There's so much wrong with this story that I don't know where to begin!
Ms. Shaffer says that e-cigarettes contain trace amount of carcinogens. What she doesn't tell you is that they found the same amounts as found in the FDA-approved nicotine patch. If it's acceptable levels for those products, why is it being listed as a concern for e-cigarettes?
She also states that e-cigarettes "hasn’t proved to be a safe alternative, and it hasn’t proved to help people stop smoking." Apparently, Ms. Shaffer is completely unaware of 2 published surveys and the informal CASAA survey of THOUSANDS of e-cigarette users, which show that 60 - 80% of users state that they have been able to switch completely from smoking to e-cigarettes. Does she believe that those folks are lying? Or that they haven't "really" quit, because they still use nicotine? It's common knowledge that the greatest danger from smoking is from the OTHER components in smoke, NOT the nicotine.By switching completely to a smokeless product, users have reduced their health risks by up to 99%!
Additionally, FDA-approved cessation treatments take 7 - 10 tries (with people relapsing back to smoking in between), yet e-cigarette users are testifying that they stopped the day they picked up the e-cigarette. Does Ms. Shaffer feel it's better to keep having relapses and smoking rather than switching to a safer alternative that is showing to have a much better success rate??
Ms. Drea claims that e-cigarettes "haven't been tested." This is an outright lie. They have been tested by the FDA - which found no toxic levels of any chemicals and only trace signs of carcinogens - even after testing parts-per-TRILLION. Additionally, they have been tested by Health New Zealand, which found no cause for concern about the vapor - inhaled or exhaled. Also, these have been on the U.S. market for over 3 years and there have been no published reports on the FDA MediWatch of serious adverse reactions attributed to e-cigarette use. On the contrary, thousands of e-cigarette users are reporting better breathing and overall better health!
Finally, the ALA, ACS and FDA seem to only consider a product to be a successful smoking cessation product if it ALSO makes you quit nicotine use. Products which require nicotine cessation have a dismal success rate - only 2% success after 20 months. The e-cigarette allows users to continue nicotine use (which has similar health risks to caffeine, which most people consider acceptable.) It is NOT a drug to treat nicotine addiction and therefore it is really a REDUCED HARM ALTERNATIVE to smoking cigarettes, eg. a
tobacco product.
tobacco products are legal and are not required to prove that they are 100% safe and effective. All e-cigarettes need to prove is that they aren't dangerous (which they aren't or there would have already been thousands of reports of adverse reactions) and that they do what they are intended to do - serve as an ALTERNATIVE recreational nicotine product.
If the ALA. ACS and FDA would agree to allow e-cigarettes to be marketed as alternative tobacco products, they would automatically be banned for sale to minors and would fall under FDA regulation the same as other tobacco products
So, e-cigarettes contain no toxic levels of any chemicals, the same carcinogens as the FDA-approved patch, haven't had any complaints of serious adverse reaction, have had thousands of users report improved health and breathing and the ability to refrain from smoking almost instantly.
Why on earth are these groups even telling people to use ineffective gums and patches instead with this kind of evidence??
