The FDA has decided to contest the decision from the US District Court who ruled they have no jurisdiction concerning the selling of the stop smoking device the e-cig. The District Court ruled that as the newest stop smoking device isn’t deemed a medical treatment, the Food and Drug Administration lacks the ability to regulate and control them. The Food and Drug Administration has taken issue with the District Court’s stand even while they acknowledge the e-cigarette may actually be good for tobacco users trying to give up smoking cigarettes just as methadone helps opioid addicts with their habit.
For those unfamiliar with this new product, it has become the trendiest cigarette cessation product since the introduction of NRT (nicotine replacement treatment). It is a battery operated system that is designed to totally resemble a tobacco cigarette. Once the operator takes a breath through the device, it produces a little shot of water vapor that contains just nicotine. They are also refillable and rechargeable which makes them significantly less expensive than using tobacco. One of the benefits with regard to their design is that the nicotine refills are available in several strengths from 55 mg to zero mg nicotine letting the user to incrementally taper down their nicotine consumption without having withdrawal difficulties.
Smokers spend upwards of $1.3 billion dollars each year for stopping smoking programs. Add to this the $60 billion each year smokers invest in cigarettes and you can see how controlling the smokefree cigarette market could very well be influenced by more than the Food and Drug Administration’s concern for the safety and health of US citizens. Users of the e-smoke realize this ulterior motive and have become a fierce and powerful group who insist the Food & Drug Administration recognize electronic cigarettes as being a safer replacement for smoking cigarettes. Opposition of the ecigarette, such as ALA (American Lung Association) and Food and Drug Administration, want them restricted until their safety can be established.
The FDA has tried in the past to acquire regulation over the smokefree cigarette. The original attempt was noting a currently debunked study making claims the nicotine liquids used to refill the smokeless cigarette contained dangerous toxins. A study commissioned by a major electric cigarette manufacturer has since discovered the Food and Drug Administration’s analysis utilized flawed technical evaluation procedures and therefore is invalid. Currently, the ruling against the FDA’s claim that smokeless cigarettes are health related products appears yet another nail in the coffin of the Food and Drug Administration’s effort to regulate them.
There are absolutely a few unknowns linked to the ecig like the long-term effects of their use. However the fact remains, they are by far a much better option to cigarette smoking. Rather than the FDA wasting hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on court expenses to achieve control over the e-cigarette, perhaps they ought to initiate an intensive investigation of their health effects. That is if, of course, they are truthfully worried about the health and well being of smokeless cigarette users.
Posted in 
Tags: 