In Depth: Vape Firms, Health Advocates United in Opposition to Tobacco Monopoly Control of E-Cigarette Rules
For tobacco control advocates, the STMA’s lack of interest in public health measures is the problem. Copying its model wholesale for e-cigarettes could expose more people to a growing list of suspected harms that include hooking minors on nicotine. Photo: VCG
Public health advocates and e-cigarette makers don’t agree on much.
But outspoken figures in both camps say China’s powerful State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) — which is in the enviable position of both regulating and effectively selling almost all of China’s tobacco products— should not also be given the power to regulate vapes.