Hi fellow Halons. I thought that the below article would be of interest to many of you (if you have not already heard):
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/24/white-house-weakened-draf_n_5527943.html
The article's most salient point for our purposes:
In April, the FDA issued a proposal which would subject the $2 billion e-cigarette industry to federal regulation for the first time. It would ban the sale of e-cigarettes to people under the age of 18 and vending machine sales.
...
In its draft, the FDA had proposed "prohibition of non-face-to-face sales (e.g. vending machines)." That would have opened the door to a ban on online sales. But [the White House's Office of Management and Budget ("OMB")] edited the sentence so that the prohibition refers only to vending machines.
...
Similarly, OMB modified or deleted FDA concerns about the safety of e-cigarettes, including manufacturing quality.
It deleted FDA draft language saying it would review electronic cigarette cartridges to respond to evidence of poor quality control, variable nicotine content or toxic ingredients such as diethylene glycol, a chemical that the FDA said has caused mass poisonings in products such as the painkiller acetaminophen and cough syrup.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/24/white-house-weakened-draf_n_5527943.html
The article's most salient point for our purposes:
In April, the FDA issued a proposal which would subject the $2 billion e-cigarette industry to federal regulation for the first time. It would ban the sale of e-cigarettes to people under the age of 18 and vending machine sales.
...
In its draft, the FDA had proposed "prohibition of non-face-to-face sales (e.g. vending machines)." That would have opened the door to a ban on online sales. But [the White House's Office of Management and Budget ("OMB")] edited the sentence so that the prohibition refers only to vending machines.
...
Similarly, OMB modified or deleted FDA concerns about the safety of e-cigarettes, including manufacturing quality.
It deleted FDA draft language saying it would review electronic cigarette cartridges to respond to evidence of poor quality control, variable nicotine content or toxic ingredients such as diethylene glycol, a chemical that the FDA said has caused mass poisonings in products such as the painkiller acetaminophen and cough syrup.
