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In the tabloid tradition of “If it bleeds, it leads,” The New York Times ignored the lack of peer review and wasted no space on critical analysis when it ran a May 3 article by Matt Richtel titled “Some E-Cigarettes Deliver a Puff of Carcinogens.” (here). Based on two unpublished studies, the Times reported that “the high-power e-cigarettes known as tank systems produce formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, along with the nicotine-laced vapor that their users inhale. The toxin is formed when liquid nicotine and other e-cigarette ingredients are subjected to high temperatures... This finding suggests that in certain conditions, [e-cigarettes] might expose their users to the same or even higher levels of carcinogenic formaldehyde as tobacco smoke.” The Times also said the new research shows that when users are “dripping” – placing drops of e-liquid directly onto an e-cig’s heating element – “formaldehyde and related toxins ‘approach the concentration in cigarettes.’”The studies are the work of Roswell Park Cancer Institute assistant professor Maciej L. Goniewicz, and Alan Shihadeh at Virginia Commonwealth University and the American University in Beirut, respectively. Goniewicz’s article will reportedly appear in the May 15 edition of Nicotine & Tobacco Research, while Shihadeh’s has not been accepted or peer-reviewed anywhere (the Times says it “is being prepared for submission to the same journal”). The Times story represents a deeply troubling development: the global publicizing of research before publication or even submission to a medical journal.This high-profile pre-release tactic has become commonplace for anti-tobacco pronouncements from the CDC and other federal agencies. Media outlets give these biased stories wide distribution free of critical analysis or balance. Historically, release of findings prior to a journal’s publication date was grounds for cancelling an article. In a recent post I suggested that peer review of tobacco research is nearly nonexistent at some journals (here). It is further disappointing that journals are active partners in the selective release of research findings to the public.Original author: Reyes

E-cigarettes are gaining in popularity, and with the amount of artists who embrace smoking cigarettes and cigars (ex. Trey Songz, Jay Z, T.I., Snoop Lion, etc.) should African-American celebrities try to bank on the e-cig industry or avoid it?Here’s the scoop on celebrities who are currently embracing the e-cigarette industry, who’s getting lambasted for it and African-Americans’ current rates of smoking.E-cigarette business investments for celebritiesE-cigarettes have gained in popularity, and some celebrities are taking financial advantage of that. Pop star Bruno Stars stopped smoking as a tribute to his late mother on Mother’s Day of 2013. Since then, according to PR News Wire, Bruno Mars invested money into the e-cig industry with NJOY Kings.Trying-to-quit celebrity picsOther celebrities may not be making an investment buck off of the product, but they’ve also been seen using the cigarette alternative on vacations, around town and even on talk shows. Actress Katherine Heigl is one of the first to make e-cigarettes a public discussion, puffing away on an e-cigarette during her interview on CBS’ “Late Show with David Letterman,” even getting the host in on it.“You have no excuse to smoke a real cigarette,” she said on Letterman’s show, after giving him detailed instructions as to how they’re used. This was free promo for the e-cig industry without them spending a dime. Now she may wish she’d have invested in an e-cig industry company during her impromptu how-to session, but she was more concerned with the politically correct industry coming back to haunt her.Other celebrities who’ve been caught enjoying water vapors are music artists Katy Perry, Ronnie Wood and Britney Spears; actors John Cusack, Jack Nicholson, Lindsay Lohan, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Robert Pattinson, Kevin Connolly, Stephen Dorff, Natasha Lyonne and Dennis Quaid; and TV personalities Paris Hilton, Jennifer Ann “Jenny” McCarthy and Simon Cowell.E-cig spottings on televisionIn the older days, before people knew all of the cons of smoking nicotine, it wasn’t unusual to find guests on popular talk shows, such as “The Johnny Carson Show,” smoking while they were being interviewed. With e-cigarettes considered the healthier alternative, will TV shows and talk shows do the same? This is still uncertain, but there is a possibility. In a recent episode of “2 Broke Girls,” actress Jennifer Coolidge (who plays the role of Sophie Kachinsky) was seen puffing away on an e-cig during a door scene.Celebrity backlash from e-cig industryHeigl’s concern about the backlash of the products was a lesson learned for talk show host Jenny McCarthy. While the health industry continues to do research about potential health problems with e-cigs, which do have nicotine in them, anti-smoking industries are paying attention to celebrity endorsements. According toRadarOnline, Freedom Laser Therapy, Inc. is offering $1 million to McCarthy to work with their company instead of doing videos like the “Freedom” taping for blu eCigs. So far, McCarthy hasn’t released a public response.African-Americans’ role in cigarette industryAccording to the American Lung Association, “African Americans accounted for approximately 12 percent of the 46 million adults who were current smokers in the United States during 2008.” Although the verdict is still out on whether the nicotine in e-cigarettes is too addictive to use to curb smoking, African-Americans are definitely big customers for the industry. ALA also reports that magazine advertising for mentholated cigarettes increased from 13 percent in 1998 to 49 percent in 2005. Menthol cigarettes are the most likely choice for African-Americans. And Forbes reports that the e-cigarette industry could be over $1 billion.Do you think African-American celebrities, who have always been influential when it comes to clothing, cosmetics, shoes and even fragrance advertising, should put more of an effort into anti-smoking or take baby steps like moving towards the e-cig industry instead?Shamontiel is also The Wire Examiner, and for the gladiators, she’s the Scandal Examiner, too.Follow Shamontiel on Pinterest for all of her latest TV, book, music and movie reviews; photo galleries; entertainment saving tips and other entries, or subscribe to her National African American Entertainment channel at the top of this page. Also, follow her @BlackHealthNews, and follow this Pinterest board to read her celebrity interviews. Should African-American celebrities join the e-cigarette industry?Original author: Gwen

