumers would have been better off if the federal government never intervened in the first place.
Hopefully Dr. Makary and the rest of the incoming Trump administration will understand the negative effects of prohibition policies and instead focus on harm reduction measures to safeguard the health of consumers.
Competition is integral to the success of free markets as it encourages innovation and gives consumers choice to make decisions that affect their bodies. The unwarranted and misguided attack on Juul led to the tobacco marketplace becoming unbalanced. These regulatory actions not only harmed a legally operating business, but the health of American consumers was jeopardized — all while international black market producers profited.
The incoming Trump administration has an important decision to make: Will they safeguard the freedom of consumers to choose, or will they empower the black market to poison their electorate?
Sofia Hamilton is a Policy Analyst at a DC area policy organization and a Harm Reduction Fellow with Young Voices. Her work has appeared in publications such as the Washington Examiner, Reason Magazine, and the Orange County Register.
