E-Cigarettes Yet to Gain FDA Approval
If you believed the manufacturers of e-cigarettes, you would think they were God's gift to the nicotine-addicted. They are marketed as safe nicotine delivery systems, complete with the look and feel of real cigarettes. According to a recent story in CNN, the FDA isn't sold on these magic sticks just yet -- is it really any surprise?
E-cigarettes are plastic cigarette-like contraptions that deliver pure nicotine to the user when sucked upon. The process is fueled by a small internal battery that heats a small store of liquid nicotine housed within the filter. When a person sucks in as they would with a traditional cigarette, the heat and liquid combine to vaporize the nicotine, which produces a small puff of "smoke" from the tip (which lights up for good measure). Manufacturers compare the nicotine in their product to that in patches and gum used to curb addiction, but the FDA considers e-cigs an unapproved new drug, citing a lack of scientific proof of their safety and/or effectiveness and is currently attempting to block their importation.
There is no doubt that these devices are safer than real cigarettes, but we believe the Elicko Taieb, CEO of e-cig manufacturer Smoking Everywhere, didn't help his case when he admitted, in a statement to CNN, that "it is a pretty new product, so we are not 100 percent sure of the side effects at this point, " He went on to say " we haven't heard of any negative side effects yet, but we are pretty sure they are safe." Whew, well that's a load off.
We know from experience that "pretty sure" isn't sure at all, so for now we will just chew some gum. [From: CNN]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Boby said 3:38PM on 3-15-2009
E- joints would be better.
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doejee said 10:58PM on 9-20-2009
I agree that e-joints would be a great flavor option. And don't forget to have the levels of thc at 3,5,and10 %
Rachael said 7:35PM on 3-16-2009
I have been a smoking for the past 10 years. From the moment I started smoking I was hooked. I have tried the patch and the gum. The patch did not work for me at all. The gum worked for a little while however, I went right back to the cigarettes. I recently heard about the eCigarette and I decided to give it a shot. With no will power at all, I was able to make the transition from traditional cigarettes to eCigarette. While we don't know the side effects of smoking eCigarettes long term we do know that traditional cigarettes will cause cancer. If there is any legislation at all, it should to halt the eCigarette advertising as a "safe alternative" to smoking as there is no proof to this. I would not recommend banning this product. If we are able to smoke traditional cigarettes which have a proven track record of causing cancer, I believe there should be no ban on a product that that may or may not have health risks. We live in the United States after all. I believe the push for this ban is simple the threat of lost tax revenue by eCigarettes.
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kathy said 2:14PM on 4-05-2009
you are right on about that! i also switched to e-cigarettes and i immediately went from a two pack a day habit to 5 cigarettes a day. two weeks later i am only smoking e-cigs and i couldnt be happier. loss of tax revenue and loss of sales from the two opposite ends of the sales spectrum which would be the tobacco companies on one end and the pharmeceutical companies on the other end......ecigs are a happy medium and will win over both of these two giants.......from any present smokers. people that have already quit and are not in danger of smoking again wont choose either of the two giants......or the soon to be e-cig giants. im guessing phillip morris is already looking into plans for e-cig manufacturing for when they are allowable. they may be able to ban them from selling them in stores here in the u.s and stop shipments from china...but i never bought mine from china to begin with. mine came from a canadian seller. they cant stop shipments from everywhere.
it most definitely will hurt tax revenue....it will put all those anti smoking campaign people out of a job because ..in case you didnt know it is the pharmeceutical giants that are their major financial backers. small price to pay to make billions off their nicotine gum, patches, chantix[brain chemistry drug], zaiban and all that other crap that doesnt work for so many. i did them all. im not sure about their reasons for dismissing e-cigs? when i see a new product on t.v that is of the drug nature i see a list that goes on and on of side effects and dangers....and they cant find anything wrong with the e-cig so they are trying to ban it?????....WTF!!! im just so sick of this government its not funny!! I dont care what kind of ban they try to do....im not going back to smoking cigarettes. if i have to drive to canada and give my business to them thats what i will do. its a shame their is a 'MUCH" safer alternative to smoking real cigarettes...which would be the ecig and they want to hurt the American business man by closing down any ecig businesses in the unites states, make ecig users go back to that other safe product[sarcasm]..you know those real cigarettes........and they want us to think they care about our health and ours....its all about whos getting the piece of pie folks....and i hate to say it...but it will never be "we the people"!!!
Marlin said 6:26PM on 3-20-2009
Well, When they call "nicotine" a drug and start blocking it coming into the country, they need to take all nicotine cessation gums and patches off of the market also. This also goes for tobacco cigarettes, as they are a nicotine delivery device!
Let's play fair you cowardly lobbyist!
Lets see how the big pharma companies like that!
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Sumratio said 2:36AM on 3-21-2009
I wish so called journalists would research a little more before taking such strong stances.
Cigarettes (already being called analogs) have approximately 4000 known carcinogens while e-cigs have 3-4 known, relatively benign, ingredients. Complaining about the nicotine is really a moot point considering how the government has allowed the tobacco industry to manipulate nicotine levels in their product for decades and yet they have never given the option to their customers to lower their nicotine intake to zero.
The biggest (and only real, IMO) argument with smokers is the second hand smoke which is not even an issue with e-cigs.
This is ultimately going to come down to this:
1) Tobacco lobbying for their survival
2) The pharmeceutical companies lobbying for their price gouging piece of the pie.
