What Are Electric Cigarettes?
The electric cigarette is gaining popularity among smokers trying to find a way quit smoking or searching for a healthier alternative to smoking tobacco, but a proposed ban by the Food and Drug Administration may keep the e-cigarette from going any further.
An “e-cigarette” is a product that typically uses a battery to vaporize a water based solution to supply nicotine to a “smoker” without any smoke or additional carcinogens and chemicals.
Distributors claim that that Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) is trying to ban these products, they say it’s because he has received over $100,000 from pharmaceutical companies that market products to help people stop smoking.
The senator said he wants the FDA to run testing on “e-cigarettes” to demonstrate they are safe.”
The vendor says physicians who have looked into “e-cigarettes,” say it could be a healthy alternative. Dr. Joel L. Nitzkin, chair of the Tobacco Control Group for the American Association of Public Health Physicians is opposed to Lautenberg’s proposals.
Dr Nitkin, said he is convinced it’s harmful to ban a product less dangerous than its traditional counterpart and put what amounts to a government seal of approval on the more dangerous product, that is to say a cigarette.
Lautenberg wrote to the Food and Drug Administration earlier last year and asked it to take immediate action against manufacturers of electronic cigarettes. He said he wants the FDA to take the products off the market. He said that the World Health Organization said last year there is no scientific evidence to confirm the products safety and efficacy.