Had that occurred, it would be illegal to market e-cigarettes to minors, and manufacturing standards and product testing for e-cigarettes would be forthcoming.

The FDA can still save its own face and save millions of lives by proposing regulations to define e-cigarettes as tobacco products. This also could be a negotiated outcome of the lawsuit filed by Smoking Everywhere against the FDA.

What good would a product be if it replaced one set of dangers with new ones? How do we, as consumers, know, for sure, that inhaling the propylene glycol that produces the vapor intended to simulate the look and feel of cigarette smoke is indeed as safe as the e-cig industry would have us believe? And why on earth did half of the 19 FDA tested e-cigs contain nitrosamine, which is a cancer-causing chemical found in antifreeze?

The FDA is a government agency, and as such is subject to the kind of bureaucratic thinking that all government agencies tend to follow. Thus, I would agree that the FDA is not handling their concerns over e-cigarettes as efficiently as they should be. And I suppose there is some level of lobbying taking place by those who stand to lose money over the sale of e-cigs (as well as those staunch anti-smoking bigots who feel that any activity tied to smoking should be prohibited regardless of actual public health issues.)

But I also think the FDA ultimately acts in the best interests of public safety. We all remember the rash of dangerous toys and other products that flowed into the US from China last year. If most e-cigs come from China, who is to say that they are not just as dangerous? Have we not learned our lesson about the poor Chinese government regulations regarding the manufacture and sale of items containing potentially dangerous chemicals and substances?

E-cigs must be tested and regulated by the FDA. They must pass the same kind of rigorous testing that all drugs, foods, ingested chemicals, etc. must pass in order to be deemed safe for human consumption. However, that being said, the FDA needs to take the same staunch stance against traditional cigarettes. If the FDA feels so strongly that a product with no obvious heath risks needs to be banned until further testing can be completed, certainly they should ban real cigarettes, which have been tested for decades and proven, over and over, to be deadly.

So I guess what I am saying here is that the FDA is right to question the safety of e-cigs, but in pushing for their ban, they are revealing not so much a conspiracy to keep “big tobacco” and “big pharm” rolling in dough from the sale of cigarettes, Chantix, and nicotine replacement products, but rather their deep hypocrisy in failing to protect the public against recognized dangers from already approved products.

Chantix is toxic. Cigarettes cause cancer and heart disease. Nicotine is an addictive drug. All of these items are very, very bad for people, yet they are either approved by the FDA (i.e., Chantix) or allowed to be sold without FDA approval (i.e. cigarettes.) So why does the FDA feel the need to ban e-cigs now? Why not allow them to remain on the market until adequate testing is completed and a full, detailed analysis of the real dangers, or lack thereof, of e-cigs is released?

I hope e-cigs remain available as a smoking alternative. I want to try e-cigs myself. I believe that using e-cigs in public places where traditional smoking is prohibited should be allowed. I believe adults have the right to ingest nicotine if the choose to. I believe that traditional cigarettes should be banned by the FDA as dangerous to the public safety. And if conclusive evidence can be found to prove that e-cigs are, indeed, dangerous, I believe they should be banned as well.

But for now, with no real evidence to condemn e-cigs, I believe they should be sold freely and without regulation.

Commenting on an article in Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, which quoted the Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman Siobhan DeLancey saying that the agency does not know if smoking e-cigarettes is “any better” than smoking regular cigarettes, Prof. Michael Siegel of Boston University School of Public Health said this means the FDA also does not know if cigarette smoking is any more dangerous than using e-cigarettes, and “[w]hen the FDA says cigarette smoking may be no more hazardous than the use of a device that essentially delivers just nicotine and propylene glycol, you know we have serious problems with tobacco control in this country.” (tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com 10/01)

Seems like it should be illegal to approve anything that causes anyone to experience those kinds of side effects. Oh but wait…Maybe they wont know that unless people try them out. I’ll keep trying out my new ecig. Hope I don’t get suicidal thoughts.

Pardon the sarcasm…couldn’t resist.

Happy Vaping !!!!