FDA at it again...tell your Representative

[Bill Godshall]

While its helpful to encourage all US House and Senate members to investigate the FDA for its outrageous actions regarding e-cigarettes, members of Congress who are most likely to act on our requests include (in order of importance):

- Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, especially Chairman Darrell Issa
Oversight Team

- Republican Staff of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
https://wb-gop-oversight.house.gov/

- Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, especially Chairman Fred Upton
U.S. House of Representatives: Committee on Energy and Commerce, Republicans

- Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Health, especially Chairman Joe Pitts
U.S. House of Representatives: Committee on Energy and Commerce, Republicans : Subcommittees

- Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, especially Chairman Cliff Stearns (who was/is an e-cigarette user)
U.S. House of Representatives: Committee on Energy and Commerce, Republicans : Subcommittees

- Other Republican members of the US House and US Senate

Contact info for members of the House of Representatives is at:
Member Web Site Listing (by State) - United States House of Representatives, 112th Congress, 1st Session

Democrats in the House and Senate are unlikely to take any action against the FDA, and instead are more likely to defend the FDA (because Obama is a Democrat, and because Congressional Democrats aren't likely to criticize any agencies or policies of the Obama administration).

I suggest snail mail letters, faxed letters, phone calls and posting comments on Congress member's websites (as e-mails are rarely read or responded to by members of Congress except for auto replies, because they get thousands of spammed e-mails daily)

I suggest urging members of Congress to investigate the FDA for:
- unlawfully banning and seizing e-cig imports without going through a formal rulemaking process,
- unlawfully classifying e-cigarettes as "unapproved drug devices" (to try justifying banning them),
- intentionally misrepresenting the health and safety risks of e-cigs (to scare people),
- falsely claiming e-cigs are target marketed to youth (to anger folks), and/or for
- failing to comply with court rulings stating the FDA cannot regulate e-cigs as "drug devices"

And of course, it is very helpful to include a paragraph about your personal experience with e-cigarettes.

It is also best to keep letters to one page.

 

[earthpig]

Bill.
Very good info, and "save" worthy. Wonderful!
Now I gotta load down the links...

Thanks.
I also advocate going after media outlets with similar points.


pig

 

[earthpig]

CES
Yup. Signed up w/ CASAA

 

[candy_93454]

Detailed Results:

Inbound Out of Customs, February 17, 2011, 10:28 am
Inbound Into Customs
Inbound International Arrival, January 26, 2011, 9:36 am, ISC LOS ANGELES CA (USPS)
Foreign International Dispatch, January 24, 2011, 11:32 pm, GUANGZHOU EMS, CHINA PEOPLES REP
Origin Post is Preparing Shipment
Foreign Acceptance, January 24, 2011, 6:58 pm


wow 22 days and numerous amounts of phone calls to customs and my package was mysteriously found lol should be on my door step soon

 

[monsterkitty]

hey everyone; i sent a letter to my senator harry reid, i received a response back today that says;

thank you for your recent inquiry regarding cigarettes. i appreciate knowing your views. i have contacted the food and drug administration on your behalf and have brought this action to the attention of the appropriate officials. they have been asked to review your letter and provide a written response. in the meantime if i can be of further assistance please let me know.

sincerely,

harry reid

what does anyone think of this? is this a typical form letter? i sent the basic letter that was suggested at the beginning of this thread, changed things around a little and gave it a personal touch.

any thoughts about this?

 

[CES]

Well, i sent letters to my state senators. Snail mail. Got unsatisfying snail mail responses too. The responses were somewhat personalized, but still clueless. Neither Jeff Sessions nor Richard Shelby (staunch republicans both- i wouldn't count on party affiliation meaning much) are likely to be much help.

from Sessions

...As you know, the Food and Drug Administration regulates nicotine cessation programs.....