So much of e-cigarette advertising – past and present – centers on the idea that users can simply break out their e-cig, and vape away indoors or outdoors, with no worries of repercussions, or bothering others, because vapor isn’t “smoke,” per se.

Why the ‘80s ‘Winston Man’ ThinksE-Cigs Can Benefit SocietyMyths Debunked from Cigarette Spokesman-Turned-Anti Tobacco ActivistCommunities are banning them; vials of “e-juice” are poisoning children; and only recently has the FDA proposed regulations for the $1.5 billion-and-growing electronic cigarette industry.Are e-cigarettes safe? Can they help people stop smoking?David Goerlitz, the “Winston Man” from 1982-88, publicly denounced the tobacco industry in 1988 and joined the anti-tobacco movement. He eventually became disillusioned with that “industry” as well, although he continues to spread his anti-smoking message in schools.“This subject hits very close to home for me; my brother was still a young man when he lost his life due to his cigarette addiction,” he says.Goerlitz knows both sides of the tobacco story well, so when electronic cigarettes emerged, he began researching them.“Most smokers wish they’d never started and would quit if they could,” he says. “E-cigarettes are not for children or for anyone who doesn’t already smoke. But for the 42.1 million adult smokers [CDC, 2012] who’ve been unable to quit, they are a safer alternative – safer for them and for those around them.”Having experienced both sides of the tobacco story extensively, he began researching electronic cigarettes when they emerged. Because of the understandable concern driving headlines, Goerlitz clears the air from some of the myths he’s read about.•  E-cigarettes are just as bad – if not worse – than regular cigarettes.  “No, I wouldn’t say just anyone should use them – or use just any brand without carefully looking at what’s in the e-juice and where it comes from,” he says. “But most smokers would quit if they could, and for them, this can be a healthier option.”We know the health hazards posed by regular cigarettes, he says, and there’s anecdotal evidence suggesting that e-cigarettes help some smokers quit tobacco.•  “E-juice” is just another poison that will find its way to children and pets. First, there are many products around the house that can hurt living things: bleach, candles, etc. – but they serve a purpose. Second, while some e-juice should be examined with suspicion, including those that don’t list ingredients and those that are made in China, a company like American Heritage, (www.americanheritageonline.com), has only three food-grade quality ingredients and nicotine that is naturally derived from the tobacco plant.  All are sourced and mixed in the United States. In contrast, some other e-cigarette juice consists of synthetic nicotine, which is also used as weed killer. •  They’re being marketed to children. Once again, this is an emerging market and companies should be judged on an individual basis. “I like how American Heritage has really gone out of its way to emphasize the fact that its product is not for kids,” Goerlitz says. Also, any product that is restricted to adults may be potentially construed as playing to minors: bubblegum-flavored vodka, mature video games and more.•  Smokers won’t like them; they’re too different from traditional cigarettes. “Many smokers look at the delivery vessel for most e-cigarettes and say, ‘Why would I want to smoke a pen?’ "he says. So, it’s important for many to have that authentic smoking experience.“Quitting smoking is hard, and there are millions of smokers in the U.S. alone whereby nicotine patches, cocktail straws and hypnosis simply doesn’t work,” he says. “I’ve joined American Heritage as their spokesperson because, in part, they’ve made it truly easy for traditional smokers by providing the most authentic e-cigarette on the market today. In my opinion, the more people that switch, the more lives that are saved.”About David GoerlitzDavid Goerlitz, “the Winston man” from 1982-88, left the tobacco industry because of his brother’s death from cancer and became a staunch anti-tobacco activist. He has been recognized for his work by the World Health Organization, the American Lung Association and the American Cancer Society. He is the spokesman for American Heritage International, www.americanheritageonline.com, which uses ingredients that are exclusively sourced and mixed in America, delivered with an electronic cigarette designed strictly as an alternative for tobacco smokers and chewers.Original author: Raquel