3) Our government trying deperately to act like it wants us to quit smoking (real dangerous style) for our health but dreads loosing the 3 to 5 dollars a day it is getting from its smoking population. The really sad thing is I do not think they will let go of all this money easily even if it means to risk current smokers and passive smokers lives with a known deadly product.
4)And of course zealots screaming at the top of their lungs in outrage because, well, that is what they do, generally with some hidden agenda (probably tobacco or the pharmeceuticals, gotta hate corruption). It is quite disturbing to see the true colors of people when they down right demand you bend to their will even when their views and arguements are hypocritical.
The industry has already shown some degrees of self regulation. Most forum sites and all distributor sites I have researched state in some form "this product is for only those of legal age and a current smoker". Saftey caps for liquid, saftey instructions for handling the carts (part of e-cig that contains the nicotine solution), warning labels to treat as poison and keep away from children and pets. It seems to me this fledgling industry is actually being pretty responsible much more so then the alternative. More testing would be a good idea but I a lot of results are already available since people have already been using them for extended time periods with out major ill effects.
I have read many stories of people quickly, some immediately stop smoking after they start "vaping". Clean air, does not effect others, no odor to stink up clothes/ car/ house. No smoke just sounds great, even better when it happens without a struggle.
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Alex said 3:07AM on 3-21-2009
Hello Business Development Manager,
This is Alex from China.
I am working in the e-cigarette area also. I can offer you a 98mmX(D)8.5mm e-cigarette (with 1 Atomizer, 1 charger, 1 wire line, 2 batteries, 4 cartridges, 1 English Manual) at 12.5USD/PC price, the MOQ is 500PCs, and we can add your logo and address on the package if you order 2000PCs or more at one time. We have CE, RoHs, FDA certificates for this model.
There is one thing we want you to know is that we can do changes on the products and make models according to our clients' special technical parameter, like we can make the e cig to be longer, like 107mm,etc. or we can make the diameter to be big , like 9.2mm,etc. and also we can make the e cig to consist of 2 parts or 3 parts from the view outside. Besides, we can definitely make changes on the package.
What's more, we are now designing a new charger for the e-cigarettes, the new one will be able to charge with a USB link.
If you are interested in working with us, please try to contact us for more details.
Best Regards,
Alex
A&D INDUSTRIES CO., LTD.
Tel: +86-574-6619 4260
Fax: +86-574-5687 7683
Cell: +86-159 6809 1557
and@andindustries.com
Online Service Tools:
Skype: andindustries
MSN: andindustries@hotmail.com
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BJ said 12:18AM on 4-13-2009
Inaccurate reporting does not help things. If I see the phrase "pure nicotine" once more I'll scream. It's NOT pure nicotine in the liquid used with e-cigs. It's a very small %, approx. 1% nicotine.
Yes, ideally, no one would put anything in his or her lungs but nice, clean air. However, the reality is that millions of people are addicted to nicotine and it's almost impossible for many to stop.
So unless they want to ban tobacco as well, it would be completely stupid to ban e-cigs. If they do ban them, those who are hopelessly addicted will go back to tobacco and will probably die from their addiction. E-cigs give them a chance to live.
I guess the gov't doesn't care if we die.
Smoking in genereal has become something that it's fashionable to hate. Humans, being the curious animals we are, always seem to need something to hate. Many will not even want to know of the advantages of e-cigs because then they might have to stop hating for a minute and open their minds.
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hypnotize6661 said 2:29PM on 5-05-2009
Just want everyone to know that these aregoing to be the hugest advacment and a major step forward in public health. I smoked for 15 years 20-30 cigarettes a day. No other smoking alternative has even came close to working for me. When I first started e smoking it was not my intention to stop smoking real cigarettes, but guess what? I did, without even trying. I believe that once e cigs catch on it will be the end of big tobacco companys. I know this is a pretty big statement but as a smoker, this is honestly how I feel. Every aspect of e ciggs far outweighs that of real cigarettes. To tell you the truth I think they should get rid of real cigarettes that kill people, and only allow e ciggs. In a perfect world this would be ideal. The world is not perfect, cigarette companys are lobbying senators to have the fda ban e cigs and the fda seems to be siding with deadly tobacco companys. How could the fda prevent a safer alternative to cigarettes? Its beyond me to comment on this. I'm sure its all about the money. Isn't that what its all about??
A great e cig company is TOTALLY WICKED USA or the UK if yourinterested.
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JeannieBug said 7:14PM on 5-17-2009
I am trying to switch to the e-cigarette and I can't find a website that has any stock on hand to sell. Everyone is backlogged. Does anyone know of a site that has stock available?
And I agree that there is a conspiracy within the government and the tobacco companies to get the e-cig removed from the market. It's all about money. It's not about the health and welfare of citizens-never has been.
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Eddie said 3:19AM on 6-16-2009
Try Smoke-51.com They have some of the best high quality e-cigs out there. AND are on hand as of this reply. Also, BLU is a new slightly cheaper alternative...but that one is on a waiting list right now.
Jeanie said 11:39PM on 5-27-2009
It is not pure nicotine (that would kill a person), it is diluted to 0,1,2,11,36mg of of nicotine. It is diluted with vegetable glycerine which is used in candles, aroma therapy, foods like cakes and candy, it is also what they use to make smoke for stage shows (safely), and sometimes also diluted with water. Nicotine is not what kills smokers, and it even has health benefits that equal and may excede any side effect. If they were bad I think the FDA would be telling us by now. Are they trying to find problems?
Jeanie
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