From Shelby

....e-cigarettes are considered to be an unapproved drug device because they have yet to be approved due to a lack of scientific proof confirming their safety and effectiveness. There is currently a ban on importation of e-cigarettes into the United States. However, the products that are currently being sold in the United States have not been seized.

I did send citations and web addresses - but obviously no one looked it up. I should have (and may still) print the information and include it in the letter.

 

[Maxwell_Edison]

from Sessions
...As you know, the Food and Drug Administration regulates nicotine cessation programs.....
From Shelby
....e-cigarettes are considered to be an unapproved drug device because they have yet to be approved due to a lack of scientific proof confirming their safety and effectiveness. There is currently a ban on importation of e-cigarettes into the United States. However, the products that are currently being sold in the United States have not been seized.

This is an innapppriate response, write back and remind them the federal court said the FDA could only regulate e-cigs as tobacco products, not drug devices or cessation products. Ask them to demand the FDA comply with the court ruling, and ask them to compare e-cigs with real cigs when thinking of the e-cigarette. Let them know that as an informed adult you want the freedom to decide which tobacco product you use.
Tell them you voted for them (even if you didn't) to do the right thing in these matters and common sense should prevail on this issue. You can even say you're unhappy with their response and will not vote for them again and will campaign against them if they don't do their job and keep the FDA in check.
That's what I did about my lame response from Sherrod Brown of Ohio.

But I already know they are going to do the will of whoever puts the most money in their pockets.

 

[AngeLsLuv]

Amen to that!! Especially since this new fight is just because of the of residual anti smoking sentiment of people ignorant of the difference between analogs and PV's.

I will let my guard completely down the day I die... Just two steps have been won and I'm happy for that..

 

[earthpig]

In Short here.
I'm not starting out so kind and basically informing the senator in the first letter (since he tried to run a state law through here last year) that he is either misinformed by the FDA (and multiple links are supplied for reference) or a "bought" politician, and I would prefer to think he is misinformed ((But He's Bought,,,I dug up his campaign, contributors)).

Also IF he again runs another bill through the legislature, I will (and others will)mount a voters campaign attack and do everything possible to see he is not re-elected in 2012.

Now this is not a federal office, but instead Terry Link , St Sen. He was the sponsor to an Illinois bill (3174) last year that passed the senate by a massive number but didn't clear the house. Thus it died here in 2010. BUT he will try again, and I'm out to get a jump on this idiot.

To me, a canned response is a insult.

Yeah, I'm a pig...what of it?

 

[Gyrospinup]

Thanks Brewlady,

Sent to my Missouri senators and congressman in D.C. Was a very speedy process. Everybody needs to do this.

 

[AngeLsLuv]

In Short here.
I'm not starting out so kind and basically informing the senator in the first letter (since he tried to run a state law through here last year) that he is either misinformed by the FDA (and multiple links are supplied for reference) or a "bought" politician, and I would prefer to think he is misinformed ((But He's Bought,,,I dug up his campaign, contributors)).

Also IF he again runs another bill through the legislature, I will (and others will)mount a voters campaign attack and do everything possible to see he is not re-elected in 2012.

Now this is not a federal office, but instead Terry Link , St Sen. He was the sponsor to an Illinois bill (3174) last year that passed the senate by a massive number but didn't clear the house. Thus it died here in 2010. BUT he will try again, and I'm out to get a jump on this idiot.

To me, a canned response is a insult.

Yeah, I'm a pig...what of it?

You're not a pig, you are honest...

 

[earthpig]

Ok...An earthpig is an aardvark, so I'm not a pig.
Arnold and Miss Piggy hold no appeal (but I still enjoy Green Acres).

Ya caught me.

Not a pig...not a pig...not a pig....
I feel better now.

 

[AngeLsLuv]

Ok...An earthpig is an aardvark, so I'm not a pig.
Arnold and Miss Piggy hold no appeal (but I still enjoy Green Acres).

Ya caught me.