Get Breaking News FirstReceive News, Politics, and Entertainment Headlines Each Morning.Sign UpST. PAUL, Minn. (AP/WCCO) — Supporters of defining electronic cigarettes in the same light as traditional tobacco products won a key round Monday in the Minnesota Legislature.By an 11-8 vote, lawmakers pushing for tough regulations on the fast-spreading devices defeated an effort to pare back their bill. The Senate Finance Committee sent a bill putting the e-cigarette devices under the indoor air act to the floor for a vote. If it became law, it would mean e-cigarettes would be barred wherever standard smokes aren’t allowed.“It just asks that the risks that are unknown are not imposed on other people in public places,” said Sen. Kathy Sheran, DFL-Mankato.E-cigarettes are thin, cylindrical devices that heat a liquid nicotine solution that users inhale. Unlike regular cigarettes, they don’t emit smoke or tar, but there is debate over whether the vapor is clean or laden with chemicals on the way out. The Food and Drug Administration is conducting studies on e-cigarettes but has given no indication of when the findings will be ready.The vote to preserve wider use restrictions split more along geographic lines than party lines. Another showdown is expected when the bill hits the floor, which could be this week.“I’m not sure I’m willing to call this activity smoking at this point,” said Sen. John Pederson, R-St. Cloud.Smokers On E-Cigarette RegulationsWCCO RADIOOpponents of the strict regulations said lawmakers shouldn’t get so far ahead of the science. Gov. Mark Dayton has said he would sign a bill to restrict children’s ability to buy e-cigarettes and to keep them out of schools, but he has said plans to make them subject to the indoor air law could go too far.Supporters of  e-cigarettes say they are an effective measure to quit tobacco use.“I don’t think the regulations are warranted,” said Kim Green, a smoker who’s used e-cigarettes. “If they want to regulate it, put it through the FDA process.”Josh Korpi, another smoker who’s tried vaping, said he doesn’t understand the need for indoor regulations, but added that he doesn’t mind going outside.“There is very little risk of second-hand smoke with the vapors,” he said.The House e-cigarettes bill is confined to provisions meant to prevent access by minors. A vote on that measure could come at any time.(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)Original author: Reyes

(Reuters) - When Noah Minskoff's mother died of lung cancer in 2007, e-cigarettes were just entering the U.S. market. Minskoff, who had just started medical school in Utah, wondered whether the devices might have saved his mother's life by helping her quit smoking. Later, he sent some samples to his boyhood friend Nathan Terry, a mechanical engineer, and asked for his opinion.Terry, who was working in Germany for the French industrial firm Areva, took apart the products to see how they were made. What he found disturbed him: at the heart of the devices were heater wires of unknown quality wrapped around bundles of glass fibers and surrounded by steel wool, silicon, plastic, tape and adhesives.Wires between the heater, circuit board and batteries were connected with lead solder and also housed in tape and plastic. Everything was close to the heat source, meaning consumers were at risk of inhaling fiber and metal particles as well as toxic fumes from hot plastic and lead."There were red flags everywhere," Terry said.AdvertisementStill, he liked the concept and decided to design a version of his own, avoiding the use of fiberglass, plastic and solder and sourcing his materials entirely in the United States. In 2009 he reunited with Minskoff in California and formed a company, Thermo-Essence Technologies, to sell the product.At $300 a piece, the e-cigarette serves a niche market, albeit one with a loyal following among medical marijuana patients and smokers looking for a high-end e-cigarette. As many as 30,000 have been sold.But what began as a quest to develop a better e-smoke has broadened into an ambitious effort to design a new medical device: an inhaler that delivers measured doses of nicotine to help people quit smoking. The technology could also eventually be used as an abuse-resistant delivery device for other drugs, including opioid painkillers.If successful, the inhaler could become the first new smoking-cessation product to emerge from the e-cigarette field and would compete with products such as GlaxoSmithKline Plc's nicotine gum and Pfizer Inc's antismoking drug, Chantix.A STARTUP WITH BIOTECH FUNDINGTo develop the inhaler, Terry formed a second company, Minusa LLC, which is based in Newtown, Connecticut. Minskoff left Thermo-Essence for family reasons and is not involved in Minusa. Terry himself is leaving Thermo-Essence, which is currently being sold, to concentrate on Minusa.The new company obtained initial funding from Michael Breede, a commercial real-estate-turned-biotech investor whose father suffered from drug and alcohol addiction and who is eager to see an abuse-resistant painkiller device."This is in my wheelhouse," he said. "I think we can put a serious dent in this problem."When Terry developed his e-cigarette he assumed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would begin regulating the industry, as it has recently done, proposing a ban on sales to people under the age of 18 and requiring companies to register. Later it could impose product standard and quality controls.Terry wanted to create a product that would pass any FDA inspection. He used a pure metal wire wrapped around a rod made from magnesia-stabilized zirconia, a highly durable ceramic material. Instead of meshes, tape and plastic he used novel porous ceramics and surgical-grade alloys, and instead of soldering parts together he connected them mechanically, fitting components together like Legos to complete the circuits.He built on that design to create his drug-delivery device, known as Envi, a single-user, tamper-resistant, metered-dose inhaler.Envi is about the size of a short cigar and comes with a spare in a case the size of a deck of playing cards.The nicotine or other drug will come in a sealed cartridge that the patient will insert into the inhaler. To activate the device, the user will have to enter a code. The inhaler will be programed to deliver a certain amount of drug and then turn off.When the device is returned to the case, which is required after each dose to activate it for the next dose, data on the patient's usage will be downloaded and available to be viewed electronically by the prescribing physician."It will only let you take your prescription," Terry said. "It will log your usage and transmit it in real time, and make it easier for the doctor to monitor and interact with the patient."BUILDING A BETTER INHALERTerry, 37, who grew up on an organic farm in Ohio to "hippy commune" parents and studied mechanical engineering at the University of Idaho, faces multiple challenges.Inhalers are typically more expensive to develop than pills, and ensuring patients get the right dose is more complicated."I can see a lot of barriers, but the idea is certainly interesting," said Dr. Ben Forbes, a Reader in Pharmaceutics, broadly the equivalent of a U.S. professor, at King's College London who specializes in inhaled medications.There needs to be a good reason to target a drug to the lungs, Forbes said. Drugs that are inhaled may work faster than pills, so a device that offered quick pain relief in an abuse-resistant form would be "brilliant" if it could be produced economically, he added."Changes in inhaler technology have been very incremental over the years, so maybe something like this would have a place."In the meantime, big tobacco companies are developing alternative nicotine products they hope one day will carry a "modified risk" of harm. Some are dispensed through an inhaler.Unlike Terry's smoking-cessation device, which he plans to file with the FDA's drug division, these products would be marketed as less risky alternatives to smoking and be processed through the FDA's tobacco division.However smokers end up using the new products will be the subject of intense research by the FDA.Terry believes he is creating a product that will survive any market configuration. Minusa has a long way to go, and human trials may be two years off. Eventually he hopes to partner with a big drug company."I think we can change how drugs are delivered."(Reporting by Toni Clarke in Washington; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Prudence Crowther)Copyright 2014 MedCity News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Share This StoryHear the latest industry news firstGet our daily newsletter or follow us.Please enter your email below:Original author: Leanora

CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwired - May 2, 2014) - ProSmoke, a #1-rated electronic cigarette company, has responded to the latest U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations for the electronic cigarette industry. The FDA recently announced new regulations to further the safety precautions surrounding the e-cigarette industry. These regulations now include 18+ age requirements to purchase electronic cigarette products, full disclosure of all ingredients in each product, and nicotine warnings. ProSmoke sees some of the introductory regulations as welcome changes to the industry, and plans to go above and beyond to make any necessary adjustments to their current high standards to comply. "The recent proposed FDA regulations are a step forward in recognizing electronic cigarettes as their own category, distinctly different from traditional combustible cigarettes. The coming months will be very important for the industry and FDA to work together on refining these regulations to ensure they not only protect the public's health interests, but do not stifle industry growth and innovation. We look forward to working collaboratively with the industry and FDA to develop reasonable, fact-based regulations for the electronic cigarette industry. ProSmoke will continue to offer our industry-leading products while this process begins," says ProSmoke. ProSmoke has remained at the forefront of the electronic cigarette industry in product safety and consumer awareness. The company currently has portions of the proposed regulations in place at this time, but plans to make the proper adjustments and additions in regards to these new regulations and build on their esteemed reputation of being an industry leader in e-cigarettes. Full press release available here. http://www.prosmokestore.com/store/blogs/fda-electronic-cigarette-regulation-reaction-149 About ProSmoke Electronic Cigarette: Since 2008, ProSmoke has provided the best e-cig products at a valued price point for consumers. ProSmoke offers the most realistic experience, the most vapor, and the best flavors, at a cheaper cost to provide the best alternative to traditional cigarettes.Consumer DiscretionaryLegislative BranchFDAelectronic cigarette Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.l author: Daren

UPDATED 5/3/14:  URGENT Minnesota Vapers Advocacy Group (MNVA) has issued a Call to Action for House Bill 2402, which is scheduled to be heard in the Minnesota House of Representatives on MONDAY, May 5th, 2014.  Two amendments have been offered to that bill, one of which would ban e-cigarette use wherever smoking is prohibited, and the other which would ban sale of e-cigarettes in kiosks.  Please see the MNVA's Call to Action for HB 2402 for information on how you can help.UPDATED 5/1/14:  SF 2027 was on the Senate Finance Committee’s agenda for May 1, 2014, but is now on the agenda for MONDAY, May 5th, at 10:15 a.m. 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Room 123, St. Paul, MN 55155-1606.

