Now this is something I would absolutely HATE to see happen folks. As some may know, my hubby and I have both been light smokers for 1/2 our lives. Yeah, we know its bad for us and that’s why we were OVERLY elated when we found a product called an electronic cigarette. It is a nicotine delivery system identical to smoking a cigarette, yet it uses an atomizer that vaporizes propylene glycol with (or without) nicotine, water and flavor.
In my personal opinion, this product is nothing short of amazing. Yes, some cartridges for the device contain nicotine but many are available without. Vapor and not smoke is the byproduct, which makes them virtually odorless and non-toxic to the air we breathe. They contain no tobacco and no carcinogens. The essential device in an electronic cigarette that makes this possible is a battery powered atomizer, so it is about as clean as inhaling something can get!I personally love the strawberry and vanilla cartridges, and prefer the nicotine-free ones. I am lucky that i live in Phoenix, Arizona since this is where the corporate offices of the NJOY Npro operate. We found that this was the highest rated device for the price, and my hubby and I both got one last month. I got a custom silver battery with a blue light for the “cherry” and my hubby got one that looks like a traditional cigarette.
here are some pics, you can click them for larger images:
So the rumor is, a man by the name of Bill Godshall of Smokefree Pennsylvania has sent out a mass email stating the FDA is going to start putting the pressure on 3 major distributors starting Tuesday May 5th. THIS CANNOT HAPPEN! THERE IS FINALLY A PRODUCT OUT THERE THAT COULD SAVE TENS UPON THOUSANDS OF LIVES and the FDA wants to ban it? This is not the first time rumors of this action have surfaced, but its getting all too real and close.
The rest of this poorly formatted post is from Reason.com :
Bill Godshall of Smokefree Pennsylvania reports in a mass email message that the Food and Drug Administration plans to proceed with a ban on electronic cigarettes, devices that deliver nicotine vapor without tobacco or combustion products. Godshall reproduces the following message from Heather Zawalick of the FDA’s Office of Legislation, which says the agency will announce enforcement actions against the three largest e-cigarette distributors on Tuesday:
Subject/Headline: FDA Takes Enforcement Action on Electronic Smoking Products
Planned Release Date: May 5
Driving Event: Compliance action
Rollout Plan: Extensive rollout planned including press conference at HHS, press release, fact sheet, video for upload to YouTube, podcast, consumer article, consumer Q &A, key message points, internal media Q & A, Op-Ed, photos of products for posting on Internet.
Other background, hidden factors: Action involves three largest distributors. One of the distributors has just sued FDA seeking a restraining order to prevent us from holding their product at the border.
There is keen interest in this subject. E-cigarette kiosks are all over town, including Montgomery Mall. They’re being advertised as a safer alternative to cigarettes. Our concern is that this might introduce nonusers to nicotine use. This is a drug delivery device. The content of the products have not been analyzed by FDA. To be sold, they would have to be approved by the agency.
Our concern is that this might introduce nonusers to nicotine use. And what if it did? Separated from the dangers of smoking, nicotine use is not a big health concern. The FDA itself has approved various nicotine replacement products (gum, patches, even an inhaler), some of them for over-the-counter sale, even though they theoretically might “introduce nonusers to nicotine use.” That possibility is an incredibly lame justification for preventing smokers from switching to a product that eliminates virtually all the risks associated with standard cigarettes.
In an open letter to Zawalick, Joel Nitzkin of the American Association of Public Health Physicians says the pending FDA ban seems to be “based entirely on the undocumented assumption that electronic cigarettes may have the potential to attract additional teenagers to nicotine use and addiction.” That concern seems to be fanciful: Godshall says “there is no evidence that e-cigarette products have been marketed to youth, nor is there evidence of youth use of e-cigarette products (most of which cost more than $100).” In any case, Nitzkin notes, the government can impose age restrictions without stopping “current adult smokers who are unwilling or unable to quit” from enjoying “the health benefits this product can offer.” By Nitzkin’s reckoning, based on the available research, smokeless nicotine products “promise a risk of illness and death well under 1% of the risk posed by cigarettes.”
