James Watt, who is the owner of Instead Electronic Cigarettes and the Vice Chair of the Electronic Cigarette Association did a phone interview with Bill Cunningham on his radio show today. The interview was specifically about those who wish to include the electronic cigarette in smoking bans. You can use the audio player below to listen to the interview or read the transcript provided:

Transcript of October 26th, 2009 Interview of James Watt, ECA Vice Chair, on the Bill Cunningham Show on News Radio 700 WLW

BC is Bill Cunningham
JW is James Watt

BC Let’s continue with more. Twenty-nine minutes after this hour, Bill Cunningham, News Radio 700 WLW.

All right. Now there’s a big story on the front page of USA Today today that says that electronic cigarettes are battery-operated devices that turn nicotine and other chemicals into a vapor that is inhaled by the user, and they’re opening a new front in the tobacco wars because they give off no carcinogens, no secondhand smoke. And the battery-operated device is made up of a cartridge containing nicotine, flavoring, and chemicals. It turns nicotine, which is addictive, into a vapor that is inhaled.

Joining me now is James Watt, and he’s, like, vice chairman of the Electronic Cigarette Association. James Watt, welcome to the Bill Cunningham Show.

JW Thank you very much, Bill.

BC Well, let’s talk about this particular cigarette. About a half million Americans are now using these cigarettes. I’ve heard ads on our radio station that talks about these cigarettes. Talk about what they are and why they were developed.

JW Well, Bill, the–the electronic cigarette was–it’s been on the market for about five plus years now, and it’s been in the U.S. for, oh, about two and a half. Essentially, it’s an alternative to a tobacco cigarette. It works very similarly in the action where you bring something up to your mouth, you inhale, you exhale.

I think that the big difference between the two products is tobacco cigarettes use combustion, where the electronic cigarette uses vaporization. There are some very distinct differences between combustion and vaporization. So many longtime smokers find it to be a suitable replacement to their tobacco cigarettes.

BC So let’s say I’m sitting next to someone in a restaurant. I’m five–five feet away or six inches away. They’re right behind me, and they’re–and they’re using one of these electronic cigarettes. Would I even know it?

JW You would, provided you could see it. With most of the batteries on them, there is an LED will light up on the end when they inhale, and you will actually see the vapor come out. With that said, if you didn’t see the light, you didn’t see the vapor, you would not know they were using it. The–

BC Do they–do they smell?

JW No, they do not.

BC So a person that uses these–a lot smokers have smokers’ breath, and you can tell they’ve smoked because the clothes stink. That wouldn’t happen here?

JW That does not happen at all.

BC So is there any emissions at all that would rise the–raise the alarms of secondhand smokers?

JW Well, that’s a good question, an I’m certainly not a doctor or scientist that could get into specifically what’s in it. I can tell you many of the things that are produced specifically from combustion simply are not in that vapor. You know, the things that are typically produced with combustion, that’s where you get your arsenic, your carbon monoxide, your hydrogen cyanide. Those things are not produced through the process of vaporization.

BC So while the story seems to say that if you’re worried about secondhand smoke, that you’re not affected by it. Are you saying that’s true or untrue?

JW I’m saying that the electronic cigarette does not produce smoke–

BC No smoke at all.

JW –firsthand or secondhand.

BC So–

JW No smoke. It’s a vapor. There is a very distinct difference between the two.

BC And how expensive are these? If each cigarette has an indicator light, a battery, an atomizer, liquid cartridges, inhaler tips, how expensive is each cigarette?

JW Well, there’s a lot of different models on the market. I mean, there are disposable ones. But the vast majority are reusable, so the only thing you’re replacing is that cartridge with the liquid in it.

You know, typically, I think most smokers could see probably a forty to sixty percent savings by moving over to the electronic cigarette versus tobacco cigarettes.

BC Really? So you save money?

JW Absolutely.

BC Well, many states–California, New Jersey, most of the liberal ones, Oregon–are moving now to ban this. And the argument that was used for years is that you have to ban cigarette smoking in public because of secondhand smoke, because patrons would be affected, employees would be affected.

