The Scares & The Truths Regarding Electronic Cigrettes

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Scare #1A

"As one of the Senate's leaders in protecting Americans from the dangers of smoking, I urge the FDA to take e-cigarettes off the market until they are proven safe."-Senator Frank Lautenberg, March 2009

AND


"There have been no clinical studies to verify the safety of these products or the long-term health effects. To the contrary, FDA's own laboratory analyses of electronic cigarette samples found them to contain carcinogens and toxins such as antifreeze components. I disagree with the decision in this case and support the FDA's position that electronic cigarettes are drug-device combinations."- Senator Frank Lautenberg, February 2010 in a letter written to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg  

Fact #1A

As a U.S. Senator, Lautenberg has the ability to garner from the FDA all data that it has procured in regard to any actual or perceived harm to the public due to the electronic cigarette.....

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Scare #1B
"We don't know how much nicotine is exactly there. We don't know how much is being delivered. We don't know the content of the vapor. This has not been studied" - Doctor Johnathan Whiteson from New York University's Cardiac and Pulmonary Wellness and Rehabilitation Program on the CBS Morning Show 02/27/09

Fact #1B
We do know exactly how much nicotine is in each cartridge (ie: inLife medium Regal cartridge contains nicotine at 1.3%) and we do know what is being delivered in the vapor as the FDAs own study TESTED the exact levels. (see attached tests) All 13 ingredients of an e-cig are generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the FDA and have been in the U.S. food supply for generations. Current e-cig ingredients are shown here:

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Scare #2
“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that a laboratory analysis of electronic cigarette samples has found that they contain carcinogens and toxic chemicals such as diethylene glycol, an ingredient used in antifreeze.”
FDA Press Release dated July 22, 2009

Fact #2
“The FDAs actual May 4, 2009 report that originated the July 22 2009 press release findings verify previous test results (1) that validate that the electronic cigarette is up to 1,400 times safer than the leading brand of cigarettes” states Professor Michael Siegel, MD, MPH of Boston University’s School of Public Health a tobacco harm reduction researcher for over 20 years. Previous studies on the e-cig show that electronic cigarettes contain 8.2ng/g of tobacco-specific nitrosamines versus 11,190ng/g in the leading tobacco cigarette, which the FDA’s own study does not refute:

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Scare #3
"It's my duty to protect the public from products that are falsely advertised as safe” “ When products threaten the health and safety of Oregonians, we will take action" Oregon Attorney General John Kroger and Mary Williams, Deputy Attorney General

Fact #3
Let’s take that comment at face value. If the Oregon Department of Justice has stated that whenever products threaten the health of Oregonians, they will take action, we have to ask why they have not taken action against the leading cause of preventable death in Oregon: tobacco cigarettes, which have been documented to kill more than 5,000 Oregonians each year or against Pfizer’s Chantix which the FDA has documented reports of thousands of adverse effects (FDA Warning Video Here), including deaths yet Chantix is still on the market in Oregon. Instead of tackling proven health threats such as smoking directly in the state of Oregon, the Department of Justice has chosen to ban the retail sales of the e-cig, which has not been documented to pose any health risk to Oregonians, and which is helping to avert significant disease and mortality in the state by keeping many of its residents off of cigarettes.


What the Oregon Department of Justice is saying is that they would rather have Oregonians smoke cigarettes -- with their more than 6,000 chemicals, 66 carcinogens and tar, than inhale e-cig vapor, which has not been shown to deliver any of those 6,000 chemicals, 66 carcinogens and tar and the only TSNAs were at very trace levels.



Scare #4

“these products could serve as a pathway to nicotine addiction for children, leading them to smoke cigarettes and use other tobacco products to satisfy their addiction. Electronic cigarettes have been marketed in youth-friendly candy and fruit flavors including bubblegum, cookies and cream, and cola”-Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Press Release 07/22

Fact #4

For a product to be a “pathway” it first has to be more affordable than its primary option. An e-cig starter kit runs anywhere from $30 up to $150 and additional cartridges to simply use the product have to be purchased continually which makes the e-cig quite out of reach for children who want to try smoking.  What makes the accusation by Tobacco-Free Kids another “conclusion in search of facts” is that the same FDA worried about kids getting hooked on nicotine just gave approval to a pharmaceutical company to market cinnamon and cherry flavored nicotine lozenges**. Don't these products also present a concern about the potential for youths to try them and be poisoned by the nicotine? Why are the anti-smoking groups silent about the marketing of cinnamon and cherry-flavored lozenges? Can you get any closer to introducing children to a product by using none other than a candy product in the form of a nicotine cessation product such as cherry flavored nicotine lozenges?  Does this make any sense?  

**PRESS RELEASE 07/13/2009 BY PERRIGO

Perrigo Receives FDA Approval to Market Cherry and Cinnamon Flavored Nicotine Lozenges

ALLEGAN, Mich. , July 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Perrigo Company (Nasdaq: PRGO; TASE) today announced that it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market over-the-counter coated nicotine polacrilex lozenge USP, 2 mg and 4 mg in cherry and cinnamon flavors.

Scare #5

“these products risk deterring current smokers from quitting by providing an alternative source of nicotine in places where smoking is not allowed.” - Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Press Release July 22, 2009

Fact #5

The precise action that the Campaign and other groups are urging the FDA to take in the name of public health protection would condemn at least the 300,000+ current e-cig users to return to smoking conventional tobacco cigarettes. This would lead to increased morbidity and countless deaths among these individuals, many of whom have experienced a drastic improvement in their health since switching to electronic cigarettes. Why are anti-smoking groups wanting smokers to return to conventional cigarettes rather than to stay off traditional tobacco with the use of electronic ones, which deliver the nicotine without the more than 6,000 other toxins and high levels of carcinogens found in conventional cigarettes

Scare #6

“Ash Wrote To All 50 Attorneys General, Asking Them To Take Legal Action Against This Illegal And Potentially Dangerous Product.” - Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) 08/09/09

 also....

“The FDA Should Take Electronic Cigarettes Off The Market Until It Is Satisfied That They Are Safe and Effective-The American Legacy Foundation 07/09

Fact #6  

ASH and American Legacy's Financial Bias and Agenda 
ASH is funded heavily by Big Pharma, specifically, by Pfizer, the maker of Chantrix a nicotine replacement drug. Pfizer donated $100,000 to ASH in Q2 2009 as seen below:

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