FDA Wants to Snuff Out E-Cigarettes
The “smokes” may be different, but the Food and Drug Administration’s ever-vigilant watch to keep us safe from ourselves in its quest to quantify and purge all health risks from society continues. Their latest target? Smokeless cigarettes, or so called “E-cigarettes.”
The devices in question utilize an atomizer to vaporize a nicotine and propylene glycol (a substance commonly found in fog machines) solution that the user inhales and exhales as a vapor. Since there’s no tobacco, combustion, smoke, or smell involved, savvy individuals have taken advantage of the devices, which can be bought online or in mall kiosks here in the States, to get around heavy taxes on tobacco products and stringent smoking bans in public places.
But that hasn’t stopped the FDA, which as of this writing has “refused [the importation of] 17 shipments of various brands of these ‘electronic’ cigarettes, cigars, and pipes, and their components,” on the basis that the devices are drugs and as such need regulatory approval before being marketed in the US.
Even without the FDA’s newly-gained jurisdiction over tobacco products (though clearly e-cigs aren’t tobacco products), the Administration already had the authority to regulate drugs containing nicotine (such as patches, sprays, inhalers, or gum) that are designed to help users kick the habit.
All this recent buzz about e-cigarettes seems to have come from a front-page article in the June 1 New York Times, in which the director of the Nicotine Dependence Center at the Mayo Clinic stated that “We basically don’t know anything about them. They’ve never been tested for safety or efficacy to help people stop smoking,” despite this Health New Zealand safety report on Ruyan e-cigarettes, the Chinese product on which U.S.-imported versions are based, and the fact that the FDA has approved of nicotine for use in various and sundry quitting aids (some of them inhalant-based). As for propylene glycol, the substance is already generally considered by the FDA to be safe for consumption. From the FDA’s report:
“Propylene glycol is metabolized by animals and can be used as a carbohydrate source. Propylene glycol can be ingested over long periods of time and in substantial quantities (up to 5 percent of the total food intake) without causing frank toxic effects.”
If the FDA were to succeed in banning or restricting e-cigarettes, which are already illegal to sell in Australia and Hong Kong, the potential health risks to American smokers looking for a tar-free and less offensive cigarette alternative would be enormous.
Read more on OpposingViews.com: Can E-Cigarettes Help Smokers Kick the Habit?
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The fda is crappin their pants,feeling pressure from big tobcacco and pharmacutial special interest groups to kill the e-cig,why? $$$$$ money ,no cig profits, no tax profits, millions in maketing and research to create gums and patches,all gone. FDA looks foolish though: e cigarette are unsafe, so here is a pack of tobbaco cigarettes for you instead?! i feel electric cigarette is the all new alternative smoking solution that is taking the world by storm. Moreover electronic cigarettes allows to smoke a vapor that is free of carbon monoxide.
the problem is that the FDA would look like total fools and by their own doing they would totally discredit themselves and be viewed as totally corrupt (obviously pressured by big tobacco and pharmaceutical companies) if they tried to ban the e cigarette and offer the carcinogenic tar infested cigarette as an alternative (why has the cigaretee that has been shown to kill millions a year not been banned then}. oh wait I see, the fda wants to "regulate" meaning attach horrendous taxes to ecigarettes so that you can only afford to buy cigaretes instead.The FDA's total reputation rides on this and so far they are on thin ice
I am 53 years old and have been a smoker since I was 15 years old. I have tried to quit smoking many times without success. I purchased an E cigarette kit two months ago and have not smoked a real ("analog") cigarette since. Here are the reasons why this is the best invention since The Internet (for smokers).
1) There is no harmful tar which is the dangerous element of smoking cigarettes .
2) There is no smoke which causes soot and odor.
3) There is no flame, fire, or heat whatsoever which could cause severe damage.
4) A smoker can smoke an E cigarette ANYWHERE at ANYTIME.
5) After the initial investment of about $100, the cost to smoke E cigarettes comes to the equivilent of about $2 per pack of regular cigarettes because there is no tobacco tax attached (yet).
If the FDA bans these outright that would be right near the top on the stupid list of things for our government to get involved in and screw up.
It really is ridiculous isn't it... Cigarettes, tested, proven to cause cancer but OK to sell because they are taxed!!
The reason the FDA are sticking their nose in is because Senator Lautenberg, a supposedly anti smoking fanatic, decided that they should be investigated... This is after he receives several large donations from many pharmaceutical companies who have interests in quit smoking patches. He should not be allowed to comment as he has an obvious bias.
It takes only a tiny amount of common sense to see that these are a healthier alternative to the real thing and that all of this fuss is just an effort to keep independent suppliers out of the market and keep the monopoly which pharmaceutical companies currently have on this sector!
I am biased but www.smartsmoker.co.uk and www.smartsmokerusa.com are good sources and their blog at www.smartsmoker.co.uk/blog has some interesting points.
Seriously. The ONLY logical reason why anyone would want to get rid of something like this is that Big Tobacco and Pharmaceutical corporations will lose revenue if e-Cigarettes become commonplace. Money is power in this world and those who have said power are terribly afraid to lose it. Tha's why we need to say no to Corporate America (or whatever country you happen to live in where Corporate makes all the rules) and make our voice heard. The last thing we need is for Corporations to someday take the place of governments. If we allow them to grow in power, they definietly will.
Clearly, there are double standards for tobacco cigarettes and ecigs. Why don't we stop the sale of regular cigarettes until the FDA has proven them to be safe?
We know a lot about tobacco cigarettes: they are not good for your health and contain thousands of toxins.
Electronic cigarettes are certainly a better alternative with many great benefits ranging from cost savings, to odor less, to no butts littering our country!
I found this quick introduction to e-cigs: http://www.ecigarettes365.com/new
I live in the UK. I have family who smoked who have died from cancer . There is a real chance had these devices been around to help them 'smoke' but without ' smoking ' some years back, i honestly believe they might be alive today. I find it totally ironic the FDA happily allow cancer sticks to be openly sold, but then want to try and crack down on a patently safer alternative to real tar sticks! What a joke....ever wonder where the tax dollars come from that pay the FDA wages....a fair bet is it will be tobacco tax revenue. Pathetic.