This cigarette undermines that entire argument, and I think those who oppose it are now showing their true colors because their argument is not that it produces secondhand smoke effects that are harmful. Their argument is that the person using it is harmful. So essentially, they don’t want to ban secondhand smoke. What they want to ban is cigarette use. Haven’t they showed their hand?

JW You know, I guess that’s to each their own in interpreting their actions. But I can say including the electronic cigarette with a smoking ban that does talk about, you know, specifically the secondhand smoke and the health effects of that, including the electronic cigarette in that seems unscientific, at best. You’re including something that just simply does not produce smoke.

BC And–and similar to MADD mothers, who started out trying to ban drunk driving, which is good thing, but now they’ve turned into a temperance organization. They’ve done all they can do with drunk drivers, punishing them disproportionately many times to other crimes committed by other criminals. They have now become an organization that wants to ban the use of alcohol, which is for years they said, “That’s not our intent.”

Much like the smoke–the smoke crowd, they began for years saying, “Secondhand smoke is terrible. It’s got to be stopped.” But now that the industry and now that the scientists have come up with a way to produce no secondhand smoke because there is no smoke–it’s a smokeless cigarette–now you have the left-wing activists that want to govern someone’s behavior and tell them they can’t smoke at all even though there’s no secondhand smoke.

So much like MADD mothers, to my way of thinking, they’ve demonstrated what their intent was all along, which was to ban tobacco use. And if they want to do that, James, go ahead and do it. Be forthright. But don’t use some other means or method to get to where you want to get, and then–and then what that detour was blocked by people like your trade organization, they now say, “Well, we don’t want people even to smoke smokeless cigarettes.” Why? Well, the answer is, “We don’t want you to do it.” And–and so it’s–it’s not–

JW It–

BC –it’s not about secondhand smoke. What it’s about is changing American behavior.

JW You know, some people definitely interpret it that way. I think it’s also important to understand that this product was not brought to the market by the tobacco industry. There’s no tobacco companies to my knowledge actually marketing the electronic cigarette, and there is no tobacco in it. You can have the cartridges with or without nicotine at all. There’s many users who will use the electronic cigarette with no nicotine. You know, so it’s–it’s not a tobacco product.

And I think that some of these organizations, it’s almost worse than–than the scenario that you mentioned simply because they don’t know about the electronic cigarette. There’s–I read through some of the proposals that they’re attempting to ban the electronic cigarette’s use in public places. It’s evident that they haven’t done the research to understand the product before they actually ban it.

BC Right. Well, James Watt, I’ve never smoked. I never would smoke. But I think American freedom means a lot, and if somebody wants to do this activity and no one else is affected by it, government has no role.

And, James Watt, do you want to give out a website for your group?

JW Yeah. Our website is ECASSOC.ORG.

BC All right. James Watt, good luck to you.

JW Thank you very much.

Governor Schwarzenegger Protects Adult Consumers’ Access to E-Cigarettes

Industry hails veto of anti-smoking alternative bill as victory for consumers, common sense

Washington, D.C. – October 12, 2009 | Matt Salmon, president of the Electronic Cigarette Association (ECA), today praised California Governor Schwarzenegger’s wise decision to veto Senate Bill 400, which would have banned electronic cigarette sales in the state, protecting adult consumers’ access to these alternative smoking devices.

“This is not just a victory for consumers and common sense but is smart public policy as well,” said Salmon. “Rejecting this bill is the right step and should serve as a model for other states to follow.”

In his veto message, Governor Schwarzenegger reiterated the stance of the ECA that strongly supports restricting access of electronic cigarettes to children under the age of 18. “We agree with the original intent of SB 400 to ban sales to those under the legal smoking age. And we support that on a national level as well,” added Salmon.

The Governor affirmed that this restriction should not apply to adult consumers: “If adults want to purchase and consume these products with an understanding of the associated health risks, they should be able to do so unless and until federal law changes the legal status of these tobacco products.”

