WASHINGTON D.C. – The American Vaping Association, a leading advocate for the health benefits of e-cigarettes, criticized Big Tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds for attempting to ban most e-cigarettes in comments made to the Food & Drug Administration, which is mistakenly considering classifying e-cigarettes as tobacco products.

R.J. Reynolds asked the government to ban “open-system,” or reusable, e-cigarettes, as well as e-cigarette liquid products and many flavor varieties.

Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, which represents America’s independent manufacturers and retailers of e-cigarettes, issued the following statement:

“R.J. Reynolds’ call for the FDA to ban the majority of e-cigarette products should be seen for what it really is — an admission by R.J. Reynolds that it simply cannot compete in the current e-cigarette market. Recent market reports show that while sales of open-system e-cigarette products and e-liquid are booming, sales of closed-system cigarette lookalikes – the kind that R.J. Reynolds sells — have stagnated.

“R.J. Reynolds’ corporate motto is ‘Transform Tobacco.’ But instead of holding to its core values and transforming itself from a tobacco company into a technology company, R.J. Reynolds would prefer the federal government simply ban most of its competitors.

“Surveys of e-cigarette users have consistently demonstrated that vapers who use refillable open-system products are far more likely to be smoke-free than are those who use closed system products that are designed to resemble and taste like cigarettes.

“Banning e-cigarette products while leaving deadly combustible cigarettes, like those sold by R.J. Reynolds, on the market would be a disaster for public health. In a country where more than 40 million people still smoke and some 400,000 die from smoking-related diseases annually, advanced e-cigarette products are needed.

“We also encourage the Federal Trade Commission to consider R.J. Reynolds’ eagerness to see its competitors banned in deciding whether to approve a proposed merger between R.J. Reynolds and fellow tobacco company Lorillard,” Conley added.

You can learn more about the AVA and vaping by visiting the AVA website.