The job needed a supervisor, so that was my job.

Judge Leon goes on to say, “This case appears to be yet another example of FDA’s aggressive efforts to regulate recreational tobacco products as drugs or devices under the FDCA.”

Here’s the PDF of the ruling

That does not mean that everything is OK. Some states have put pressure on ecig sales, even after the judge’s ruling. We’ll try to keep you posted when we hear something

One airline, Ryanair, which mainly operates in Europe, not only permits their use on flights, but also sells them to passengers. Some “no smoking” restaurants in the United States are permitting their use, say advocates for the product.

“Two years ago, no one had ever heard of these things,” says Matt Salmon, president of the Electronic Cigarette Association (ECA) in Washington. “Today, there is an estimate there are 300,000 users, but I think it’s in excess of that,” says Mr. Salmon, an antismoking advocate and former congressman.

In the e-cigarettes, most of which are made in China, there is no combustion of tobacco. Instead, the device contains a lithium battery. That heats up an atomizer, which turns the nicotine into a vapor. When the user inhales the vapor, the device’s tip glows with a red LED light to mimic the experience of smoking a cigarette. What is exhaled is water vapor. There is no smell, there is no lingering smoke.

On most e-cigarette  sites there are testimonials about how e-cigs have saved lives

In February, one manufacturer, Smoking Everywhere, which is not a member of the ECA, sued the FDA, claiming it did not have jurisdiction. Shortly, federal judge Richard Leon in Washington is expected to rule.

**************
As one of the owners of the E-Cig Shop, I personally took the time to research everything involved in the products we sell, because I didnt want to sell anything harmful to anybody.

I can’t speak for other products and how they are manufactured, I can only speak for ours.

The products we sell at the shop and here online are tested and have acceptance by many peer entities to our FDA around the world. I have checked out the units themselves to make sure they arent made with things like lead batteries or even lead solder on the wiring. I’ve also checked out our fluids and they are made of non toxic substances. And these substances were declared non-toxic (and even beneficial) by the FDA themselves. It wasn’t until these items were combined with the device and that combination threatened the bottom line of big tobacco, did the FDA at the behest of big tobacco’s deep pocketed lobbyists, decide that these products were now harmful.

If all of the FDA’s previous testing is true, these products are harmless and can help in the process of smoking cessation.

However, I will not say that these products will stop you from smoking. When it comes right down to it, the only thing that is going to make you stop smoking is sitting between your ears.

If your mind is not ready to quit, all of the patches, gums and e-cigs in the world wont help you stop.

Mike

“The majority of the respondents indicated that their general health, smoker’s cough, ability to exercise, sense of smell and sense of taste were better since starting to use e-cigarettes”.

Nearly all of those questioned had previously tried to quit smoking using pharmaceutical products, but had been unable to do so.

They had, however, been able to replace cigarettes with electronic cigarettes.

The study pointed out that the respondents were “highly motivated and passionate e-cigarette users who may have different experiences than average e-cigarette users or smokers.”

However, it also suggested that “very few e-cigarette users are not using them to replace cigarettes and there are many switchers and current smokers who could have the reported experience.”

“While we believe further research is necessary, these initial results are very encouraging,” said Jean Rasbridge, Managing Director of E Cigarette Direct.

“Previous research in New Zealand has shown that electronic cigarettes can help alleviate nicotine cravings and increase the level of nicotine in the blood.

“This new study suggests both that electronic cigarettes can both help smokers replace cigarettes, and improve health in the short term.

“We now need longer term research into the effects of the electronic cigarette to see if these results are consistent over time.”

Electronic cigarettes are devices that deliver nicotine by vaporizing a gel that also contains water, propylene glycol and flavourings.

In contrast to cigarettes, there is no combustion involved.

Combustion is, according to experts such as Dr. Phillips, the main cause of harm in smoking.

For further information visit the abstract on the survey or read the full study: Electronic Cigarettes as Potential Harm Reduction Products.