The ECA actively communicated to the Governor its members’ concerns about the bill and the fact that banning these electronic cigarettes would disenfranchise thousands of California adult smokers who have difficulty quitting but want an alternative to combustible cigarettes without the host of carcinogens and harmful chemicals. Salmon credited this legislative victory to the efforts of thousands of consumers and ECA members who appealed directly to Governor Schwarzenegger to protect their rights.

“While we know that combustible tobacco smoking kills over 400,000 Americans annually, and the percentage of smokers that quit every year is dismally low, we ought to be looking for more alternatives to traditional combustible tobacco products,” said Salmon.

Electronic cigarette kits usually include the electronic cigarette, a replaceable cartridge pack (that may or may not contain nicotine), rechargeable lithium batteries, and a charger. There is some variation between different companies in what is included in their starter kit, but all components are listed on their Web sites. While ECA members do not market these devices as a healthy alternative or smoking cessation device, it is clear that they do not contain the harmful tars and hundreds of carcinogens that consumers get from combustible tobacco products.

“We look forward to working with all government agencies, including the FDA, to ensure that consumers who want an alternative to combustible tobacco products have access to e-cigarettes that contain fewer harmful substances and produce no secondhand smoke,” concluded Salmon.

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About the Electronic Cigarette Association

The ECA (www.ecassoc.org) is an association of private sector companies engaged in electronic cigarette technologies. Its mission is to provide the tools and information necessary for policy-makers, opinion leaders, media, and private sector companies worldwide to make informed decisions about the management and use of electronic cigarette technologies. The association institutes and promotes industry-wide standards and a code of conduct, works to maintain sound professional practices, educates the public and policy-makers on the industry’s activities and potential, and works to ensure the ethical use of electronic cigarette technologies.

Matt Salmon, President of the Electronic Cigarette Association (ECA), today denounced a quotation attributed to him by Epiphany Media Group in a press release dated September 14, 2009. The falsely attributed quotation conveys the mistaken impression that some e-cigarette products have been approved by the FDA for consumer use. Salmon underscored the ECA’s commitment to abide by FDA regulations.

“It has come to my attention that a press release with false and misleading claims about e-cigarettes attributed to me was distributed without my knowledge or approval. I want to make it unequivocally clear that I have never made such statements or claims and they are patently false,” said Salmon.

The erroneous quotation, re-released on October 8, 2009, reads, “It is disheartening that the FDA issued a warning to the public against electronic cigarettes without conclusive data to support the claim.” The release goes onto say that Salmon indicated that “some of the companies that are part of the ECA such as inLife electronic cigarette product lines are approved by the FDA.”

“I don’t know of any electronic cigarette suppliers or manufacturers that have been approved by the FDA,” added Salmon. “All of our members send a warning card with every unit sold stating clearly that the product has not been approved by the FDA.”

The ECA’s policy is that member companies cannot make any health claims about their products or represent them as smoking cessation devices. E-cigarettes sold by these companies are marketed as simply an alternative to combustible tobacco smoking. Additionally, all members must ensure that they have taken precautions to prevent people under the legal smoking age from having access to their products.

“This requirement has been a long-standing policy of the ECA since its inception and we will take the necessary steps to enforce it,” Salmon concluded.

Visit www.ecassoc.org for more information about the ECA and its member companies.

The Electronic Cigarette Association has just released a letter on it’s website that it will be sending to each member of Congress as well as some other public officials. In it, along with some information about the very poor job the FDA did in testing the electronic cigarette, there is important information about the position of the ECA when it comes to selling to kids. He is a quote:

“We do agree with the FDA, however; that E-Cigarettes should not be purchased or consumed by those under the legal age of smoking. We support any legislation, be it state or federal, that makes it illegal to sell e-cigarettes to children and those under the legal smoking age. We only market our products to committed long term smokers and would never want this to entice anyone who is not already addicted to nicotine to use our product.”

We at Instead Electronic Cigarette fully support the ECA’s stance and agree that it is important to keep those under the legal smoking age from purchasing electronic cigarettes or any other product that may contain nicotine.