Not a pig...not a pig...not a pig....
I feel better now.

*LOL* Good!!! You crack me up... Sooooo you are an aardvark and I'm a kitten... Happy for this forum, would be difficult for us to meet any other way

"Green Acres" was a cool show... If I remember my youth, it was on Sunday nights after "Ed Sullivan"...

 

[earthpig]

I still catch Grn Acres on one of the high end satellite christian channels about 3pm central.
I always love seeing Lisa pour a cup of coffee and cut it off with scissors. OLLI VAH!

""Oh, and it wouldn't work...cause your a cat, and I'm a pig.""" (When Arnold broke up with Haney's, Basset Hound he said a similar thing. A sad moment.)

Vark
.....


Pig

 

[artizhay]

Will send one soon.

 

[willbeein2003]

Thank you for providing the links and the sample letter. It was very easy to add my personal story, cut and paste, and send to my officials. One person may not be able to make a difference, but if every one person who belongs to this forum would do this we really could make a difference.

If vaping has saved you then please take the ten minutes to do this. I can't lose vaping and I don't think many of us can.

 

[Sassyonemeis]

You can go directly to their site and read this article and way more about how corrupt the FDA is and also how congress is in collusion with the corruption.

Publications

Not surprising. There are law firms fast onto them, but nothing can be done when the people who are in charge are in collusion with those we are trying to change.

 

[Shadoza]

Can one of our eloquent writers draw up a generic letter that we can use as a guideline for writing our representatives?

I would write mine, but I have no idea what to really say. I would probably ramble on so much that he wouldn't understand the point of my letter... I know there is no research really on these products. But I do know that since I started vaping and not really smoking (maybe 5 a week compared to almost 30 a day before I vaped) I have no cough, I don't get out of breath, and all of my things smell better.

 

[malyden]

While its helpful to encourage all US House and Senate members to investigate the FDA for its outrageous actions regarding e-cigarettes, members of Congress who are most likely to act on our requests include (in order of importance):

- Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, especially Chairman Darrell Issa
Oversight Team

- Republican Staff of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
https://wb-gop-oversight.house.gov/

- Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, especially Chairman Fred Upton
U.S. House of Representatives: Committee on Energy and Commerce, Republicans

- Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Health, especially Chairman Joe Pitts
U.S. House of Representatives: Committee on Energy and Commerce, Republicans : Subcommittees

- Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, especially Chairman Cliff Stearns (who was/is an e-cigarette user)
U.S. House of Representatives: Committee on Energy and Commerce, Republicans : Subcommittees

- Other Republican members of the US House and US Senate

Contact info for members of the House of Representatives is at:
Member Web Site Listing (by State) - United States House of Representatives, 112th Congress, 1st Session

Democrats in the House and Senate are unlikely to take any action against the FDA, and instead are more likely to defend the FDA (because Obama is a Democrat, and because Congressional Democrats aren't likely to criticize any agencies or policies of the Obama administration).

I suggest snail mail letters, faxed letters, phone calls and posting comments on Congress member's websites (as e-mails are rarely read or responded to by members of Congress except for auto replies, because they get thousands of spammed e-mails daily)

I suggest urging members of Congress to investigate the FDA for:
- unlawfully banning and seizing e-cig imports without going through a formal rulemaking process,
- unlawfully classifying e-cigarettes as "unapproved drug devices" (to try justifying banning them),
- intentionally misrepresenting the health and safety risks of e-cigs (to scare people),
- falsely claiming e-cigs are target marketed to youth (to anger folks), and/or for
- failing to comply with court rulings stating the FDA cannot regulate e-cigs as "drug devices"

And of course, it is very helpful to include a paragraph about your personal experience with e-cigarettes.

It is also best to keep letters to one page.

Thank you for this information.

 

[CES]

Check out the EFC library Shadoza- Although there's not a huge amount of research, there's more information on e-cigs than the media or FDA reports.