What if you could have a cigarette without the 4,000 chemicals and toxins? (Electronic cigarette vapor is comprised of propylene glycol, water, glycerin, flavoring, and nicotine.)
Of the 4,000 chemicals in cigarettes, 60 are known to cause cancer. (Studies done on electronic cigarette vapor to date show either no cancer causing chemicals or only trace levels of TSNA carcinogens, which are also found in nicotine gum. The majority of the cancer causing chemicals found in tobacco smoke are produced from combustion. E-Cigarettes use vaporization…..not combustion.)
What if you could have a cigarette without exposing your family and friends to second hand smoke? (Electronic Cigarettes produce vapor, not smoke.)
Nationwide, 53,000 non-smokers die each year from second hand smoke. (Electronic cigarettes don’t produce smoke, they produce vapor. There is no evidence that the second hand vapor is harmful to bystanders.)
What if you had another option? (You do. If you are a long time smoker and can’t quit smoking, try the electronic cigarette.)
For more information about electronic cigarettes visit www.ECAssoc.org.
If you want to watch the almost two hour panel discussion, click here. If you prefer, you can watch the excerpts below and read our responses. We attempted to ensure that any clips we provide are not taken out of context, although at times the context is obscure and contradictory, which you will find out for yourself if you watch the whole thing.
NOTE: You will often hear the panel reference ENDS or Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems which is their renaming of the electronic cigarette.
They hope this will be a lively discussion? That would imply that some of the panel members disagreed on the major points. The discussion opens with:
And ends with:
The panel is enthusiastic about agreeing with each other, I’ll give them that. But as for the opposing views, it is clear that this panel all agree on the major issue of what the electronic cigarette should be; a FDA sanctioned, pharmaceutical Nicotine Replacement Therapy.
Here is a clip of Dr. David Abrams (who is the Executive Director of the Steven A. Schroeder National Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies at the American Legacy Foundation® i.e. he works for the American Legacy Foundation) who raised questions about why the electronic cigarette companies haven’t gone the NRT route via the FDA:
First, let’s be clear; the FDA approval Dr. Abrams wants for the electronic cigarette is as an NRT for people to use to quit smoking. Therefore users would be required to eventually stop using the electronic cigarette altogether. That is one route. Another is to say that smoking is a legal activity and smokers should have the right to use electronic cigarettes as much as they have the right to smoke tobacco.
He also makes it sound very easy to get FDA approval as a NRT which is contrary to Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development, Outlook 2009, available at http://csdd.tufts.edu/InfoServices/OutlookPDFs/Outlook2009.pdf which shows the average time to get approval of a new drug (which is what a new NRT would likely be classified as) is 8 years. In the meantime, they want the e-cigarette or ENDS pulled from the market and presumably smokers to go back to smoking tobacco.
This is not to mention the FDA fees associated with a new drug approval and the device approval fee. Assuming they want clinical trials, the total cost would be around 2 million not including any consulting, legal fees, and the actual cost of the testing and clinical trials. I am no expert in this field and may have overlooked some requirements or loopholes, but in any case it is extremely likely the cost is going to be more than 1 million dollars, which is out of the reach of almost all the electronic cigarette suppliers on the market right now. The electronic cigarette industry in America is predominantly small US based businesses. Yes, much of the hardware is made in China, but I challenge you to find an American retail industry that doesn’t have their products built overseas. And remember, this would all be in the name of testing a “new drug”, specifically inhaled nicotine.
If we get past the rights of smokers to choose an alternative and the time and cost associated with getting approval, we soon run into the real issue with making the electronic cigarette a nicotine replacement therapy (NRT); competing with tobacco. NRTs are sold only in pharmacies at costs outside of market influence. If you doubt this, price out some nicotine gum. So now we have a competing product with tobacco that can’t be sold where tobacco is sold, at a higher price, and with more restrictions. This will make it incredibly hard for the e-cigarette to properly compete with tobacco. Reputable e-cigarette suppliers are not asking for special treatment, but rather to have the opportunity to compete with tobacco fairly.
Lastly, there is no proof the electronic cigarette would be a good NRT. If marketers don’t make cessation claims, then why would they go through testing to try and prove something they don’t want to claim. The FDA doesn’t make Coke-a-Cola test their product for it’s effectiveness as a way to stop using caffeine. Why? Coke doesn’t want to make that claim.
Dr. David Abrams whose conclusion was that he wanted the electronic cigarette to be a NRT, at one point discusses how he believes the e-cigarette is actually a tobacco product. So I am actually not sure what he wants:
He states that all nicotine products contain traces of the same organic substances, but then reverts to a scare tactic that e-liquid may be using pesticide grade nicotine. What he doesn’t mention is that nicotine itself is a poison. Even pharmacological grade nicotine in proper doses would kill bugs. Again, the devil is in the dosage. Please note that tobacco cigarettes do not use pharmacological grade nicotine. With that said, I agree pharmacological grade nicotine should be used and in the majority of products on the market, it is being used. Current testing being done will show the actual levels of TSNAs and we will release it as soon as we have it.