Read the full Electronic Cigarette Association Letter To Congress

Matt Salmon, former Congressmen and current President of The Electronic Cigarette Association responds to the FDA’s announcement regarding electronic cigarettes:

The media attention about the electronic cigarette has been growing since it first emerged onto the market a few years ago. Although some has been very positive, or at least factual, other articles wander into the arena of attacking via misinformation. To help the public understand some of the false accusations about e-smoking technology, we issued a press release which contains some responses to the most common attacks against electronic cigarettes. Here is a quote from the press release:

And when asked about the safety and effectiveness of the electronic cigarette as a smoking cessation device, Mr. Watt responded by saying, “For those who want to claim it is a smoking cessation device, then they should do the testing. I believe smokers should have the right to choose an alternative to smoking that doesn’t contain the 4,000+ chemicals found in tobacco smoke. Quit or die is a flawed philosophy”

Read “The Battle Over Electronic Cigarettes“

The specifics have not been released yet, however it is on good authority that NJoy aka Sottera has officially intervened into the case of Smoking Everywhere vs the FDA over the rights of the FDA to block the importation of electronic cigarettes. This is an update to the “What is Going on with the Electronic Cigarette and the FDA” post. NJoy entering this case is of great benefit to the industry as a whole. NJoy doesn’t make health or cessation claims and making these claims appears to be the only legal basis for the FDA stopping the electronic cigarette from entering the United States. Time will tell if the thousands and thousands of individuals using the e-cigarette are told to stop by the FDA.

For full disclosure, Instead Electronic Cigarettes and NJoy are both part of the Electronic Cigarette Association.

The Electronic Cigarette Association (ECA) is a 501(c)(6), which is a not-for-profit trade association. This allows us to collect donations (not tax deductible as a charitable contribution) but still lobby the government to recognize our agenda.

We have elected the board members and officers (Matt Salmon – President, Jack Leadbeater – Chair, James Watt – Vice Chair, Chad Green – Treasurer, Antoinette Lanza, Nick Bird, and Rob Winslow) and are just completing the official member application. The application will be circulated once complete.

The ECA has minimum membership dues for suppliers and manufacturers of a one time application fee of $500 USD and a monthly fee of $300 USD. Many companies are paying much more than the minimums. These funds, along with any donations received, will be used for these purposes:

1) Engaging Policy Impact Communications (www.policyimpact.com) to lobby Congress. Our lobbying efforts include proposing amendments to the Tobacco Bill (which continues to change names, but was first introduced by Waxman and now a new one is being introduced by Kennedy). The amendment proposed is designed to help protect the electronic cigarette from being pulled off the market.

2) Engaging Policy Impact Communications to perform the administrative duties necessary to keep the ECA in good standing with the IRS and other government agencies.

3) Engaging a media relations firm to battle misinformation being presented by e-cigarette opponents and to expand the reach of electronic cigarettes so all smokers have the freedom to choose an alternative.

4) Implement standards to ensure e-cigarette suppliers and distributors meet certain requirements.

5) Implement standards to ensure our products meet certain requirements. This process is time and resource intensive, but is necessary to ensure the future of our industry. Third party agencies will need to be hired to physically visit electronic cigarette and eliquid manufacturing plants worldwide to verify the standards the ECA has set out.

No board members are taking a salary from the ECA, although Matt Salmon is employed by Policy Impact Communications. No one ECA member will directly benefit more than any other member. This is about saving our industry, not one company.

What do companies get for becoming an ECA member? They will hopefully get to keep their business. What do consumers get for donating their money and time? They will hopefully get to keep legally buying and using electronic cigarettes. This is all hopeful, but possible if we band together.

Our goals are lofty. We have a product that is an alternative to tobacco (Big Tobacco) and an alternative to smoking cessation products (Big Pharm). These industries have almost limitless reach within Congress and in some cases within the Public Health community. However the electronic cigarette is a good product that provides an alternative to a known killer and is worth fighting for.

If you believe the e-cigarette should be pulled off the market, subjected to 2+ years of clinical trials at a cost in the millions, then eventually be sold in pharmacies as a quit smoking product for something well above current retail prices, then just go about your business.

