Smokeless Image, a small Hoboken
shop that exclusively sells e-cigarettes and their accessories, would be dealt a huge blow if the FDA passed a rule and pulled e-cigarettes while they were put
through clinical trials to determine health risks. After opening last August, co-owner Antoinette Lanza said, the
shop reached profitability in six months and expects to double its revenue this year.
Even though she doesn't actually make the products her store sells, she still has to be careful about what she tells potential customers.
...
E-cigarette consumers feel they have a stake in this, too, said Greg Conley, legislative director at the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association, an advocacy group for e-cigarette users, because many would be reluctant to go back to smoking cigarettes.
"Any rule that the FDA comes up with should not make e-cigarettes harder to get and not apply the same approval process to e-cigarettes as regular cigarettes," he said. "We are hopeful at this time that the FDA will not institute a rule that would essentially ban all these products that have been introduced since 2007."
