While Milwaukee's Tobacco-Free Alliance celebrates new federal e-Cig regulations, TODAY's TMJ4 spoke with a sales representative at a West Allis vapor shop who said new FDA regulations could severely shrink the industry.
The electronic-cigarette business has been entirely unregulated for more than a decade. Now, new rules will block sales to people under 18, and require an application process for vendors making e-cigarette liquid.
Nicholas Wolfe, a sales representative at Smokin Deals in West Allis is concerned for business due to the FDA registration process.
"99 percent of the products that are on the market would be gone in two years," he said.
Many shops make the products themselves, but high costs of the application process concern Wolfe.
"One flavor could cost upwards of several million dollars," Wolfe explained.
But flavor is one concern the Tobacco-Free Alliance said isn't regulated enough.
"Flavorings typically have propylene glycol and glycerin in them, preservatives that are FDA approved for ingestion, but we simply don't know the affects of inhalation," wrote executive director Deb Heffner in an email.
Even though e-cigarettes don't contain tobacco, the group is concerned flavors appealing to a younger crowd could turn e-cigarettes into the new tobacco.
The CDC reports use among middle and high schoolers tripled from 2013 to 2014.
But for Christopher Graham, a Smokin Deals customer, they've been a successful tool in cutting his cigarette smoking from 25 cigarettes a day to five.
