You must be thinking, Really? Who would think that let alone say it out loud. Well here’s the answer:

“There are no long-term studies on the health effects of just nicotine, minus the tobacco component. We know what smoking tobacco does to the body over the long term,” DeLancey said. “What we want to see are well-designed clinical studies. Personal reports are not enough,” DeLancy said. [Siobhan DeLancey who is a FDA Spokesperson]

This quote is from the Users love ‘e-cigarettes,’ but FDA wants to take closer look article published on September 30th, 2009.

First, let’s discuss the title of the article. Users, for the most part, do love their e-cigarette. However the FDA doesn’t want to “take a closer look”, what they are fighting for in their current legal battle is to classify the e-cigarette as a new drug / medical device thus named a combination product. This means it would be pulled off the market and made illegal until someone spends the money on the FDA application and does clinical trials to prove that it helps people quit smoking. And after the millions have been spent and the years pass, they would bring it back to be sold in pharmacies either OTC or by prescription. It is hard to compete with tobacco when you can’t sell in gas stations, tobacco shops, or online.

Now let’s look at what DeLancey from the FDA said, “There are no long-term studies on the health effects of just nicotine, minus the tobacco component.” – For the most part this is true.

Next, “We know what smoking tobacco does to the body over the long term,” – Yes, we do. It kills a rather large percent of the users

Then, “What we want to see are well-designed clinical studies. Personal reports are not enough,” – I am unclear about how you do a clinical study to provide data about usage over the long term. A 25 year clinical study?

The article then quotes some e-smokers who are very happy with their e-cigarettes. DeLancey ends with, “I feel their pain,” she said. “We don’t know if this is any better for them.”

Two immediate thoughts come to mind:

1) Based on this argument, if e-cigarettes are put through clinical trials and they are shown to kill a large percent of the users, will the FDA approve them for sale just as cigarettes are allowed? If not, why do combustible cigarettes get a free pass. Monopoly?

2) If DeLancey is a 25 year smoker who has tried to quit 14 times without success, then maybe she does feel their pain. However if that was the case, she would probably want to make the decision of what is better for herself. Smokers can do research on the competing products [e-cigarettes vs tobacco cigarettes]. There is data available, even if incomplete, to make a decision for themselves. It is not the FDA’s job to make decisions for adult Americans. It is their job to make sure that consumers have the proper information to make that decision. We applaud efforts by the FDA to ensure companies are not improperly marketing their products. We also hope they will see the potential of this product as we do and begin working with the industry, not try to re-locate it to pharmaceutical land.

For a limited time, we are once again offering pre-filled electronic cigarette cartridges.  The cartridges fit the Instead Electronic Cigarette and come filled with your choice of e-liquid (various nicotine levels in tobacco or menthol flavors).  These cartridges, just like the empty electronic cigarette cartridges, can be refilled with e-liquid (once they are used up).  Pre-filled cartridges are approximately equivalent to 3 to 5 tobacco cigarettes.  Although we still believe the best e-smoking experience is with e-liquid, the pre-filled cartridges are convenient for those on the go.

Another new addition to our product line are the E-Cigarette Car Chargers.  This car charger works in conjunction with the small USB charger that comes with every Instead Electronic Cigarette Kit.  It converts your car’s cigarette lighter into a USB input to plug in your charger.  Another great idea for the e-smoker on the move.

Happy E-Smoking!

We have two competing products: The tobacco cigarette and the electronic cigarette. Both can deliver nicotine and facilitate the habit of smoking. But there are differences. The electronic cigarette is a reusable product. Cartridges can be filled over and over again. Batteries and atomizers last many uses. Obviously this is not the case with tobacco cigarettes. Let’s have a look at the difference in garbage produced between using 300 tobacco cigarettes and using 1 bottle of E-Liquid (approx. equivalent to 300 tobacco cigarettes by puff count):

Please note the e-cigarette cartridges are made of #2 plastic, which is generally recyclable. The glass bottle from e-smoking and the cardboard boxes from the tobacco cigarettes are also recyclable. This image shows the amount of garbage with no recycling, although we encourage everyone to recycle.

The e-cigarette or electronic cigarette mimics smoking using vapor. It can contain tobacco products, but doesn’t necessarily need to. Some believe it helps people quit smoking, while others (such as Instead) believes it is not a quit smoking product. So where does it fit in? A tobacco product needs to contain tobacco. A new drug needs to cure, treat, diagnose, or mitigate a disease or condition.

There is no clear answer. But, when we look past the question of regulation, taxation, and ultimate control here is what we find:

A product that a decent percentage of smokers find to be a reasonable alternative to burning tobacco. Inhaling burning tobacco is known to cause cancer and a multitude of other problems for the user and potential for those near the user. Inhaling vapor from an e-cigarette has not been shown to cause issues for the user or by-standers. There may be unforeseen issues of inhaling propylene glycol or glycerin vapor in the long term, but there is no way to tell without decades of testing. In the mean time, inhaling burning tobacco would continue to kill. It is hard to believe that inhaling propylene glycol for 20 years would be worse than inhaling all the dangerous chemicals found in tobacco smoke for 20 years. Even if the FDA was correct and the vapor contained traces of TSNAs (which it didn’t…..it found those in the liquid), tobacco smoke contains these TSNAs in much, much higher levels.

