Free Republic

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York lawmakers on Tuesday advanced a bill that would make the state the first to ban electronic cigarettes, devices touted on the Internet in ads promising all the pleasures of smoking without the deadly health threat. Health officials say e-cigarettes are just another addictive habit, one that can hook kids early and legally on smoking. But advocates who have used the devices to quit or cut down smoking tobacco call the battery-operated smokes a miracle. "E-cigarettes are for some people a tool for enabling them to continue their nicotine addictions when they are someplace where they...

In a 32-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon said the Food and Drug Administration’s authority doesn’t extend to e-cigarettes....He criticized what he called the FDA’s “tenacious drive to maximize its regulatory power,” saying he found its interpretation of the law “unreasonable and unacceptable.”

Tobacco Control Expert Dr. Michael Siegel Calls for a Scientific, Not Ideological or Political Response to the Electronic Cigarette Issue (EMAILWIRE.COM, September 08, 2009 ) BOSTON – An article in this week's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reports that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has now acknowledged receiving 98 reports of suicides and 188 reports of suicide attempts that appear to be linked to use of Chantix, a prescription medication for smoking cessation. In addition, the FDA has received reports of patients taking the drug being involved in motor vehicle crashes. At the same...

"There is no substantial evidence that these devices do any harm to the user or bystanders around the user," argued Spike Babaian, of Long Island, NY, in a recent press release. "Despite the plethora of evidence provided to the Suffolk County legislature, that shows evidence that these devices are no more harmful than consuming a hot dog, they have determined that the "stress, fear and confusion," which the public could potentially feel due to the presence of the fog, was sufficient reason to force vapers to follow the Suffolk County smoking ordinance and utilize these devices only in areas where...

The bill in California, SB400, Has Passed - The right to Vape (inhale from a non-combustible e-cig) is slipping away. California has passed a bill (although not yet signed into law) that will ban the sale of Electronic Cigarette in California. What began as a bill to "prohibit the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors", morphed into a bill that prohibits the sale of electronic cigarettes to anyone until or unless the FDA approves them. And the legislature passed SB400 while we were focused on the 9/11 commemorations. The vote was AYES **** Aanestad Alquist Cedillo Corbett Correa DeSaulnier Ducheny...

The American Spectator has a good roundup of all the recent legislative activity to extend tobacco regulations. Another regulation possibly on its way concerns a completely tobacco-less product: the so-called "electronic cigarettes." I was not familiar with e-cigarettes, but the basic idea is this: it looks like a cigarette, delivers nicotine like a cigarette, and even puffs "smoke" like a cigarette (actually water vapor.) But an e-cigarette doesn't have any of the tobacco or additives of a cigarette. It's just a battery-charged cartridge. That's why it's promoted as a safer alternative for people addicted to smoking. But some people aren't...

During 34 years of smoking, Carolyn Smeaton has tried countless ways to reduce her three-pack-a-day habit, including a nicotine patch, nicotine gum and a prescription drug. But stop-smoking aids always failed her. Then, having watched a TV infomercial at her home here, Ms. Smeaton tried an electronic cigarette, which claimed to be a less dangerous way to feed her addiction. The battery-powered device she bought online delivered an odorless dose of nicotine and flavoring without cigarette tar or additives, and produced a vapor mist nearly identical in appearance to tobacco smoke. “I feel like this could save my life,” said...

Well, it really wasn't my intention, but my fraking tobacco seeds just didn't want to sprout. So after a lot of investigation about the subject, I ordered one of those ecigarettes. The DSE-901. Well, last Saturday evening was my last actual smoke. Been very pleased with the ecig I have. It's a kinda sad feeling -a friend I've known for almost 30 years is going away. Obama will NOT be getting more tax dollars from my bulk tobacco purchases when I rolled my own cigarettes. However... The FDA is coming after ecigs now.

For the first time, consumers can actually take a look at how electronic cigarettes are produced in China. New Smoke has published pictures of it's production in Shenzhen. Will this be the future alternative to tobacco?