E Cigarette Direct is the UK based online retailer of the NJOY electronic cigarette. E Cigarette Direct has a strong interest in promoting research into the electronic cigarette and tobacco harm reduction, and you can find interviews with doctors and scientists on its website as well as summaries of recent research. More information on the product and several technical articles and information can be found on the website www.ecigarettedirect.co.uk.

The TobaccoHarmReduction.org Project at University of Alberta School of Public Health is the leading source of information of safer alternatives for smokers who cannot or do not wish to quit using nicotine. Professor Phillips and his work group are leading advocates of tobacco harm reduction, and Dr. Phillips advises and works with many other organizations who are trying to promote it, some of which are companies that hope to profit from selling low-risk nicotine products. The TobaccoHarmReduction.org research group at the University of Alberta School of Public Health is partially supported by an unrestricted (completely hands-off) grant from U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company.

Comparing the health risks of tobacco smoking to the Swine Flu brings out some interesting and thought provoking statistics. According to President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology on H1N1, “A plausible scenario is that the epidemic could cause between 30,000 and 90,000 deaths in the
United States.” That puts the comparison of real deaths of 443,000 smokers to a “war games guess” of 30,000 to 90,000 for the H1N1 influenza for which the government recently declared a Health Emergency. That declaration and the shortage of the H1N1 vaccine has caused a panic in the U.S.

No study or statistic has been offered that points to the Swine Flu as being more deadly than tobacco cigarettes in causing death, yet a disproportional effort in preventative measures are currently being channeled to defend
against a lower risk health issue. Toxic tobacco smoke contains many additional chemicals, including carbon monoxide and tar which is a sticky substance that accumulates in the lungs, causing lung cancer and respiratory
distress. Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the world and is responsible for more than 5 million deaths each year.

What the flu vaccine is to H1N1 as a preventative, the electronic cigarette may be for the tobacco smoker. An electronic cigarette is a futuristic advancement in science that makes it look, feel, and taste like a tobacco cigarette, as the user duplicates the mechanical motions. It expels an almost odorless water vapor that looks like smoke, but isn’t. The e cigarettes are battery-powered with a cartridge that typically contains nicotine in various
levels (or none), propylene glycol and tobacco flavoring. In their October briefing, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) in the United Kingdom released a favorable position on electronic cigarettes.

Propylene glycol, the primary ingredient in the electronic cigarette cartridge, may be a powerful deterrent against pneumonia, influenza, and other respiratory diseases when vaporized and inhaled according to a study by Dr.
Oswald Hope Robertson. Decades before the e cigarette was invented, a study was conducted by Dr. Robertson of the University of Chicago’s Billings Hospital in 1942 on inhalation of vaporized propylene glycol in laboratory
mice. A more in-depth article was printed in the 1942 issue of TIME Magazine http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,932876,00.html for November th. “Dr. Robertson placed groups of mice in a chamber and sprayed its air irst with propylene glycol, then with influenza virus. All the mice lived.
Then he sprayed the chamber with virus alone. All the mice died.”

The researchers also found that “the propylene glycol itself was a potent germicide. One part of glycol in 2,000,000 parts of air would–within a few seconds–kill concentrations of air-suspended pneumococci, streptococci and other bacteria numbering millions to the cubic foot.”

Clinical trials on electronic cigarettes containing propylene glycol were carried out in New Zealand by Dr. Murray Laugeson of Health New Zealand and can be found on the website of SS Choice LLC at http://www.eCigarettesChoice.com under the tab “Media Coverage.” Far from posing a threat to our health, the propylene glycol in e cigarettes might just keep us healthy. Further studies should be done on the effects of propylene
glycol to determine if it can be used successfully as a virus prevention tool. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the best flu preventative was right under our noses all this time

We are there every Saturday and Sunday 9-4:30.  Mention you saw this post and get a free pack of cartridges of your choice.

