Are Electronic Cigarettes Being Regulated By FDA?

There has been some recent news reports about the FDA going to start regulating electronic cigarettes like they regulate regular cigarettes. We are going to dig into this to see what this means for electronic cigarette smokers.

We found one of the most comprehensive reports published by webmd.com on the FDA Regulating eCigarettes.

Basically what is happening is that there has been claims that eCigarettes are a way to stop smoking cigarettes.  This has gotten a lot of press lately because this is kind of like making a medical claim that just isn’t based in truth.

The battle is between whether or not these are being used as medical devices or just another drug delivery device.  What the FDA has come to in a decision is that ecigs are not a medical device to help people quit smoking, they are to be regulated like regular cigarettes.

Another reason that electronic cigarettes can’t be regulated as a medical device is because they haven’t had the medical testing that is usually done with animals or human studies.  Which is something that governments make medical devices go through.

All electronic cigarettes have tried to do is be a substitute for real cigarettes.  But a lot of groups in the world don’t see it this way and want to see further regulation for electronic cigarettes, but as of now electronic cigarettes are unregulated.

Being unregulated we are unsure if this is a good or bad thing.  Being regulated would probably make them more expensive than they are currently, but also being regulated will likely make the production of these devices become more standardized.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this as we are curious.  So please leave us a comment and we will join in the conversation.

FDA Cannot Regulate E-Cigarettes As Drug

It not so breaking news, the FDA has lost an appeal to regulate electronic cigarettes as drugs as they are now classified as a tobacco product. The ruling means the government can oversee the marketing of the products, not restrict their sale.

One of the bigger names in the case is electronic cigarette maker Sottera Inc., which does business as Njoy. They made their case that their products, battery-powered devices that generate a nicotine vapor instead of smoke, are tobacco products and not drugs. E-cigarettes are marketed as a tobacco alternative for “smoking pleasure,” rather than for therapeutic uses, the company said.

“We’re thrilled,” Craig Weiss, the president of Scottsdale, Arizona-based Njoy, said in a telephone interview. “Now we can continue to sell e-cigarettes under the regulations of the Tobacco Act.”

According to a Businessweek story that ran in early December:

“This ruling invites the creation of a wild west of products containing highly addictive nicotine, an alarming prospect for public health,” the group said in an e-mailed statement. “We urge the government to appeal this ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

What do you think of this ruling? Is it fair? Are big tobacco companies scared of this new threat or was the FDA finally put in their place? Let us know in the comments below.