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01 May 2014 at 4:41 PMD.C. Circuit, Tobacco / Smoking Smoke Signals: The Misinformation Behind FDA’s Proposed Regulation Of E-Cigarettes By Tamara Tabo

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently proposed new rules targeting electronic cigarettes. By its authority under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, FDA now regulates “tobacco products” — cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco, and smokeless tobacco. The proposed regulation would “deem” additional products within the scope of the statutory definition of “tobacco product.” FDA would deem electronic cigarettes to be tobacco products, even though e-cigs don’t contain tobacco leaves. The deeming regulation would give FDA the power to govern e-cigs’ manufacture, sale, and use, implementing age restrictions, mandating additional scientific review of products, and scrutinizing claims made by the makers of e-cigs.

Device manufacturers are worried about the potential impact of government regulations.FORTUNE -- Electronic cigarette makers just can't catch a break these days.This week, the cities of New York and Chicago banned the use of electronic smoking devices in bars, restaurants and other public places, effectively treating them the same way as traditional tobacco products.And in April, the Food and Drug Administration, which has yet to review the safety of e-cigarettes, unveiled a plan that would have the government agency review e-cigarettes and their ingredients for the first time, and ban the sale to minors of tobacco products that are currently unregulated, including e-cigarettes.All this has e-cigarette companies crying foul."They don't have the scientific expertise," said Craig Weiss, a U.S. patent attorney and CEO of NJOY, whose NJOY King device remains one of the top-selling e-cigarette devices on the market. Given the lack of scientific study at the FDA, Weiss argues, why limit a market that may offer significant health benefits and prevent 480,000 deaths a year stemming from traditional tobacco use? Kill the password. And the PIN number. And the car key."If the FDA lacks the scientific research to form data and science based conclusions, how does it make sense for any other government body to regulate ahead of that?" explained Weiss, who says he's all for market regulation so long as due diligence is performed.Proponents of New York regulations say the goal is to prevent the public from perceiving smoking as more acceptable again, particularly impressionable teens who might view e-cigarettes as a stepping stone toward old-school tobacco products. Dr. Thomas Farley, the New York City health commissioner under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, recently argued that permitting electronic cigarettes in bars and restaurants would also undermine existing bans on tobacco products.Stricter regulations would affect smokers like Lori Abiuso, an animal trainer based in Cherry Hill, N.J."I prefer an actual cigarette, but e-cigs negate the need for me to bring cigarettes with me when I am going out with non-smoking friends, or places like Disney World where there are few smoking sections, or smoking is completely banned," Abiuso explained.Powered by a battery, e-cigarettes don't contain as many harmful chemicals as regular cigarettes, but they do contain nicotine, which is heated into a vapor that's inhaled. Critics say the devices may encourage children to use them, while proponents argue they can help regular cigarette smokers kick the habit. How much is water really worth?There's also a huge market opportunity at stake. E-cigarette companies have gathered considerable steam in recent years, largely marketing their products as the healthier alternative for smokers, especially those trying to quit. Indeed, of the 44 million American smokers, nearly 70% of them want to stop, according to the Center for Disease Control. Bonnie Herzog, an analyst at Wells Fargo Bank, estimates e-cigs were a $2 billion global market last year. That number could swell to $10 billion by 2017, according to Herzog, outpacing traditional cigarettes sales for the first time ever.The eye-popping figure does not factor in the potential impact of government regulations would have. But garnering widespread support for e-cigarettes may also prove a challenge."They're a PR nightmare," said one tech public relations executive, who argues it's an uphill battle for the products to shake the stigma held around their more traditional tobacco counterpart, not to mention the likelihood companies will have to spend significant financial resources on lobbying and legal funding.Industry insiders like Weiss argue they just want their products to undergo fair process. Adds Weiss: "All we've ever asked is that FDA do the research."Original author: Raquel

by Carl V Phillips The CDC has been one of the most dedicated opponents of people avoiding the risks from cigarettes by using low-risk alternatives.  This dates back from before I started working in the area, long before e-cigarettes happened. … Continue reading →Original author: Carl V Phillips

