Once the new rules are finalized, the agency could propose more restrictions on e-cigarettes. Officials didn’t provide a timetable for that action.
“The devil will be in the details of future regulatory decisions,” said Jeff Stier, senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank in Washington. “If the regulations are too heavy-handed, they’ll have the deadly effect of preventing smokers from quitting by switching to these dramatically less harmful alternatives.”
The FDA said the public, members of the industry and others will have 75 days to comment on the proposal. The agency will evaluate those comments before issuing a final rule but there’s no timetable for when that will happen. The regulations will be a step in a long process that many believe will ultimately end up being challenged in court.