If you believe the e-cigarette should be an accessible product to legal age smokers at a reasonable price and be held to specific standards, then I highly recommend you donate to the ECA. We will need it. Please visit www.ecassoc.org/donate/

Thank you for your support.

James Watt
ECA Vice Chair

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.

For more information about Matt, please visit Matt Salmon’s Bio Page.

Message From The Electronic Cigarette Association President

Here and there we have made mention of the Electronic Cigarette Association, an idea that erupted over some conversations with other suppliers.  One conversation led to a meeting in Chicago of some 15 suppliers which led to the formation of the Electronic Cigarette Association (ECA).

The Electronic Cigarette Association (ECA) is comprised of international manufacturers, suppliers, resellers and consumers who are dedicated to the advancement of electronic smoking technology. The ECA strives to educate the public on electronic smoking devices and tobacco harm reduction. The ECA strongly believes and enforces that any form of smoking is an adult action, and adults who engage in this behavior should have the freedom to choose smoking alternatives.

And don’t think for one second that we don’t have a line up of heavy hitters ready to fight for the cause.  For starters, we are thrilled to introduce the President of the ECA, Former Congressman Matt Salmon, AZ.  Matt is a non-smoker who has been touched by the heartbreak of smoking related illness and disease and feels that the electronic cigarette is a win-win situation for both smokers and those who love smokers, but choose not to smoke.

Also, we have Current Represenative Clifford Stearns Sr. of Florida, who as we reported in our earlier post The Electronic Cigarette Found on Capitol Hill, is an avid e-cig user.  He is one of the most consituent accessible Congressman and offers us his assistance.

David Sweanor, Adjunct Professor Law, University of Ottawa, wrote an amazing essay in 1994 entitled Alternative Nicotine Delivery as a Harm-Reduction Strategy when he was Senior Legal Counsel for the Non-Smokers Right Assocation.   If you haven’t read his essay, it is enlightening, practical and a must read for anyone who feels that abstinence only philosophies will not work.  This is definitely a road map for any logical argument towards self regulation.

Dr. Joel Nitzkin, Chair of the Tobacco Control Task Force of the American Association of Public Health Physicians, has been a prime speaker since Senator Lautenburg called for the FDA to ban the electronic cigarette.  Dr. Nitzkin has stated that “We have every reason to believe the hazard posed by electronic cigarettes would be much lower than 1% of that posed by (tobacco) cigarettes. The testing guidelines in the current tobacco act (circulating through Congress) would represent a ban on electronic cigarettes, (yet) if we get all tobacco smokers to switch from regular cigarettes (to electronic cigarettes), we would eventually reduce the US death toll from more than 400,000 a year to less than 4,000, maybe as low as 400.”

Bill Godshall, Executive Director of SmokeFree Pennsylvania, a division of TobaccoFree.org has also joined us.  With a Masters in Public Health, he has been focusing on public health and tobacco harm reduction techniques for over 25 years.  He has brought a level of awareness to the electronic cigarette that we could not have dreamed of and appreciate his attentiveness in our cause.

Dr. David Baron, President, Primary Caring of Malibu Medical Group and former Chief of Staff for UCLA Medical Center is also on board to help assist the ECA in moving the knowledge of the electronic cigarette forward.

Wow!  So we are pretty thrilled!  The ECA has a tough fight but there are some great minds who are not smokers and feel that the electronic cigarette IS the next step in tobacco harm reduction.

If you are interested in more information regarding the electronic cigarette or the Electronic Cigarette Association, please feel free to visit the ECA website www.ECAssoc.org.

There you will find some wonderful information including:

A video from the ECA President, Matt Salmon
Electronic Cigarettes:  Myths and Facts
Quotes regarding the Electronic Cigarette
Smoking Fact Sheet
Electronic Cigarette and Tobacco Harm Reduction Resources
Electronic Cigarette Interview Sources and Bios

So get ready folks… the electronic cigarette industry is raring to go!