My opinion on regulating, etc.

[Tober138]

I agree with you that the studies need to be done first...but I do believe that the regulations need to be in place as soon as possible.

How long have e-cigs been around? Someone needs to jump in and get these studies done and widely, publicly disperse the true information. Once someone gets off their a** and does the studies, the regulations can be correctly put in place and everyone (on both sides of the fence) can breath easier (pun intended).

Someone needs to provide the $ to get these studies done in the first place. I doubt most e-cig manufacturers have that kind of cash lying around. For all FDA approved drugs - it was the manufacturer that ponied up the costs to run the trials in the first place.

 

[Magus86]

Regulation is fine and good, provided that it's not based on lies, and not made in the interest of lining someone's pockets. The trouble is, regulations are rarely made for any other interest. The government does not give a .... about you and your health. Don't think for a second they do. Back when Reagan was president, an artificial sweetener was going thru the FDA. It is called aspartame. It is found in almost anything claiming to have reduced sugar or no sugar/no carbs. It is in all diet soda as far as I'm aware. When tested, it was found to cause all kinds of health problems. Some people get headaches from it, some people get symptoms that mimic those of multiple sclorosis. Whoever was in charge of deciding whether or not the FDA would officially approve it and allow its use at the time refused to approve it. For whatever reason, Reagan decided to fire him and hire someone who would approve it in his place. The government allows all kinds of bull.... in your food, chemicals that are addictive, others that actually make you hungry so you eat more of it, and god knows what. This is all on the watch of the FDA. They don't want you to be healthy. They want you to be sick so you can buy the drugs that help you live with whatever problems you have as opposed to solving them. If they got rid of your healthy issues, you would no longer buy their product because you would be cured and have no need for it. They changed the laws so that only a DRUG can be claimed to be for treating or curing any diseases, and they've invented diseases just to push drugs. If anybody makes any official claims that their product can cure, treat, or prevent any ailments/diseases, and the product is not a drug, they can get into serious trouble and have their .... seized. Knowing what corrupt sons of .....es the FDA and the government is today, I do not want any regulations. All they want to do is make everything more and more expensive to widen the gap between the classes and keep people stupid, unhealthy, and ignorant so they don't try to do anything about it. This is a sad place... Anytime someone does something to actually try and help people, the government steps in to put an end to it.

 

[Tober138]

Just look at the petition linked in my signature...

In nearly four months all we have is just over 3,000 signatures.
That's pathetic.

Well I am one of those that have not signed it.

Maybe it is the scientist in me, but I do not think these organizations should simply be encouraged to, "support the sale and use of electronic cigarettes as a reduced harm option for committed adult smokers."

Now if it was a petition asking them to support further testing to provide additional clinical data to determine if e-cigs are, in fact, a safer alternative to smoking, and to ask them to reserve judgement / stop vilifying these devices until such time as more data becomes available, then I could sign that.

 

[DC2]

Well I am one of those that have not signed it.

Maybe it is the scientist in me, but I do not think these organizations should simply be encouraged to, "support the sale and use of electronic cigarettes as a reduced harm option for committed adult smokers."

Now if it was a petition asking them to support further testing to provide additional clinical data to determine if e-cigs are, in fact, a safer alternative to smoking, and to ask them to reserve judgement / stop vilifying these devices until such time as more data becomes available, then I could sign that.

That's certainly a position I can respect.
But I doubt that is the reason so many other people have not signed the petition.

 

[VapnNow]

I think in theory it’s great to think of the perfect FDA coming in and making sure that the juice is pure and the vapors are safe. I think it’s great to talk about having “basic regulations”. Maybe I’m to old and have seen how things change to many times. I can’t think of one time they have come into a product and started with basic anything. Even the nicotine gums were prescription only in the beginning. It took 12 years before they were available without a prescription. I can see the ecig made into a drug delivery device then it will be the Pharmaceutical companies making the juice and you’ll need a prescription to obtain. If the tobacco companies have control they will have to comply with whatever regulations the FDA decided to implicate for the manufacturing of the units and juice. This is not something that is going to happen fast. They have to decide how this is going to be taxed, how to package, who can make the juice in which FDA approved labs etc. What the Government gets into isn’t fast or efficient. Also just because stuff comes from a Government inspected place does not ensure that it is safe. I think we can look at our past, egg recalls, meat recalls, dog food recalls to name a few. Look at the August recalls for the drug companies. Injections for pediatric patients recalled because of foreign substance glass like particles over 34,000 vials. This is just one of a large scroll down page of recalls for drugs. Hip replacement recalls. I guess what I am trying to say is there is no guarantee everything will be perfectly safe just because the FDA is involved and things are regulated. After years of testing look how many drugs have been recalled after they were in practical use because the test reports were altered to make things look better for approval. So for me I don’t know what the answer is. It would be great to have some basic standards but as I said I don’t think this is what is going to happen. I know that this device has got me off cigarettes. I know my lungs feel better, I can walk farther, breathe easier and have more energy. I knew that when I started with vaping I knew it was unapproved by our government and I made the decision to try it anyway. My decision and I’ll assume the risk. Each person has to make this decision until the government becomes involved and then they will make the decision for you. Just my opinion.