It's lunch time, and William Brown has stepped away from his desk for a nicotine fix in the lobby of the building where he works. The city employee isn't allowed to smoke here, but he can vape.He flips the switch on his sleek black electronic cigarette, with its digital readout to gauge the nicotine, and inhales. He sucks in on the plastic tip and blows out a big white cloud that dissipates fast.People pass by, but Brown says he rarely gets a reaction."E-cigarettes have gotten so popular that when you spew out vapor, people put one and one together," said Brown, who works for the Municipal Telephone Exchange. "Though a year ago, I got a lot of 'What the heck is that?' I would go through the spiel of how it works and how it helped me stop smoking."Electronic cigarettes turn nicotine-laced juices into an inhalable vapor. The e-cigarette industry claims it's a safer way to take in nicotine, and they say e-cigarettes can help smokers quit. But skeptics aren't convinced. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced last week that it's seeking regulatory power over e-cigarettes, something it doesn't now have.Efforts to regulate vaping failed in the recently ended Maryland General Assembly session when a bill that would have treated e-cigarettes as traditional cigarettes died in committee. This week, the Baltimore City Council took up the issue when Councilman James B. Kraft, who represents Southeast Baltimore, introduced a similar bill that would ban e-cigarettes at all places where smoking is banned.Kraft called e-cigarettes a "new threat" and said they "create an impression on the young that smoking is OK." It will likely be several months before the bill's fate is known.For now, with no formal regulations about the practice, it's up to individual workplaces, restaurants and other businesses to determine whether vaping will be allowed on their premises."Legally, people can vape anywhere in Maryland. But policy is at the discretion of employers in the workplace, just as it is at the discretion of other public establishments," said Jeff Blumenfeld, who works at the Westminster corporate office of S.S. Vape, a chain that sells the devices and juices.Blumenfeld likes to partake when he eats out."I won't vape in family restaurants like Bob Evans or Chick-fil-A out of courtesy for people who are not comfortable with it. But I do it in every other restaurant I go to," he said, adding that if he gets a reaction, it is one of curiosity. He says he quit two packs a day of Newports, cold turkey, the day he bought his e-cigarette starter kit.Gordon Harden, co-owner of Souris' Saloon in Towson, is happy to give vapers a place to partake of their e-cigarettes."They are not breaking laws," he said. "It is not putting out an offensive odor or lingering smoke, and I have heard no complaints."While some have no qualms, others are skeptical."There is no conclusive evidence that nicotine heated in liquid is less harmful than nicotine burned in tobacco," warns Cynthia Hallett, executive director of the Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation. "It is not proven that secondhand exposure is not toxic. And because e-juices are not FDA-regulated, they have been shown to have varying degrees of nicotine and, sometimes, other chemicals."And as e-cigarette use has risen, so have calls to poison control centers related to their nicotine — up from one call per month nationwide in September 2010 to 215 per month in February 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And just over half of those calls were for children under age 5."Use of these products is skyrocketing, and these poisonings will continue," CDC Director Tom Frieden said in a statement. "E-cigarette liquids as currently sold are a threat to small children because they are not required to be childproof, and they come in candy and fruit flavors that are appealing to children."With no federal or state guidelines to follow, some local employers and organizations are proceeding with caution.Baltimore County employees were told in March that e-cigarette use at work is prohibited. Dr. Gregory Branch, the county health officer, advised, "Given the lack of scientific information regarding the safety of e-cigarettes, I believe it is prudent to treat them as we do regular cigarettes and tobacco products in the workplace."The Johns Hopkins University has no organization-wide policy, but beginning this fall, vaping will be banned in student housing at the university's Homewood campus.Original author: James

This past Thursday the federal government moved to add new levels of monitoring and authority over those who use, make and sell electronic cigarettes. The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed a sweeping set of rules to crack down on what many outlets are – somewhat inaccurately – deeming a “Wild West” of e-cigarette manufacturers and distributors.

UPDATE 4/30/14 P.M.:  Due to the massive number of emails and calls from vapers generated by this Call to Action, the House Health and Human Development Committee has postponed the hearing on HB 309.  The new hearing date will likely be Wednesday, May 7th, 2014.  We will update this call to action as more information becomes available.*********Introduced late yesterday (4/29/14) and set for a hearing today (4/30/14) before the House Health and Human Development Committee, HB 309 seeks to amend Delaware's Clean Indoor Air Act to treat smoke-free e-cigarette use the same as smoking.  Delware citizens should be outraged at the lack of notice, a clear attempt to eliminate any honest discussion on the issue.We appreciate that given the lack of notice, it is impossible for most people to attend a hearing today.  However, if you can, please attend the hearing at 2:30 p.m., House Chambers inside the Legislative Hall (411 Legislative Ave, Dover, DE).  Whether or not you can attend the hearing today, Delaware vapers and harm reduction advocates are urged to take IMMEDIATE ACTION to call and email members of the House Health and Human Development Committee to express opposition to this bill and the lack of notice.If enacted, HB 309 would:Prohibit the use of smoke-free electronic cigarettes wherever "smoking" is bannedHB 309Committee Meeting NoticePlease contact the members of the House Health and Human Development Committee and your representative and let them know:

1.You are a resident of Delaware, and while yousupport banning sales of e-cigarettes to minors, you OPPOSE including smoke-free e-cigarette use within the definition of "smoking."  (If you are responding to this Call toAction and are not a state resident, please mention any connection you have tothe area, for example, you travel to Delaware on vacation or havefriends/family in the area.)