So who should regulate it? The FDA thinks they should as an NRT (Nicotine Replacement Therapy). The issue is this; as an NRT it would need to be pulled from the market and submitted by a pharmaceutical company as a quit smoking product. The cost is in the tens of millions and the testing can go on for years. Even after it is approved, it can then only be sold in pharmacies either with or without a prescription. This is all assuming a pharmacy even sees the potential and submits the application. In the meantime, people keep burning tobacco at their regular rate and dieing.

If we skip into the future and do find electronic cigarettes sold in pharmacies, we will find tobacco cigarettes being sold in gas stations. We will likely find electronic cigarettes have now become more expensive than tobacco cigarettes (the pharmaceutical company would need to make back their tens of millions). We find at least some smokers disappointed that they didn’t quit using the e-cigarette as the package so boldly claims.

Now lets look at an alternative future, one where regulation has come in a different form such as via the tobacco bill or via the industry itself or via a newly created category. The product is sold in gas stations beside tobacco cigarettes. Companies compete to reduce their prices while consumers continue to demand innovation, safety, and function. There is competition. It is marketed as another way to smoke. Smokers freely use the e-cigarette instead of their tobacco cigarettes, whether completely or sporadically.

Which scenario is in the best interest of the smoker and of by-standers?

Electronic cigarettes are not safe. They are not healthy. But inhaling burning tobacco is known to carry a high risk of cancer.

Below is a quote from an article in the Washington Times named FDA Smoke Screen On E-Cigarettes written by Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, president of the American Council on Science and Health.

“In making its distorted, incomplete and misleading statement, FDA was violating its long-cherished tradition of sticking to sound science as the basis for its policies. And in doing so, it is putting the lives and health of millions of Americans at risk.”

Long live the freedom to choose.

Electronic cigarettes are a brand new product. It lets you enjoy and satisfy those tactile taste sensations without smoking tobacco. It gives you the same feeling of a tobacco cigar without suffering any tar smoking damages.

E-cigarettes are made from microelectronic control and atomizing technologies. It looks like a cigar, cigarette or pipe, however there is no burning. It does look like it produces smoke when you exhale, however it is vapor. You do not need any ignition and fire for smoking it, however it lets you enjoy and satisfy those tactile taste sensations without burning tobacco. It gives you a similar feeling of a tobacco cigar or cigarette without inhaling burning tobacco.

Electronic cigarettes consists of a stainless steel shell, lithium ion battery, micro-electronic circuit, atomizing chamber, and indicator light at the head of the E-cig. It can make smokers enjoy the same pleasure as that of traditional cigar or cigarette when inhaling the nicotine vapor, imitating the whole process of smoking.

As an alternative smoking product, the E-cig can be used with the four basic tastes such as the high, medium, low and zero nicotine cartridges to meet the requirements of different smokers.

It is first important to not that Nicorette Gum has been approved to be sold as a smoking cessation device, while the electronic cigarette has not. With that said, they both deliver nicotine so I thought a comparison might be useful. There are more differences between these two alternatives to smoking cigarettes than there are similarities. Both give the user a dose of nicotine, however e-cigarettes or “electronic cigarettes” also provide the user with an outlet for the hand and mouth movement, which can be a very real concern for many who have been smoking and performing this action for many years. e-Cigarettes also deliver the nicotine to the user in a very similar way as a regular burning cigarette; inhaled into the lungs, while nicorette is ingested and absorbed. The debate rages whether nicotine itself is a health concern, but most admit that removing the other additives and toxins found in cigarettes is a good thing.

As any smoker who has tried knows; quitting smoking is hard. In fact some smokers don’t want to quit at all, they just don’t want cancer. If you have tried to quit smoking with no success, you may want to take a different approach and not quit at all. Try an e-cigarette as a smoking alternative. Again, the electronic cigarette is not meant as a quit smoking product, but rather an alternative to smoking tobacco.  Also, this product is not yet FDA approved in the United States and it may or may not end up being regulated by either the FDA or ATF.

e-Cigarettes are all about the nicotine while eliminating various harmful and often toxic substances that come with (or are added to) traditional tobacco. Here is a list of additives in traditional cigarettes:

• Acetanisole
• Acetic Acid
• Acetoin
• Acetophenone
• 6-Acetoxydihydrotheaspirane
• 2-Acetyl-3- Ethylpyrazine
• 2-Acetyl-5-Methylfuran
• Acetylpyrazine
• 2-Acetylpyridine
• 3-Acetylpyridine
• 2-Acetylthiazole
• Aconitic Acid
• dl-Alanine
• Alfalfa Extract
• Allspice Extract,Oleoresin, and Oil
• Allyl Hexanoate
• Allyl Ionone
• Almond Bitter Oil
• Ambergris Tincture
• Ammonia
• Ammonium Bicarbonate
• Ammonium Hydroxide
• Ammonium Phosphate Dibasic
• Ammonium Sulfide
• Amyl Alcohol
• Amyl Butyrate
• Amyl Formate
• Amyl Octanoate
• alpha-Amylcinnamaldehyde
• Amyris Oil
• trans-Anethole
• Angelica Root Extract, Oil and Seed Oil
• Anise
• Anise Star, Extract and Oils
• Anisyl Acetate
• Anisyl Alcohol
• Anisyl Formate
• Anisyl Phenylacetate
• Apple Juice Concentrate, Extract, and Skins
• Apricot Extract and Juice Concentrate
• 1-Arginine
• Asafetida Fluid Extract And Oil
• Ascorbic Acid
• 1-Asparagine Monohydrate
• 1-Aspartic Acid
• Balsam Peru and Oil
• Basil Oil
• Bay Leaf, Oil and Sweet Oil
• Beeswax White
• Beet Juice Concentrate
• Benzaldehyde
• Benzaldehyde Glyceryl Acetal
• Benzoic Acid, Benzoin
• Benzoin Resin
• Benzophenone
• Benzyl Alcohol
• Benzyl Benzoate
• Benzyl Butyrate
• Benzyl Cinnamate
• Benzyl Propionate
• Benzyl Salicylate
• Bergamot Oil
• Bisabolene
• Black Currant Buds Absolute
• Borneol
• Bornyl Acetate
• Buchu Leaf Oil
• 1,3-Butanediol
• 2,3-Butanedione
• 1-Butanol
• 2-Butanone
• 4(2-Butenylidene)-3,5,5-Trimethyl-2-Cyclohexen-1-One
• Butter, Butter Esters, and Butter Oil
• Butyl Acetate
• Butyl Butyrate
• Butyl Butyryl Lactate
• Butyl Isovalerate
• Butyl Phenylacetate
• Butyl Undecylenate
• 3-Butylidenephthalide
• Butyric Acid]
• Cadinene
• Caffeine
• Calcium Carbonate
• Camphene
• Cananga Oil
• Capsicum Oleoresin
• Caramel Color
• Caraway Oil
• Carbon Dioxide
• Cardamom Oleoresin, Extract, Seed Oil, and Powder
• Carob Bean and Extract
• beta-Carotene
• Carrot Oil
• Carvacrol
• 4-Carvomenthenol
• 1-Carvone
• beta-Caryophyllene
• beta-Caryophyllene Oxide
• Cascarilla Oil and Bark Extract
• Cassia Bark Oil
• Cassie Absolute and Oil
• Castoreum Extract, Tincture and Absolute
• Cedar Leaf Oil
• Cedarwood Oil Terpenes and Virginiana
• Cedrol
• Celery Seed Extract, Solid, Oil, And Oleoresin
• Cellulose Fiber
• Chamomile Flower Oil And Extract
• Chicory Extract
• Chocolate
• Cinnamaldehyde
• Cinnamic Acid
• Cinnamon Leaf Oil, Bark Oil, and Extract
• Cinnamyl Acetate
• Cinnamyl Alcohol
• Cinnamyl Cinnamate
• Cinnamyl Isovalerate
• Cinnamyl Propionate
• Citral
• Citric Acid
• Citronella Oil
• dl-Citronellol
• Citronellyl Butyrate
• itronellyl Isobutyrate
• Civet Absolute
• Clary Oil
• Clover Tops, Red Solid Extract
• Cocoa
• Cocoa Shells, Extract, Distillate And Powder
• Coconut Oil
• Coffee
• Cognac White and Green Oil
• Copaiba Oil
• Coriander Extract and Oil
• Corn Oil
• Corn Silk
• Costus Root Oil
• Cubeb Oil
• Cuminaldehyde
• para-Cymene
• 1-Cysteine

This is only the A – C list. If you would like, here is D – M and M – Z.

Here is a list of known toxins in cigarettes:

e-Cigarettes do provide users with nicotine, which has been proven to be addictive. It may even have some long term effects. However, tobacco cigarettes contain so much more potential to kill, it seems like comparing an air gun to a rocket launcher.

Unlike nicotine gum or the nicotine patch, the e-cigarette actually functions much like a regular cigarette. However rather than burning and smoking, it vaporizes. Instead of smoking it is e-smoking. The nicotine is still delivered to the lungs, but in vapor form, rather than smoke which contains carcinogens and tar. E-Smoke is actually not smoking at all, but rather vaping. Below is a diagram showing the various parts of the e-cigarette.