Electronic Cigarettes, e-cigarettes, are commonly understood as an alternative to conventional cigarettes. A new report from the CDC, however, indicates that the e-cigarettes are finding a wider and wider market among smokers that would be prevented from buying traditional cigarettes, namely teenagers.
A published on September 6, 2013, and found that e-cigarette usage among grade school students, grades 6-12, increased dramatically and that a correlated rise in conventional cigarettes was also found.
Florida performed its own studies of the products, and found results that far exceeded those found by the CDC. In 2013, according to the report, 4.3 percent of middle school students and 12.1 percent of high school students had used e-cigarettes. More startling was the rate of increase: 43.3 percent among middle school students and 101.7 percent among high school students, since the prior year.
The FDA was prevented from asserting its regulatory authority in a court decision from December of 2010. At that time, the court decided that the devices, at least to the extent that they contain nicotine, could not be regulated by the FDA as a drug or device. Although unable to regulate at this time, the FDA is moving forward with efforts to establish the product as a tobacco product and regulate them as such.
“Time and again the story is the same, corporations with their ravenous appetite for profits, will push these products onto the market without fully evaluating the impact the product will have on the public,” commented Kimberly Adams, a partner with the Levin, Papantonio law firm.
The FDA has established this website to inform users on the subject of electronic cigarettes.
Conventional cigarette companies are anxious to get in on the action as they have been buying the e-cigarette manufacturers. From a business perspective, that makes total sense. Why wouldn’t a company that has founded its legacy in misrepresenting its products and making millions want to get in on the profit?
Joshua is a writer and researcher with Ring of Fire. Follow him on Twitter @Joshual33.