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Leonardo DiCaprio won’t be vaping at next year’s Golden Globe awards. The actors caused a stir in January when they puffed on electronic cigarettes during the ceremony. But as of April 19, e-cigarette use was banned in bars, restaurants and other public spaces throughout Los Angeles.E-cigarettes, battery-charged devices shaped like cigarettes or cigars, have a heating element that vaporizes a liquid nicotine solution, which the users, or “vapers,” inhale into their lungs and then puff, producing an odorless water vapor that e-cigarette advocates say is harmless to bystanders. In fact if vapers hold their breath for a few seconds after inhaling, they emit no vapor at all.But critics of the $2-billion-a-year e-cigarette industry, like the American Lung Association and the non-profit Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, say that preliminary studies show that dangerous toxins could be present in the exhaled vapor. Along with nicotine, the liquid contains propylene glycol, glycerin and nitrosamines. E-cigarette advocates say that these chemicals have proved to be harmless. Propylene glycol and glycerin are present in toothpaste and asthma inhalers, and nitrosamines, which are known carcinogens, are in such tiny amounts that they pose no danger, say proponents. E-cigs also contain cadmium, lead and nickel, in very small doses. But, says Erika Sward, assistant vice president for national advocacy at the American Lung Association, “the bottom line is we don’t know enough about these products.”A December 2013 World Health Organization paper concedes that e-cigarettes are safer than traditional cigarettes, but that they “still deliver some toxins,” while a study in the Journal of Public Health Policy said “a preponderance of the available evidence shows [e-cigarettes] to be much safer than tobacco cigarettes and comparable in toxicity to conventional nicotine replacement products.”In the face of inconclusive evidence and a dearth of definitive studies, employers are wrestling with whether to allow vaping in the workplace. Some 28 states and the District of Columbia ban smoking at work, but only three—New Jersey, Utah and North Dakota—have added e-cigarettes to those bans. Meantime, 150 municipalities have banned vaping in public spaces including restaurants, bars and offices.  The list is rapidly expanding. In January, only 100 cities and towns, including Seattle and Boston, had vaping bans. Just today, broad bans are taking effect in New York City, San Francisco and Chicago.As city vaping bans are spreading, employers are rapidly imposing them too. Wal-Mart Stores, the largest private employer in the U.S., with 1.3 million workers, has decided to lump e-cigarettes in with traditional cigarettes, banning it in its offices and stores. Wal-Mart spokesman Randy Hargrove says the company views e-cigarettes as tobacco products. General Electric, which has more than 100,000 workers in the U.S., and Target, with 361,000 U.S. employees, and Home Depot with 331,000 employees  all have the same policy as Wal-Mart.But one thing that’s striking about company, state and municipal bans, which view e-cigarettes as equivalent to cancer- and emphysema-causing, tar-  and smoke-emitting traditional cigarettes: they consider e-cigs to be tobacco products because they contain nicotine, which is derived from tobacco. But the companies don’t ban nicotine patches, lozenges or gum. In fact Wal-Mart gives those away for free as part of its smoking-cessation plan for employees. To some extent, the differing treatment comes from the fact that the FDA already regulates nicotine substitutes as drugs. E-cigarettes, which have been available in the U.S. since around 2006, are not regulated at all. Finally last week the FDA announced it intended to regulate e-cigs not as drugs but as tobacco products, like traditional cigarettes. The agency has proposed banning their sale to minors, and to further study their safety. E-cigarette opponents lamented the FDA’s announcement because it said nothing about restricting marketing to children or regulating the liquid. E-cigarettes come in flavors like watermelon and Bavarian cream.For this piece, I reached out to a dozen large private employers. Only four got back to me. The Wall Street Journal reported in January on a half dozen employers, most of whom have vaping bans: Along with Wal-Mart, CVS Caremark forbids it in its corporate offices and Starbucks bans vaping among both customers and workers. United Parcel Service, which charges non-union tobacco users $150 extra in monthly insurance premiums, has a striking policy: it makes e-cigarette users pay the higher price as well, despite no evidence that vaping causes cancer or emphysema. McDonald’s was the only exception the Journal found. At least as of January, the company allowed both employees and customers to vape in stores and offices.Through a new industry group, the American Vaping Association, I reached one employer who not only permits vaping, she pays for it. Cheryl Dooley, 56, CEO and president of Ebsco Spring Company, a Tulsa, OK-based maker of springs used in industrial machinery, was a hardened smoker who put away two packs a day. She tried, and failed, to quit 15 times. But after doctors found a blood clot in her lungs, she tried vaping, which finally got her off cigarettes. “I realized that even bad addicts can quit with e-cigarettes,” she says. Since more than a third of her 75 employees smoked, she decided to take an unconventional step: She bought 28 vaping kits for $100 each and gave them to workers for free.To get started with e-cigarettes, vapers have to buy a battery, charger, nicotine-liquid cartridges and a vaping pen. The kits can cost as little as $30 but good ones run $100 or more. So far, Dooley says that half of the smokers at Ebsco have used the kits to quit smoking.  She says she wasn’t trying to boost productivity or save on health care costs. “Our health care costs are crazy no matter what,” she says. “I wanted people to know that it’s possible to quit.”But it’s doubtful that other employers will follow suit. Instead, says George Boue, head of human resources at Stiles Corporation, a property management company in Fort Lauderdale and member of the discipline panel at the Society for Human Resource Management, the trade group recommends that as long as there are no definitive studies or FDA ruling on the safety of e-cigarettes, employers should treat them like traditional cigarettes. At Stiles, there was no company policy until three months ago when an employee in a satellite office complained about a colleague vaping, claiming it irritated her allergies. At the same time, Boue got a request from a reporter to discuss the issue. He realized that the company had better make a vaping rule.Though studies have yet to prove that inhaling second-hand vapor causes health problems, and none have suggested that e-cigarette vapor promotes an allergic reaction, acknowledges Boue, “you’re still releasing a foreign substance into the indoor environment.”  Employees who see a vaper puffing what looks like smoke are bound to complain, he says. “In the HR environment you want to make as many people happy as you can,” he adds. “It seems similar enough to smoking cigarettes that you’d want to stick with whatever policy you have on smoking.”What about Dooley’s idea that vaping will help smokers quit? Though studies are also thin on proof that e-cigarettes are effective smoke-cessation devices and some opponents say they lure young people to become smokers, advocates insist that e-cigarettes are an important tool for getting addicts to quit smoking traditional cigarettes, which kill some 480,000 people a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Secondhand smoke causes  an additional 42,000 deaths, says the CDC. Not to mention a reported $150 billion a year in productivity loss from premature death. Advocates point to a 2013 study by Drexel University public health professor Igor Burstyn who found that e-cigarette vapor caused no harm to vapers or bystanders.What should companies do? While I find some of the pro-vaping arguments convincing—the vapor is odorless and I don’t worry about inhaling trace elements of drugs when I’m already breathing in bus fumes and car exhaust, and no study has proved that vapor will make me sick—I understand that watching colleagues puffing out a plume of what looks like smoke will make people uncomfortable. Though I find hardcore smoker Dooley’s decision to give vaping kits to her employees to be generous, I also relate to the distrust people feel of big cigarette makers like Lorillard, Altria and Reynolds, which are all now in the e-cigarette business, and it seems to me that nicotine addiction can’t be a good thing to promote. Stiles of SHRM probably has it right: “Any HR professional who has to deal with keeping people happy, understands why you would want to restrict e-cigarettes in the workplace.”Original author: Halley

