My letter (with my personalization in bold):
Dear [Recipients],
As a voter, taxpayer constituent, and advocate for electronic cigarettes, I am deeply concerned about FDA's plans to extend their regulatory powers to cover e-cigarettes. Evidence is coming in from around the globe confirming that the availability, variety, and use of these products is contributing to the decline of smoking rates. Numerous public health advocates have come out in support of these products, even stating they should be promoted by public health agencies.
Given the incredible promise that e-cigarettes hold for millions of people, I think Congress needs to find out (1) why CDC is actively engaged in misinforming the public about the risks associated with non-combustible, nicotine containing products like e-cigarettes, and (2) why FDA has proposed regulations, based on inaccurate and misleading scientific claims, that would completely destroy the consumer-driven e-cigarette market and hand over the remnants to the traditional tobacco companies.
I am 47 years old and was a smoker for over 20 years. I didn't think I would ever quit smoking, in spite of quitting 3 times before while pregnant and nursing. I discovered e-cigarettes at the Wisconsin State Fair and bought them as an alternative to smoking -- a replacement for conventional cigarettes -- not as a way to wean off nicotine. I thought they were good in theory, but wasn't actively seeking to quit smoking. After finding better, refillable devices and more appealing, non-tobacco flavors (such as chocolate and peach,) I found that I was exclusively using the e-cigaertte and no longer had the desire to smoke conventional cigarettes. In fact, the taste of conventional cigarettes was no longer appealing in any way. I realized I had "accidentally quit" smoking.
That was in 2009 and since then, of 11 smokers in my family and my friend circles, 10 have tried e-cigarettes and 9 no longer smoke -- 2 no longer use the e-cigarettes and 4 have been smoke-free for over 4 1/2 years. I know of thousands of former cigarette smokers with a similar story. FDA-approved nicotine cessation products cannot help people like myself and my family members who aren't even trying to quit or have given up trying. E-cigarettes, many of which are currently customizable for the needs and tastes of each user, were able to replace conventional cigarettes and eliminate our exposure to toxic smoke -- in spite of the fact that we weren't trying to quit smoking! I have suffered no ill effects from using an e-cigarette for 5 years now. Today, I can breathe better and I started exercising again. My "smoker's cough" is completely gone and I get sick less often.
If not for trying that first e-cigarette and advances in e-cigarette technology and flavors, I am absolutely certain I would still be smoking today. I believe so strongly in the potential of tese products to save the lives of millions of smokers, that I tell everyone I can about them. I am so extremely disappointed in my government and its agencies for the actions being taken against the e-cigarette industry and e-cigarette consumers that it has even changed my political views and turned me into a tobacco harm reduction activist.
On the surface, the FDAs proposed regulations are described in terms of protecting public health and safety. Upon closer investigation, they constitute a de facto ban of all e-cigarettes with the exception of low quality options currently mass produced by established tobacco companies. In fact, by the FDAs own estimates, these regulations are expected to eliminate 99.9% of the products on the market because their manufacturers cannot afford the paperwork burden that would be imposed on them. Such a loss of variety, quality, and innovation would mean many people would be forced to consider returning to smoking and/or acquire products on a newly created black market.
The administration has repeatedly called for sound science and transparency of government. (For example,
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/ostp_public_access_memo_2013.pdf) Yet, the regulatory process being pursued by the FDA is based on misdirection and innuendo dressed up as science. The scientific basis put forth by FDA for proposing these devastating regulations is filled with inaccuracies and misstatements which constitutes an arbitrary and capricious abuse of the FDA's regulatory authority and a breach of public trust.
In addition to ignoring some of the most important scientific considerations, the FDA cites sources that do not support the claim being cited and misrepresents sources. The FDA also presents speculation as fact where it suits its agenda and, by the same token, presents established facts as if they were mere conjecture when those facts are not consistent with the FDA's agenda. An ongoing collection of these errors is available from the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA), a public health and education 501(c)(4) consumer group (of which I am a member).
Likewise, the CDC has been actively misrepresenting data and pursuing a political agenda not based on sound science, including misleading the public regarding the impact of e-cigarettes on youth as well as the risks associated with the use of e-cigarettes and other low-risk alternatives to smoking. (Please see blog.casaa.org/2014/05/casaa-submission-to-us-senate-committee.html for more information.)
FDA and CDC have repeatedly demonstrated their intent to reduce the availability, quality, and use of e-cigarettes. They are apparently unconcerned that e-cigarettes have proven to be an effective method for hundreds of thousands of American smokers to quit smoking, substituting an alternative that is estimated to be 99% less harmful than smoking. They have repeatedly presented misleading interpretations of data and are paying to have misleading data created.
As a consumer, I am appalled by the FDA's and CDC's actions in misleading and misinforming the American public. I am asking you, as my elected official, to call for congressional investigative and oversight hearings to examine the FDA's and CDC's actions in connection with developing regulatory policies involving e-cigarettes.
I look forward to your response on these issues. I, along with my fellow members of the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA), hope you will act to safeguard the interests of the American public by demanding answers to why the FDA and CDC seem to embrace misinformation and sensationalized claims rather than craft regulations based on sound science.
Sincerely,
Kristin Noll-Marsh
