Hey guys:
I wrote Claire McCaskill last month inquiring about e-cigs. I thought you might like to see her reply:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the regulation of electronic cigarettes. I appreciate hearing from you and welcome the opportunity to respond.
As you may know, the Family Smoking Prevention and tobacco Control Act of 2009 (TCA, Public Law 111-31) gave the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate tobacco products. Under the TCA, tobacco products are subject to a number of controls, including registration, product and ingredient listing, good manufacturing practice requirements, and adulteration and misbranding provisions, among others. The TCA immediately placed cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco, and smokeless tobacco under these requirements. The law also allows the FDA to extend these controls to other categories of tobacco products in future rulemaking.
While the FDA originally regulated electronic cigarettes as drug/device combination products, in 2010 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that, unless they were marketed for therapeutic purposes, the FDA could only regulate electronic cigarettes as tobacco products. In the FDA's most recent regulatory agenda, it announced that in April, 2013, it would be issuing proposed regulations regarding tobacco products subject to regulation under the TCA. While it is possible that the FDA may address the regulation of electronic cigarettes at that time, you may be interested to know that the TCA explicitly prohibits the FDA from banning certain tobacco products or requiring the elimination of nicotine in tobacco products.
Please know that I will keep your views in mind should legislation regarding electronic cigarettes come before the full Senate for a vote.
Again, thank you for contacting me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I can be of further assistance to you on this or any other issue.
Sincerely,
Claire McCaskill
United States Senator
I wrote Claire McCaskill last month inquiring about e-cigs. I thought you might like to see her reply:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the regulation of electronic cigarettes. I appreciate hearing from you and welcome the opportunity to respond.
As you may know, the Family Smoking Prevention and tobacco Control Act of 2009 (TCA, Public Law 111-31) gave the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate tobacco products. Under the TCA, tobacco products are subject to a number of controls, including registration, product and ingredient listing, good manufacturing practice requirements, and adulteration and misbranding provisions, among others. The TCA immediately placed cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco, and smokeless tobacco under these requirements. The law also allows the FDA to extend these controls to other categories of tobacco products in future rulemaking.
While the FDA originally regulated electronic cigarettes as drug/device combination products, in 2010 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that, unless they were marketed for therapeutic purposes, the FDA could only regulate electronic cigarettes as tobacco products. In the FDA's most recent regulatory agenda, it announced that in April, 2013, it would be issuing proposed regulations regarding tobacco products subject to regulation under the TCA. While it is possible that the FDA may address the regulation of electronic cigarettes at that time, you may be interested to know that the TCA explicitly prohibits the FDA from banning certain tobacco products or requiring the elimination of nicotine in tobacco products.
Please know that I will keep your views in mind should legislation regarding electronic cigarettes come before the full Senate for a vote.
Again, thank you for contacting me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I can be of further assistance to you on this or any other issue.
Sincerely,
Claire McCaskill
United States Senator