Summary
Even major tobacco companies are now considering E-cigarettes, but the FDA is dead set against them. This is a harbinger of how FDA will use their new authority to regulate tobacco.
Analysis
E-Cigarettes are, on their face, much safer that tobacco cigarettes. Every day, smokers are using E-cigarettes to quit their deadly habit. E-cigarettes are a unique and important tool adult smokers can use to help quit smoking. The alternatives are for mostly ineffective; even the best pharmaceutical approaches have dismally low quit rates. So today's warning by the FDA undermines the public health imperative to give people more tools to quit smoking.
Deputy Commissioner Dr. Joshua Sharfstein who was behind today's warning, used to work for Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA). Waxman was the chief House sponsor of the bill which gave Dr. Sharfstein at the FDA control over tobacco. That legislation took the position that "harm reduction" is not a legitimate approach to get people to help smoking. Dr. Sharfstein and Rep. Waxman believe smokers should simply quit with 100% completely "safe" methods, or just continue to smoke deadly tobacco.
The FDA seems to have forgotten that it is the combustion and inhaling of tobacoo, not nicotine, which is responsible for the harmful consequences of smoking. There is no tobacco and no combustion in e-cigarettes.
Jeff Stier consults with leading institutions through GLG
Analyses are solely the work of the authors and have not been edited or endorsed by GLG.
