E-Cigarettes are CONSUMER PRODUCTS

[Vocalek]

At the request of Shan123, I'm copying in here my response to a comment in Armand Rosetti's article
E-Cigarette?Anyone Else? | InjuryBoard West Palm Beach

The man was actually starting to sound reasonable for a while, then all of a sudden he says this:

The following statement from Campaign for tobacco Free Kids makes a very fair point:

"No one is suggesting that these products should never be allowed on the market; rather, like other consumer products, electronic cigarettes should be regulated to protect public health before they are permitted to be sold to consumers."

My response:

The Campaign for tobacco Free Kids is correct on one point. Electronic Cigarettes are CONSUMER PRODUCTS, and as such they do not require approval prior to being made available. The Consumer Product Safety Commission exists to assist members of the public who complain of being made ill or injured by a product AFTER it is out on the market. The CPSC, not FDA, is the proper regulating body in this case.

The fact that this product has the unexpected (and extremely fortuitous) effect of enabling its users to give up smoking tobacco does not magically turn it into a medical device. Some people chew on toothpicks as a way to refrain from smoking tobacco. That does not turn toothpicks into a medical device.

From the American Cancer Society "Guide to Quitting Smoking":
"Lozenges that contain tobacco (Ariva®, Interval®), and small, pouches of tobacco (Revel®, Exalt®) are being sold as other ways for smokers to get nicotine in places where smoking is not allowed. The FDA has ruled that these are types of oral tobacco products much like snuff and chew, and are not smoking cessation aids. This means that the FDA does not have authority over them."

And if you believe that the "strictest FDA scrutiny" is a panacea for protecting public health, you may be unaware of a product called Chantix that was fully FDA-approved before being released to the public.

According to a report by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices dated October 2008, a record number of deaths and serious injuries associated with drug therapy were recorded during the 1st quarter of 2008. Chantix accounted for more serious injuries than any other prescription drug, a total of 1001 new cases, including 50 new deaths.

Furthermore, the onerously long time the FDA requires before allowing a life-saving product on the market is also responsible for many deaths. See [URL]http://www.ruwart.com/consumer.lpn.wpd.html[/URL]

I don't believe that Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids has "public health" as the basis for its call to have FDA pull the products off the market. They are well aware of the fact that there is zero evidence that these have harmed anyone. I also do not believe that they are unaware of the testimonials from over 10,000 people who have actually used the product that doing so has resulted in improvements in their health, in many cases verified by doctors. So whom do you believe?

The CTFK is also aware that quite a few of these same testimonials speak of not being able to function normally without nicotine (well past the 6 weeks considered the outer limit of being a withdrawal symptom that will disappear over time) and have stated that it is very likely that they will start smoking tobacco again if electronic cigarettes become unavailable.

Finally, the CTFK is aware that people are spontaneously becoming ex-smokers while using this product, and that there are still 40 some million smokers (many of them children) who have difficulty quitting. So where is the concern for public health? Or is that so-called concern a smoke screen?

By the way, if I have misjudged them, they are free to read through the testimonials users have left at the Electronic Cigarette Petition Site (http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/keep-life-saving-electronic-cigarettes-available)

 

[tannerk]

Vocalek - well formulated response, as always. Keep 'em coming.

 

[wv2win]

Excellent repsonse. Well done.

 

[Mac]

I agree with everything you said. You should forward this info to Njoys lawyer. I think his name on this forum is legalone.

 

[BARENETTED]

VERY NICE!

On behalf of our fellow vapers - a big THANK YOU !

 

[Shan123]

Beautiful, Vocalek. Thanks!

 

[Shan123]

(Just coming back in to subscribe and rate this thread.)

 

[mxellis]

Nicely done Vocalek. Here. Here.

 

[Vocalek]

Well, he wrote 2 paragraphs to my every 1 in his response (or maybe it only seemed that way). But I decided to focus on just a few and respond to his comment "Are you now terming the E-cig a cessation product to make a point?"

From your mouth to God's ear. I would be delighted if the FDA stops claiming that this is a "medical device". Approval for a medical device requires completion of the entire years-long and expensive New Drug Application process.

This is a CONSUMER PRODUCT that is undeniably a cleaner alternative to smoking tobacco: No ugly yellow film, no butts, no smelling ash trays. It is certainly safer from the standpoint of fire hazard: No flame, no sparks. Safer for the bystander, plants, pets, and electronic equipment: No smoke.

I would agree with you that a reasonable way to determine ingredient safety of electronic cigarettes would be testing by an independent lab. Would you agree that it is important that the test results provide enough information to judge whether the substances detected are less dangerous, as dangerous, or more dangerous, than the substances in tobacco? And, for any substance that is not in tobacco, to give us some idea how many cartrdiges per day would need to be used before injury to health would result?

Telling me that there is potentially-harmful-substance "X" in my lipstick is misleading if they don't also tell me that I would have to eat 2000 tubes a day to take in enough of "X" to make me ill.

Allow me to clarify my point about cessation. Electronic cigarette are not "smoking cessation" products. They are intended to be a substitute for tobacco smoking, much like Ariva or Exalt.

I believe that the reason FDA decided to leave those products alone and not label them "smoking cessaton aids" is because they realized that every time someone pops a pouch or lozenge in their mouth that equates to at least one less cigarette smoked. Smoking reduction, research shows, can lead eventually to cessation.

The fact that so many people have found electronic cigarettes to be an acceptable substitute for ALL of their tobacco smoking is a wonderful thing! Groups like CTFK should be overjoyed that there is one more tool available to help clear the smoke out of the air.

Instead, it looks as if such groups won't be happy until they manage to drive us all back to lighting up cancer sticks.

I should also mention that some other members jumped in with responses. I especially enjoyed the one from Vicks.

 

[Shan123]

Vocalek: Gotta wonder if the dude had any idea of the can of worms he was opening with those posts. There's some brilliant stuff over there (much of it yours).