Hey, Hey, FDA, Whaddaya Say: Are E-Cigarettes Safe, Okay?

   

(Top Photo) Smoke in lungs: dangerous to your health   

(Bottom) No smoke: battery-powered, electronic cigarette 

What the hell is an e-cigarette?

Is it dangerous or safe?  

Is marketing the fake cigarette ethical?

And, where is the Food and Drug Administration on this?   Even though the FDA has been missing-in-inaction for a long time on a whole range of products and issues, it sounds as if they just might respond to this one.

WHAT IS AN E-CIGARETTE?

The e-cigarette, or "electronic cigarette," looks like a real cigarette, glows at its tip like a cigarette and contains nicotine like a cigarette. But it's not a cigarette -- it's a stainless-steel tube.

"When someone puffs on an e-cigarette, a computer-aided sensor activates a heating element that vaporizes a solution -- usually containing nicotine -- in the mouthpiece," reports San Jose Mercury News. "The resulting mist -- which comes in flavors such as chocolate and cherry -- can be inhaled. A light-emitting diode on the tip of the e-cigarette simulates the glow of burning tobacco. The device is powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery."

The e-cigarette was invented in China several years ago. "The Chinese consumed 2 trillion cigarettes in 2007," writes Dr. David Moore, a psychologist and chemical dependency professional, who writes for the New York Daily News. "In the first 11 months of last year, their tobacco sales were up 18 percent! The result was a health system overloaded with fatalities and weakened cardiopulmonary systems. Is it any wonder that China started and still leads the world in e-cigarette marketing?"

WHAT DOES THE FDA SAY ABOUT E-CIGARETTES?

The FDA considers e-cigs "new drugs,"  which means they need approval from the FDA -- and that requires that claims to be backed up with scientific data. And that just hasn't happened. There are a lot of claims, but no studies with any evidence. Even though FDA officials have been quoted in numerous publications in recent weeks saying e-cigarettes must have FDA prior approval before they are allowed to be sold, they ARE being sold in the U.S. And no action is being taken to remove e-cigarettes from the market, reports Fox Business .

ARE E-CIGARETTES DANGEROUS OR SAFE?

No one knows for sure whether e-cigs are dangerous or not. Apparently no studies have been done regarding their health effects or effectiveness as cessation aids. However, makers and retailers of the products are making unproven health claims, claiming the e-cigs are safer than normal cigarettes and that they're a product that can help addicted smokers to quit smoking.  Without scientific evidence, these claims are in violation of FDA rules. 

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Assn., the American Lung Assn. and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids all agree with Sen. Frank Lautenberg(N.J.) calling for the FDA "to exert its authority and immediately remove e-cigarettes from the market."

In September, the World Health Organization warned that so-called "electronic cigarettes" are not an effective nicotine-replacement therapy and may be highly poisonous. The e-cigs, which are usually made of stainless steel, have a chamber for storing liquid nicotine in different concentrations. They produce a fine, heated mist that's absorbed into the lungs.

"It's 100 percent false to affirm this is a therapy for smokers to quit," WHO anti-tobacco official Douglas Bettcher said. "There are a number of chemical additives in the product that could be very toxic," as quoted in U.S. News & World Report. 

The World Health Organization is  particularly concerned because some manufacturers of the devices use the WHO's name and logo in advertisements packaging.    

Promoters claim e-cigs are a perfect way to quit smoking -- nicotine mist has none of the tar or other cancer-causing agents of tobacco smoke -- but has the touch and feel of smoking. Boosters say that means the e-cigarette is better than other nicotine-delivery systems -- patches, chewing gum, aerosol sprays and inhalers. Since levels of nicotine can be adjusted, supporters say smokers can wean themselves from nicotine. Another pro-factor from boosters is that the e-cigarette can be used in public where tobacco use is banned.

 

IS IT ETHICAL TO RE-CREATE "SMOKING CULTURE" ?

Anti-smoking groups emphasize that is precisely the problem -- that the e-cigarettes will bring back a "smoking culture."

"I understand why people use the nicotine replacement aids," said Serena Chen, regional tobacco policy director of the American Lung Assn. in California. "But I don't understand why people want to pretend that they're smoking."   

Chen fears that ex-smokers will conclude that the e-cigarette is harmless and be lured back into the smoking trap.

SHOULD YOU GIVE SERIAL KILLERS A RUBBER KNIFE?

"If you had a serial killer who liked to stab people, would you give him a rubber knife?" she  asked. "This just boggles the mind."  

Product aficionados say the e-cigarette is better for you than smoking.  But there is a mixture of chemicals which is taken into the lungs that may be poisonous.

Sales of e-cigs have been on the rise in the United Kingdom, Geneva, Sweden and Brazil for several years, reports CNN. In Britain, tests by trading standards officers found the concentration of nicotine in come e-cigarette products would normally need the label "highly toxic" and they are already banned in Australia, reports BBC News.