In his own letter to Zawalick, Godshall argues that “denying 45 million cigarette smokers access to exponentially less hazardous smokefree nicotine alternatives would result in millions of preventable deaths among smokers, millions of nonsmokers continuing to be exposed to tobacco smoke pollution, and tens of thousands of e-cigarettes users reverting back to smoking cigarettes.” He adds that ”it is absurd for the FDA to even contemplate protecting the deadliest nicotine products (cigarettes) from market competition by the least hazardous nicotine products.”
yeah the FDA is easily swayed by lobbyists and only ruins companies from what i’ve seen….recently a supplement company was forced to recall all of their products due to 23 cases of liver damage and one death of a product that has sold millions of units…it’s completely unfair and a potential total monopoly of the system
i agree, Cap. the fed would be losing alot of tax dollars if everyone switched over to electronic cigarettes. I have no doubt that this is an underlying motivation.
I got the blucigs.com brand and I haven’t smoked a traditional cig since. Well… I had about 8 the first week…
Teeth are staying white now since i kicked the traditional coffin nails
I actually tried he Blu Cigs, but they didn’t produce much vapor. I’ll stick with my Bloog…I got it at CVS.
Wow Ive never heard of this. does it really feel like you are smoking a cigarette?
rachel, it totally feels like smoking but TASTES, FEELS and SMELLS so. much. better! i reccomend watching a couple YouTube videos, they totally have people doing demos and reviews. if i see you soon you can definately try mine, too
On top of that, you can get the cartridges in all different nicotine levels (including none) and lots of different flavors–from vanilla to chocolate to strawberry to apple! im going to be writing a good article about them soon to raise some awareness about the potential ban.
but yes, i LOVE my electronic cigarette!
Jerry i love to hear that such a great product has helped you! We are not alone here, so many smokers are reaping the benefits electronic cigarettes provide.
Ness, great article! I’ve been looking for some independent opinions. I want to get an e-cig (so that I don’t revert back to smoking real cigarettes..took me 25 years to kick the habbit haha) but I’m not sure about which brand to get. Do you recommend the njoy? According to their website it’s available at costco! I’m also considering the red-dragon who also seems to have offices here in Phoenix. What I would really like is someplace I can go to try one of these things before I buy it. You wouldn’t happen to know of any would you? I live in Phoenix also.
Anyway, this product has me a little excited, but it would be a shame to buy it only to have it banned where I couldn’t get cartridges for it anymore. Nicotine inhalers are FDA approved, I don’t see the difference here.
Yeah it is gonna be pretty hard to deal with FDA over electronic cigarettes. It is a great product, but money talk. Peter-the consumer electronics expert.
dan you could try contacting NJoy directly. they are actually located in North Scottsdale. they could probably let you know where you may be able to try one.
NJoy Corporate
888-NOW-NJOY
Consumer, my hopes are that the FDA does test it and approve it like they have all other devices for nicotine delivery. Of course i would like to know i am using a safe product, however banning it would be silly. I had severe side effects from the nicotine delivery in the Step 2 patches, including debilatating headaches and dizziness. dont feel any of that with the ecigs!
Seems a great shame the FDA are cracking down on these manybe they want people to still smoke tobacco cigarettes still some governemnet departments are kind of stupid sometimes.
It is so ridiculous that they continue to allow deadly prescription drugs and deadly cigarettes and are so “worried” about the e-cig. They’re afraid the e-cig WON’T kill us off, and there’s no $$ in it for them. If they buy stock in e-cigs they’ll promote it like crazy, safe or not.
Ness – Great article. First of all this is not spam
I belong to a great information forum for e-cigarette users. Bill Godshell is a member on our forum as well as the Electronic Cigarette Association who is fighting for our rights to use the e-cig. You can find 1,000 of informational posts with News, legislation, campaigning for e-cigs as well as informaiton on specific models and trouble shooting guides. Members help newbies with questions about purchases, suppliers and how to use their new e-cigarettes. On the ECF you’ll find over 10,000 users of e-cigarettes from all over the world and the members are great when answering questions about e-cigs. I’d like to encourage anyone who is thinking about replacing cigarettes to check it out (I quit with one, and haven’t smoked in almost 4 months).
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com
Also, I’ve started a local Social Group with Phoenix, AZ area e-cig users (Vapers) called Vaping in Phoenix (VIP). We currently have 32 members and we are having a get together, meeting at a nice bar/eatery that allows us to use our e-cigs inside! Our next meeting is the 12th of July. Anyone interested can join at the ECF forum
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/vip-vaping-phoenix/
Don’t hesitate to contact me via Private Message on the forum if you have any questions.