 

[Automaton]

VapnNow - I do see your point, and it's a valid one.

But as I stated before, we are already have serious quality control issues, and there's not even a recall option. It's true having FDA approval won't eliminate that, but it would make it less likely.

Someone said earlier that we should try to angle it to go under similar guidelines as alcohol - I think that's a good idea. Might they tax it? Probably. They probably will no matter what (unless they ban it). But we'd get our minimal regulation with no other fiddling.

I don't think we should try to get it endorsed by the FDA as a quit-smoking aid. Word of mouth works fine for that. No need to jump through all those hoops.

I just think that we have some serious quality control issues which, at present, have no way of being monitored, not even by word of mouth. And we are talking about a lethal substance.

As e-cigs mainstream and the "new user" market grows, there will be a lot of people who are less dedicated to vaping as a hobby than most of the people here picking up e-cigs. And I don't think it's right to just say that it's a cut-throat world if they happen to get dangerous juice. They just want to quit smoking. No one should be punished for such an admirable goal.

And we could lessen that possibility by taking a very intentioned and elegant approach to how we deal with the FDA.

 

[memorysan]

I think many of us will agree that there needs to be a basic regulation as far as quality control, safety, labeling, and sell to minors.

We all agree with that, but don't trust the government to stop with that. We believe that once the government gets their hands on it, they will go too far...much further that what is needed...and the regulation we need to ensure we have a safe product will turn into temporary bans on what we are using to become healthy and taxes making it more expensive to become healthy.

Why is is that we can't expect our government to protect us without fear of them making it harder to improve our own health?

 

[Serpentine]

I don't have a whole lot of trust for the FDA being a good regulator of product. As a diabetic who watches all these type 2 drugs come out actually cause harm and even kill diabetics...yeah. I know the FDA is about one thing anymore, and that is *ka-ching*. Now if there was a reliable way to test nic levels, I think that would be a good thing.

But my gut feeling is that this is going to end up in some kind of fight. Either Big Tobacco is going to smell money in this and start making sure things go their way with the FDA to get all nicotine distribution into their hands, or the anti-smoking lobby is going to campaign that vaping is just like smoking. I just don't see a middle ground here knowing the way these things seem to go. There's not going to be any common sense on this issue, I'm afraid.

 

[foggy1]

I've read thru 48 posts on regulation, and I think most of us agree that we want a SAFE product that is NOT marketed to children. If we could get some major college or honest private testing done to show how well e-cigs help those of us using nicotine, then we could get the support needed to fight Big Tobacco and to set up safety standards OURSEVLES. I am new to all this but willing to do whatever is needed to stop any intervention into something that has the potential to help so many. E-cig use is rapidly growing and so is our support, but only if we can get the truth out before the FDA shuts us down.
I'm signature #3340 on the petition below and hope it does some good.
(I think we could come up with something a little stronger)
Any other ideas out there ? foggy1 (craig)

Have you signed this yet? I have!
(the artwork for the petition didn't copy here, perhaps I don't have enuff posts)

A Petition for the FDA and many other organizations to change their policy and support the sale and use of ecigarettes as a reduced harm option for committed adult smokers.

 

[Poppa D]

Froggy1,
Give us a link or an address.

 

[DC2]

I've read thru 48 posts on regulation, and I think most of us agree that we want a SAFE product that is NOT marketed to children. If we could get some major college or honest private testing done to show how well e-cigs help those of us using nicotine, then we could get the support needed to fight Big Tobacco and to set up safety standards OURSEVLES. I am new to all this but willing to do whatever is needed to stop any intervention into something that has the potential to help so many. E-cig use is rapidly growing and so is our support, but only if we can get the truth out before the FDA shuts us down.

CASAA is us, organized from our ranks, voted for by us...
CASAA | The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-Free Alternatives Association

They have their own subforum here...
CASAA - E-Cigarette Forum

They are working in concert with others to fund one study right now...
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/casaa/110033-support-ivaqs-research-study.html

Give us a link or an address.

Just click the banner in my signature.