WHERE ARE THE CLINICAL STUDIES?

So, if the marketers of the electronic cigarette want to help smokers quit, how come they don't conduct clinical studies and toxicity analyses?

My guess is that they already have conducted these tests and not only do they not have evidence of safety, but probably have evidence that the opposite is true -- e-cigs are toxic and dangerous to one's health. Hello! I believe when organizations like the World Health Organization, the American Lung Assn., the American Heart Assn. and the American Cancer Society warn us and tell the FDA to remove e-cigarettes from the market that we should listen.

And, the U.S. Federal Drug Administration should listen too. FDA officials have been beating their chests some of late, but still have not removed the e-cigarettes off the market -- even when there is no doubt that their sales are illegal. Why do we have laws to protect the health of our citizens when our regulators refuse to enforce them?

THE FACTS ARE SOBERING

We know smoking is deleterious to our health and kills many. So, it's not surprising that we're desperate to find more effective ways to help addicted smokers stop. The facts are sobering and show just how much we need methods of successful smoking cessation:

• In any given year, a mere 3 percent of smokers trying to quit will succeed.

• In the U.S., there are about 45 million adult and 5 million youth smokers.

• Every year, some 60 percent of smokers are actively trying to quit.

• Of the 30 million people who are trying to quit smoking cigarettes, only 1.5 million succeed.

The sobering fact is, once you have the smoking habit, your odds are overwhelmingly poor that you will be able to quit:

• Cigarettes are 1,000 times more potent than alcohol.

• Smoking is 10 to 100 times more potent than barbiturates, and five to 10 times more potent than cocaine or morphine.

The cost of stopping your cigarette habit does not have to be breathing toxic poisons into your lungs from a pretend cigarette.

MOST RECENT POST ON E-CIGARETTES:

"E-CIGARETTES PROHIBITED IN NEW JERSEY PUBLIC AND WORKPLACES" CLICK HERE TO READ.

TO READ "E-CIGARETTE FOLLOW UP: INHALE THIS -- BA-BYE" CLICK HERE.

TO READ "FDA WARNS: E-CIGARETTES CONTAIN HARMFUL TOXINS, CANCER CAUSING CHEMICALS AND ANTIFREEZE COMPOUND"  CLICK HERE.

TO READ "E-CIGARETTES NOT SAFE: OREGON SUES IMPORTER, PILOTS WANT TO BAN AS FIRE DANGER" CLICK HERE.

By Sharon McEachern

Comments

[Jerimiah]

Check out this information from the University of Alberta.

http://www.tobaccoharmreduction.org/

[Sharon McEachern]

Jerimiah -- I did check out the website you recommended. It is not really information officially from the University of Alberta. It is all written by Dr. Carl V. Phillips, an associate professor in the School of Public Health. Phillips and the information contained on the website are pro-smokeless tobacco (read: nicotine).

Most importantly when judging Phillips' objectivity is the fact that HIS RESEARCH IS FINANCIALLY SUPPORTED BY A GRANT FROM U.S. SMOKELESS TOBACCO CO.

I recommend that you check out the Dec. 21, 2008 editorial "No Safe Alternative" from "The Edmonton Journal," which begins: "It's hard to understand why the University of Alberta still employs apologists for Big Tobacco.

"Prof. Carl V. Phillips's unimaginative defence of "new and promising ideas" that can "reduce...risks by 99 per cent" would be laughable if he wasn't serious."

The Oral Surgeons Assn. calls Phillips' pro-smokeless tobacco stance "...like telling someone to use a rifle instead of an Uzi." Phillips himself notes that oral cancer is a major, well-established health risk associated with the use of smokeless tobacco.

Sharon McEachern

[Sar]

I have been two-packs-a-day smoker for many years and every attempt to quit failed. I've tried them all, from cold turkey to gums and patches, medication, acupuncture. The only thing that worked for me was e-cigarettes. I went from two packs to no pack.

Of course, I am concerned that e-cigarettes could be harmful. However, one thing I know is that regular cigarettes I used to smoke ARE DANGEROUS and that they were killing me. So I switched to something that merely MIGHT be harmful. To me, the risk was and is worth it. I've seen cancer patients that had to make similar choice when they agreed to chemo-therapy. They knew that cancer was killing them and they decided that getting toxic chemicals into their bodies was worth it.

With e-cigarettes there is no proof about any toxic chemicals or danger. There have been some studies done about e-cigarettes, for example by Health New Zealand (http://www.healthnz.co.nz/RuyanCartridgeReport30-Oct-08.pdf).

Of course, more is needed. I am not nicotine free, but I am smoke and carcinogens free today. My goal is to become nicotine free too. That may take few months, maybe even a year or two. But I am willing to take the risk of POTENTIAL harm of e-cigarettes against the CERTAIN death from tobacco any day. If the government bans e-cigarettes to "protect" me from potential harm, it will be sentencing me to certain death from smoking.