No, seriously, please make the fear-mongering stop.

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Laws in New York and Chicago making electronic cigarettes subject to the same regulations as tobacco are taking effect, and their sellers and users are steadfast in their opposition.The New York ban — along with the measure in Chicago, one that previously went into effect in Los Angeles and federal regulations proposed last week — are keeping debate smouldering among public health officials, the e-cigarette industry and users.Proponents of the bans which began Tuesday say they are aimed at preventing the re-acceptance of smoking as a societal norm, particularly among teenagers who could see the tobacco-free electronic cigarettes, with their candy-like flavourings and celebrity endorsers, as a gateway to cancer-causing tobacco products.Dr. Thomas Farley, the New York City health commissioner under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, says allowing electronic cigarettes in bars and restaurants would undermine existing bans on tobacco-based products."Imagine for a moment you're at a bar and there are 20 people who are puffing on something that looks like a cigarette and then somebody smells something that smells like tobacco smoke," Farley says. "How's the bartender going to know who to tap on the shoulder and say, 'Put that out'?"Makers of the devices say marketing them as e-cigarettes has confused lawmakers into thinking they are the same as tobacco-based cigarettes. They say the bans ostracize people who want an alternative to tobacco products and will be especially hard on ex-smokers who are being lumped into the same smoking areas as tobacco users.Their defenders also say they're a good way to quit tobacco, even though science is murky on the claim.Peter Denholtz, the chief executive and co-founder of the Henley Vaporium in Manhattan, says electronic cigarettes "could be the greatest invention of our lifetime in terms of saving lives" by moving smokers away from traditional cigarettes."This law just discourages that," he says.Chris Jehly, a 31-year-old Brooklyn resident, also defended the devices as a vehicle for quitting."The tougher they're going to make it on vapers, the tougher it is people are going to find an actual vehicle for quitting or as a supplement to cigarettes," Jehly said from his perch at the counter at Henley. "There's no need for it. This is working so much better than patches or gum or prescription drugs."Robin Koval, chief executive of the anti-smoking Legacy Foundation, said that while ingredients in electronic cigarettes are not as harmful as those in tobacco products, they are still a concern because they contain highly addictive nicotine. The National Institutes of Health said users could expose themselves to toxic levels of nicotine while refilling the devices or even use them to smoke other substances.Since little evidence exists on the effect of the devices on smoking — whether as an aid in quitting, a gateway for non-smokers or a bridge to keep smokers hooked longer — she says she favours a legislative approach that balances public health with the development of safer alternatives."The right way forward will be a way that promotes innovation that helps us do everything we possibly can to get combustible tobacco to be history," Koval says. "We want a generation of Americans where, for them, cigarettes are a thing of the past — an artifact like a roll of film or a rotary telephone."

by Carl V Phillips I interrupt the analysis of the deeming regulation, because this article simply must be commented on.  CDC Director Tom Frieden “explains what he hates about electronic cigarettes” to the Los Angeles Times.  That is the actual … Continue reading →Original author: Carl V Phillips