Currently, the electronic cigarette remains unclassified. The WHO (World Health Organization) has said on several occasions that the “electronic cigarette should not be marketed as a smoking cessation device”. And all who use it know that it is not a tobacco cigarette. So where should it fall?
The device itself, consisting of a battery and an atomizer is a vaporizer. As far as we can tell, vaporizers are legal and even though attempts have been made to ban vaporizers for alcohol and marijuana consumption, a very slim few have ever passed. All information we found shows that banning such items would not hinder the war on drugs and would eliminate consumption avenues for legal products. It’s not the pipe, it’s what is in the pipe. And our pipes, vaporizers, smoking machines, have nicotine liquid in them.
In my research this morning, I think I may have found where the e-cigarette could potentially fit. My suggestion is that we look into the rules and regulations of becoming a Homeopathic or Allopathic drug.
Why? The Homeopathic drugs are submitted to HPCUS, The Homœopathic Pharmacopœia of the United States. Now, with NICOWater, they were contacted by the FDA and re-forumulated their nicotine concentration to be below 4 mg per dose which drops them into the homeopathic category. Further testing will need to be done on the various nicotine levels of ELiquid to determine if it falls under 4 mg per dose. And technically, as the no nicotine has no nicotine, does it need to be regulated at all?
With homeopathic drugs, you present to HPCUS as you would to the FDA, but you need two clinical trials and samples. (Of which we will be able to provide with the Auckland study and another doctor who has been working on his own tests). The process is shorter and faster.
And as long as you are under 4 mg, you can still be considered a homeopathic drug instead of an NRT (Nicotine Replacement Therapy). Under homeopathic, you can make claims such as: Healthier Alternative. Under homeopathic you cannot make claims that it is a cessation device.
Allopathic drugs go through the FDA, but don’t seem to be held to the same restrictive process as an NRT/NDP. They are a bit more cumbersome to achieve because we will have to go through the FDA. With the peanut butter issues they are having right now, it could take a minimum of 5-10 years, just to hit someones desk.
I thought I would put this out there so others could help me on my lead. We all talk of where does the e-cig fit. Either way, we at Instead DO NOT feeling the e-cigarette should be lumped into the NRT/NDP category and we don’t want to be lumped into the tobacco category because we are not tobacco. Tomatoes, eggplant and even chiles are all a part of the nightshade family, the group of plants that contain nicotine. Are they tobacco?
Here is another interesting note: FDA doesn’t have control of tobacco (as of the date of the posting), however, their formula looks kind of like this – “Device” = tobacco = nicotine-delivery device but tobacco does not = class of device.
Dosing info is important. The industry will have to come up with something that can be agreed upon in order to move forward with any regulation in any form.
So, originally, we went with the “standard” dose per tobacco cigarette as put forth by the tobacco industry AND our nicotine liquid manufacturer. They both say that a dose is approximately 14 puffs from a tobacco cigarette. Since we know that we must pacify the anti-smoking campaign, we have decided to use their counts for puffs per dose. They can hardly argue against their own determinations. Ignoring puff counts: another shortcoming of the Federal Trade Commission cigarette testing programme — Kozlowski et al. 17 (1): i6 — Tobacco Control.
So what happens if the electronic cigarette is approved by HPCUS to be a homeopathic drug? Then the electronic cigarette will be able to be sold, as it is now: Over the counter without a prescription. It is a “smoking alternative”. It is not a smoking cessation device and therefore, still cannot be marketed as such. It is simply an option for smokers who want to smoke something.
Now, there is an argument that smoking an electronic cigarette is not “smoking” but “vaping”. So lets look at the words and what they really mean.
Vaping comes from vap – That which is vapid, insipid, or lifeless; especially, the lifeless part of liquor or wine. If a vaporizer turns a liquid into a vapor, then how is the action of a vaporizer, vaping? Smoking is the act of smoking tobacco or other substances. So where did “vaping” come from? Vaping is urban slang for smoking marijuana or tobacco through a vaporizer. Clearly, the action of inhaling an electronic cigarettes vapor could be classified as smoking and not vaping.
The electronic cigarette IS a smoking alternative. I use mine just like I would a cigarette and I don’t call it going for a vape, I call it going for a smoke. With everything I have read, it is far safer and easier to be lumped into the tobacco side than the pharm side, neither of which we appear to fit… hence the homeopathic or allopathic idea.
We don’t have to defend ourselves against tobacco cigarettes. We simply put ourselves up in comparison for the differences. We have to present A vs. B and prove why B should be given clearance if A has clearance. If the fight against smoking is truly health related, then removing one potential health risk (SHS) is definitely a step in the right direction. Many other risks are clearly removed, including second hand smoke from burning tobacco.
As far as taxes, taxes are what they are. They have also been grossly unbalanced by the anti-smoking movement who provides us with articles that “a study was done and voters in Florida have spoken! They would approve a $1 increase on cigarettes.” 1000 people were surveyed by phone. Is this a significant sampling size? We have also heard that New Mexico would like to raise their tax on cigarettes to $1 a pack ($1.91 tax on a pack of cigarettes).
Did you know that in 2004 the New Mexico Board of Health did a study on their top 10 objectives for health and there was not one mention of smoking, but obesity was a serious issue? Leave the cigarette tax at $0.91 and raise the tax on fatty foods to $0.91. Electronic cigarettes have the ability to change the smokers options and actually give a voice to a group of people who are being shuffled into the streets like dogs.
The taxes on cigarettes will always be there. There’s taxes on booze. There’s also a tax on milk, bread and butter. Eventually, there will be a tax on the electronic cigarette too.
As far as persuading millions to quit… that is not our goal. Our goal is to offer smokers an alternative to smoking tobacco. One thing I have learned from all of my “quits” is that I am a smoker. It runs deep through my family history and well… I like it. So why should I have to be anything but? Quitting the inhalation of burning tobacco was just a bonus for me.
With the rise of legislation that has forced tobacco companies to go to Fire Safe Cigarettes, which in itself is an oxymoron, smokers are reporting problems. These cigarettes also tend to explode and shoot fireballs into the air and onto clothing and furniture. Did you know that in 85% of the United States, it is mandated by law that the cigarette companies add even more chemicals to your paper so they burn out faster? Did you also know that just this week, a school basement caught fire from a janitor smoking and that state sells mandatory FSC’s?
If people can take pills to be thinner and more relaxed and they can drink redbulls and caffeine coffee by the cups full, why can’t they ingest nicotine on their own free will themselves? There is a strong argument that nicotine, while addictive, is no worse than caffeine and should be considered a lesser drug, like it’s counterpart caffeine. And I would even go as far to say that caffeine should not be sold to those under 18, just like nicotine. When children are suffering from RedBull induced ADD/ADHD and then treated with pharmaceutical medications, wouldn’t it be far safer to raise our children on limited caffeine, limiting their risk for an addictive personality later in life?
Either way, the electronic cigarette is here to stay. No matter what the anti-smoking lobby attempts to do, there is quickly becoming plenty of supporters of electronic smoking. Further testing may put this debate to rest sooner than later.
