e-cigarettes spark debate in U.S.

Electronic cigarettes have been seen as a tobacco product but not as drugs. The US Food and Drug Administration had appealed to the court to treat these cigarettes as drugs but the court says this is an oversight. The FDA cited five e-cigarette distributors for poor manufacturing practices and falsely claiming that the products help people stop smoking. These cigarettes however are gaining popularity and some are in fact using them to quit smoking. Unlike gum or patches, the battery-operated devices mimic the sensation of smoking while providing the nicotine rush. Because electronic cigarettes are smokeless, they are marketed to smokers for use in non-smoking areas.

The ruling by three judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit was not taken well by tobacco activist groups as it allows e-cigarette maker Sottera Inc. to start importing its NJOY products. The ruling read, “Electronic cigarettes are battery-powered products that allow users to inhale nicotine vapour without fire, smoke, ash, or carbon monoxide… The liquid nicotine in each e-cigarette is derived from natural tobacco plants.” Congress gave the FDA authority to regulate tobacco products in 2009 but did not authorize it to ban them. The ruling added, “The FDA’s refusal to admit NJOY’s products into the United States obviously destroyed the firm’s ability in the United States to cover its costs for purchase or production of e-cigarettes.”

A Sottera Inc. statement said, “The ultimate impact of this court decision will be to lift the current import restrictions on NJOY electronic cigarettes and provide a regulatory framework for NJOY to make progress on its mission to be the most responsible electronic cigarette manufacturer on the market.”

Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said it would take time for the FDA to assert its jurisdiction over e-cigarettes as tobacco products. He said, “This decision will allow any manufacturer to put any level of nicotine in any product and sell it to anybody, including children, with no government regulation or oversight at the present time…We urge the government to appeal this ruling.”

University of California researchers say these e-cigarettes should be banned until safety concerns have been addressed. They found some loop holes in the health claims made by e-cigarette manufacturers. They looked at six different brands of electronic cigarettes that were bought online and found that:

• Fluid containing nicotine leaked out of most cartridges.
• Labelling on the Nicotine cartridge was poor with no cartridge content, expiration date, or health warnings. Both nicotine and non-nicotine cartridges looked identical. There was not storage or disposal information.
• Range of nicotine content was not fixed and varied between 6 milligrams to 24 mg.
• Safety features did not always work correctly.
• Ambiguous claims that smoking e-cigarettes would increase lung capacity or decrease wrinkles were abundant.

The authors of the study released online Tuesday in the journal Tobacco Control write, “Our observations provide evidence that regulators should consider removing [electronic cigarettes] from the market until design features, quality control, disposal and safety issues have been adequately addressed.”