EDITORIAL: Trump should reverse regulations intended to drive vape shops out of business

The Trump administration’s regulatory rollback may soon include misguided rules that would provide a huge boon to the tobacco industry at the expense of small business and public health.

USA Today reported last week that a bipartisan proposal from Rep. Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican, and Rep. Sanford Bishop, a Democrat from Georgia, would exempt vaping products from onerous EPA tobacco regulations issued last year by the previous White House. The rules imposed significant costs on those who own vaping shops and would have driven many out of business to the delight of major tobacco companies that are losing businesses to e-cigarettes.

The Obama administration edict was even more puzzling given the potential health benefits to the millions of Americans weaning themselves off tobacco in favor of vaping.

Reps. Cole and Bishop are optimistic their effort will catch the attention of the president, who has already rescinded more than a dozen mandates issued as part of Barack Obama’s midnight regulatory barrage. A spokesman for an e-cigarette trade group told the paper, “We want this to be dominated by reason and sound science, not public-health hysteria.”

That would be a refreshing change. Too many anti-smoking zealots have let their distaste for all things tobacco distort their views of vaping. There is simply no credible scientific evidence that e-cigarettes are as dangerous as the real thing. In fact, they’re likely a much safer alternative for smokers.

As such, the Trump administration should reverse regulations intended to bankrupt vape shops.