Vicky (member name Hellen A. Handbasket – Vaping In Phoenix Social Group Moderator on E-Cigarette-Forum).
I’ve smoked for twelve years and i think these are great. The only problem is that the nicotine in cigarettes is not what you are addcited to it’s all the other crap in them. When i’m stressed the relief i get from “smoking everywhere” cig doesn’t cut it. With the level 5 cartridges i don’t find them addicting at all but it does halp to get the oral fix and if you are committed to quiting they are a good tool.
What makes tobacco cigarettes and better than an electronic cig? Over 4000 different toxins, poisons & carcinogens thats found in a burning tobacco that kills over 400,000 people just in the US, Not counting worldwide. Compared to an electronic cig which is mainly made of 99 % H20 (water) % 1 % nicotine, which is NOT harmful since your only vaporing and not smoking. My research shows that NO deaths have been reported withing this 5 years of the making of any Electronic Cigs! But we know & understand that the tobacco & pharmaceutical companies are over a 100 billion dollar industry a year & the FDA is being fairly treated from this industries by not allowing for any competitions being able to compete with well established billion dollar companies,so for this reason this Industries feed the FDA so it will do everything within it’s powers to stop & regulate such premature markets before it expands. The Gov & the FDA clearly don’t care about peoples health thats why they let 400,000 citizens die every year.I have been a tobacco smoker myself for a long time & when I was first introduced to an electronic cig, I thought this device is either going to overcome my habit of tobacco smoking or it’s gonna stop me for good. Well I’m here to say that it has done it’s job pretty impressively by making me quit smoking for good! Now I choose Vaping with an electronic cig, instead inhaling poison, toxic and & carcinogens into my lungs. So please think twice before you ignite another tobacco cigarette, instead choose a better alternative for you & for others! I choose an Electronic Cig. @ http://www.ElectronicCig.com
I totally agree since Over 400,000 American Citizens Die every year!And if the FDA really cares about it’s citizens then it should Ban Traditional Tobacco smoking before Closing it’s Doors on a Simple device called an electronic cigarette which Has not yet harmed a single human since it was introduced in 2004. I’ve been a tobacco smoker all my life and this simple device made me quit smoking Tobacco for good so I can freely suggest to those who are considering a much better & safer alternative to give an electronic Cig a try. Please care about your health & the environment:)
FDA cant do that Banning the traditional Cigarette? you dnt know tha?t tobacco is one of the big industries that keeps US economy grows.. if they ban conventional cigarette.. economy will fall not only in the us.. but maybe the entire nations..
Unfortunately, the FDA is being influenced by some of there best contributors…..Big Tobacco and Big Pharma. They both donate gazillions of dollars a yea to FDA causes, swaying the FDA’s decision n the legality of Electronic Cigarettes. Big Tobacco and Big Pharma stand to loose huge amounts of Market share once the ecig becomes popular.
Johnny Blaze
Kinda scary knowing I just bought my my first e-cig’s (not overly pleased with the continued problems I have with them, but the concept is awesome) less than a month a go and the FDA could shut the entire e-cig industry down in a day.
I do think the ingredients are safe, but I do have to wonder about excessive amounts of vapor entering the lungs? That to me is my only concern and if anyone has an opinion I would be interested to hear what you have to say.
This biased war on the ecig is outrageous. People should be allowed to make the choice.
Its all about the big money! The FDA and the government do not care about the peoples health! They care about where the money comes from! More smokers should be trying these things out, and I feel that it is my duty to make them more publicized! I carry my DSE901 around with me everywhere, and I hit the vapors regularly! I live in arizona, and almost every day someone asks me about my E-Cigarette! I explain it to them sooooo passionately! So I start a business that I am passionate about, and then get shut down by some sorry e-commerce site called “PAY PAL” because of the sorry and inconsiderate thought given to me and the rest of the smokers by the FDA! It is my mission to keep pushing and to try and get the word out! My website is not functional because I can’t afford to get the monetary part solved!
I Love my E-Cigarette and I will stand by it! It helps me and I feel tons better! 120 days smokefree, and alot saved!
@peter…i have no concerns about the water vapor in the lungs…its the glycol/glycerine that gives it consistency that may bother some people. i still am a big advocate and love the product very much! i have been hearing ads for free trials on Phoenix radio, so this is good progress.
@vicky…thanks for all that info! hope my readers caught it