A blogger writing for a group that calls itself the "Alliance of Electronic Smokers" warns his fellow e-cig advocates that they should not pretend the product is anything but a recreational device. To make other claims would draw the attention of the FDA.
"Yes, it is great that a side effect of using e-cigarettes is that some folks quit smoking completely, go to zero nicotine, but for the most part people will be using them as alternatives to smoking or they will return once again to traditional cigarettes...WE are not saving lives with this cession crap; instead we are feeding the FDA ammunition to use against us," the blogger writes.
The FDA has sent warning letters to five e-cigarette companies telling them, among other things, that they are making unsubstantiated claims that they are a smoking-cessation aid. If that is the case, then they must go through FDA regulatory approval as drug-delivery devices.
Meanwhile, The Tennessean reports that one of the five companies warned by the FDA, PureSmoker, is fighting back. "It's ludicrous to regulate this as a drug, when we make no health claims whatsoever," says PureSmoker owner Steve McVey.
- read the blog
- check out the Tennessean report