However, for those that do smoke there may be a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of the smokeless cigarette. A firm that supplies smokeless cigarettes for budget airline, Ryanair, has said that they plan to launch their range of products to the car rental industry very shortly. The makers of the product say they are in talks with some major car rental firms across the globe about marketing their cigarettes. They are asking for them to be sold at car hire desks and branches for around €6 per packet.

According to the manufacturers smokeless cigarettes at Electronic Cigarettes Inc. their product leaves no stale smell on clothing or hair of the person using them. There is no horrible after taste and they come with nicotine or without. Through internet blogs, some people claim to have tried a smokeless cigarette and say they will not go back to smoking real ones. There are all manners of recharging gadgets that you can buy for your electronic cigarette, from in-car chargers to USB chargers, so a puff is never that far away.

When an e-cigarette user inhales, a battery inside warms liquid nicotine stored in a plastic filter.

Makers of e-cigs tout their product as the first healthy cigarette, free of harmful chemicals and tar typically found in tobacco products. The only ingredient: pure liquid nicotine. “Our product is comparable to the nicotine patch except people still get the oral fixation, which they love,” explained Elicko Taieb, CEO of Smoking Everywhere, one of the largest distributors of electronic cigarettes.

But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers e-cigs an unapproved new drug because of a lack of scientific proof that they’re safe or effective. The FDA is trying to halt importation of e-cigs, but isn’t seizing products already being sold in the United States.

“The FDA has been detaining and refusing importations since at least last summer of these so-called ‘electronic cigarettes,’ ” FDA spokesperson Rita Chappelle told CNN in a written statement. Watch Sanjay Gupta’s take on e-cigarette »

Smoking Everywhere is “pretty sure” the product is safe, based on laboratory testing in Europe, Taieb said. The company declined a CNN request to review safety reports.

“There are no ingredients in our e-cigs that can cause cancer. However, it is a pretty new product, so we are not 100 percent sure of the side effects at this point,” Taieb said. “But we haven’t heard of any negative side effects yet, but we are pretty sure they are safe.”

Electronic cigarettes run on a battery. A person inhales an e-cig as he or she would a typical cigarette. When inhaled, the battery warms liquid nicotine stored in a plastic filter. The combination of heat and liquid creates the vapor or “smoke” puff when exhaled.

Health experts say the idea of an electronic cigarette is a great alternative to tobacco smoke but more evidence is needed.

“Nicotine is not the thing in tobacco smoke that causes cancer, but inhaling pure nicotine may be dangerous,” said Dr. Steven Schroeder, physician and smoking cessation expert at the University of California-San Francisco Medical Center. “We have no clue what the health effects could be.”

Nicotine replacement therapies — the patch or gum — are safe and highly successful to help quit smoking.

Tobacco smoke causes nearly 90 percent of lung cancer deaths, according to the American Cancer Society. “If it is a choice between smoking tobacco product or a nicotine replacement — of course, keep taking the nicotine,” Schroeder said. “It is a heck of a lot healthier than tobacco smoking.”

Developers of e-cigs echo the thought. “We aren’t claiming electronic cigarettes help you quit altogether, but I promise our product won’t cause cancer. So no matter what way you look at it, it’s the healthier option,” Taieb said.

Smoking Everywhere sells thousands of electronic cigarettes a day in the United States, the company said. Most are sold online or in 100 mall kiosks across the states. The company, which gave samples of e-cigs to celebrities at this year’s Grammy and Oscar awards, said it expects that “big-name” actors will soon promote the product. U.S. sales are expected to double in 2009.

Sales of e-cigs have been on the rise in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Sweden and Brazil for several years. The trend prompted the World Health Organization to issue a statement in 2008 calling for more safety testing. “If the marketers of the electronic cigarette want to help smokers quit, then they need to conduct clinical studies and toxicity analyses,” the statement said.

The idea that that e-cigs may be a good tobacco smoke alternative in the future could hold true, the FDA and WHO acknowledged, but proof of the product’s safety must come first.

CNN