This is not about zero regulation, it is about reasonable regulation. The industry is only “adversarial” because those with vested interests in competing industries are determined to take this product off the market. Those who are truly for public health should be more interested in the science behind the electronic cigarette, comparing it to tobacco cigarettes, and it’s future potential rather than with taking it off the market until someone pays the FDA.
More analysis of the American Legacy Foundations “Open” Discussion will be coming over the next week.
Congressmen Steve Buyer, from Indiana’s 4th District took the floor of the House some time ago in opposition of the new tobacco legislation (which was passed and signed by The President). He makes a very good point about tobacco usage; “It’s not the nicotine that kills, it’s the smoke that kills.” He goes on to state that “If you dry and smoke lettuce, you will end up with similar problems than if you smoke tobacco.” This gained some media attention for obvious reasons. Laughter aside, it is a valid point. Burning anything and inhaling it is inherently bad for you. Although inhaling propylene glycol and the flavoring may have problems of it’s own, one thing is certain; electronic cigarettes do not produce smoke.
Here is Steve Buyer making his speech:
And here is a humorous montage dedicated to Buyer’s speech and smoking lettuce:
We are proud to announce the nomination of the Electronic Cigarette Association’s new President, Matt Salmon. Matt Salmon is a former member of the US House of Representatives from Arizona (1995-2001). Today he is the president of the Electronic Cigarette Association (ECA), following on a path of life’s work in the public health arena that has included pushing through a law in the state of Arizona that was among the first public smoking bans, and later in 2000, being named Congressman of the Year by the American Cancer Society.
Today, a wonderful idea was presented by a fellow eSmoker on something that we can all do to help in our campaign of getting the world to know about the positive benefits of the electronic cigarette, proven or not.
We would like to put together a video of 10 second slots of every eSmoker we know answering one simple question: How has the Electronic Cigarette impacted your life? Think about it. Can you sum it up in 10 seconds? Then we want it! Couples! Feel free to do your videos together. Give yourselves 20 seconds to show your love for the electronic cigarette!
Here is what we would like you to do:
Please speak clearly. Sound quality is most important. Start your recording device, sit for a second or two, and then give your ten second answer. Wait a second or two and then turn off your video recording device. (This allows for transitions). When you are done, email your video to us. That’s it! That’s all you have to do!
So send in your submissions! We are ready to get started and as we need to get your voices heard, we are asking that all submissions be submitted no later than May 8th! That’s a week from this Friday!
What will this be used for? We are hoping that this video will get enough views that it will make it’s way to those on the Hill and into the media. We need people to see that the electronic cigarette has impacted a large user base and to take it away from them would be devastating.
So start submitting those videos! When the 10 minute video is done, we will post it here so you can see!
The mini electronic cigarette is the latest in electronic smoking technology. It is approximately the same size as a tobacco cigarette, but vaporizes liquid nicotine into a vapor that can be inhaled. The video of the electronic cigarette in use shows the various parts, how to change the nicotine cartridges, and some basic information on how it works. If you are looking to try one for yourself:
I’ve had a lot of questions about how the electronic cigarette works, especially lately since the video we had on the first page has since been pushed down. So, I decided to create a new post and embed the video showing how the electronic cigarette works. This video is of a regular sized electronic cigarette (or e-cigarette as it is often referred to) but the mini e-cigarette works the exact same way…it is just smaller. Enjoy!
The Electronic Cigarette is a new product available thanks to recent technology. This "E-Cigarette" is a revolutionary device that acts much the same way an ordinary tobacco cigarette would, but rather than producing smoke from combustion, it produces vapor from vaporization of the E-Liquid. This is also why many e-smokers referred to their Electronic Cigarettes as Personal Vaporizers (PV). To buy an electronic cigarette to try for yourself, visit the Instead E-Cigarette Store in The USA or the Instead E-Cigarette Store in Canada.
INSTEAD Electronic Cigarettes is proud to offer the most unique e-cigarette kits on the market. You won't find anything like it elsewhere. Our sets come in a water resistant tin with everything an e-smoker needs: 2 Batteries (blue LEDs), 2 atomizers, 1 USB charger with a USB to AC adapter, 5 empty cartridges and a bottle of E-Liquid (approximately equivalent to 300 tobacco cigarettes) to fill and refill those cartridges. We also provide a velvet carrying pouch for electronic smoking on the go. To view one of our e-cigarette sets visit Electronic Cigarette Kit + E-Liquid.
