Monday, December 20, 2010
FDA Can't Regulate E-Cigarettes!
FDA Can't Regulate E-Cigarettes, Judge Rules
While CA, NJ, Others Crack Down
A federal judge has reportedly just ruled that the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] does not have any authority to regulate e-cigarettes; a move which -- if it stands up on appeal -- will mean that the only protection the public might have lies with the states, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf, whose organization petitioned the FDA to regulate e-cigarettes, and whose scheduled appearance on a national TV caused the agency to declare the product "illegal".
More and more governments are cracking down on e-cigarettes, with California and New Jersey the most recent states to weigh in, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf, who is leading the movement to use legal action against their new products which present many significant potential dangers.
California Attorney General Jerry Brown has just filed a major law suit against various businesses involved with e-cigarettes. At about the same time, the Governor of New Jersey has signed legislation which bans the use of e-cigarettes in areas where smoking is prohibited, and also bans their sale to children.
California's law suit follows the model set by Oregon which has prepared three legal actions on behalf of the state. Two were settled, with the defendants agreeing not to sell e-cigarettes in Oregon, and one is still pending. E-cigarette makers are facing a civil class action in California, and the Attorney General of Connecticut has vowed to also follow Oregon by bringing his own law suit. Suffolk County, New York, has also banned the use of e-cigarettes.
E-cigarettes have already been banned in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, and Mexico, and restricted in Finland, Malaysia, and Singapore. The Food and Drug Administration [FDA] has determined that e-cigarettes are a "misbrand[ed]" product, an "unapproved new drug" and "are illegal until they are cleared." The agency has blocked imports of the new product, which emit nicotine (a deadly addictive drug) and propylene glycol (which can cause respiratory problems)
In addition to nicotine and propylene glycol, the FDA has reported that it found in samples of e-cigarettes a variety of "toxic and carcinogenic chemicals"
including diethylene glycol, "an ingredient used in antifreeze, [which] is toxic to humans"; "certain tobacco-specific nitrosamines which are human carcinogens"; and that "tobacco-specific impurities suspected of being harmful to humans - anabasine, myosmine, and β-nicotyrine - were detected in a majority of the samples tested."
While CA, NJ, Others Crack Down
A federal judge has reportedly just ruled that the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] does not have any authority to regulate e-cigarettes; a move which -- if it stands up on appeal -- will mean that the only protection the public might have lies with the states, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf, whose organization petitioned the FDA to regulate e-cigarettes, and whose scheduled appearance on a national TV caused the agency to declare the product "illegal".
More and more governments are cracking down on e-cigarettes, with California and New Jersey the most recent states to weigh in, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf, who is leading the movement to use legal action against their new products which present many significant potential dangers.
California Attorney General Jerry Brown has just filed a major law suit against various businesses involved with e-cigarettes. At about the same time, the Governor of New Jersey has signed legislation which bans the use of e-cigarettes in areas where smoking is prohibited, and also bans their sale to children.
California's law suit follows the model set by Oregon which has prepared three legal actions on behalf of the state. Two were settled, with the defendants agreeing not to sell e-cigarettes in Oregon, and one is still pending. E-cigarette makers are facing a civil class action in California, and the Attorney General of Connecticut has vowed to also follow Oregon by bringing his own law suit. Suffolk County, New York, has also banned the use of e-cigarettes.
E-cigarettes have already been banned in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, and Mexico, and restricted in Finland, Malaysia, and Singapore. The Food and Drug Administration [FDA] has determined that e-cigarettes are a "misbrand[ed]" product, an "unapproved new drug" and "are illegal until they are cleared." The agency has blocked imports of the new product, which emit nicotine (a deadly addictive drug) and propylene glycol (which can cause respiratory problems)
In addition to nicotine and propylene glycol, the FDA has reported that it found in samples of e-cigarettes a variety of "toxic and carcinogenic chemicals"
including diethylene glycol, "an ingredient used in antifreeze, [which] is toxic to humans"; "certain tobacco-specific nitrosamines which are human carcinogens"; and that "tobacco-specific impurities suspected of being harmful to humans - anabasine, myosmine, and β-nicotyrine - were detected in a majority of the samples tested."
source
Ash.org
Ash.org
Labels: Electronic Cigarettes, In The News
