FDA Hearing Part 1

FDA Hearing Part 1

By: Tiffany Davis

Flavor Vapor Media Specialist

On May 15th 2014 the FDA had a hearing examining e-cigs and like devices. The original video can be found on c-span.org. Senator Tom Harkin started the hour and a half hearing stating that combustible tobacco is the 1# preventable cause of cancer. He named the numerous efforts made by the government to get people to quit smoking.

Senator Tom Harkin, watching this video is defiantly one sided on the e-cig subject. As he goes through the multitude of e-juice’s he has in front of him including; Gummy Bear, Rocketpop, Cotton Candy, Strawberry, Cran-Apple, and Cherry Crush.

The main point that Senator Tom Harkin made was that e-cigs are being marketed to children. With the colorful e-cig related games, social media sites, ads on TV and radio, celebrity endorsements, and of course the e-juice flavors.  One thing that I believe that we in the vaping community and Senator Harkin can agree on is that e-cigs SHOULD NOT be in the hands of kids. Just like combustible tobacco they should have an age requirements.

Harkin and others at the hearing have expressed concerns that e-cigarettes could attract new smokers and serve as a gateway to traditional cigarettes. This is contradictory to the reports coming from other countries in Europe. “There are reports from countries overseas that some of these new products do not seem to be a gateway to traditional cigarette use. But we don't know that. We don't know that yet.” “What I would like to understand is what research have we done to answer those questions,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the ranking Republican on the committee.

But the FDA admits that e-cigarettes also have the “potential to do good” by weening smokers off of traditional cigarettes. Senator Richard Burr made a few wonderful points about “harm-reduction” and why we don’t need to kill e-cigs before what we know we have. I am now of course a new fan of Sen. Burr in his speech he stated “American people have the right to choose” DARN RIGHT! We as Americans do have the right to choose if we want to vape or not. Our dads, brothers, uncles, cousins, moms, sisters, aunts and friends have all fought for that right.

“If we could get all of those people to switch all of their cigarettes to these products, that would be good for public health,” Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, said at the hearing.

“They have the potential to do good, and they have the potential to do harm,” he added.

Because, we do not know yet the long term health effects on humans using e-cigs. Plus, e-juice is not yet regulated to prevent e-juice from being contaminated with other substances. Sen. Burr added that he would like to base the FDA regulations on science. Hopefully this will generate more studies to study e-cigs and the health effects on humans.

This is only the first 30mins from the one hour and a half hearing. Look for tomorrow’s blog where we will cover more subjects from the FDA’s hearing.

Thank you for reading our blogs. We strive to keep you updated with the latest news pertaining to e-cigs and vaping. In each blog we will be including links to sign a petition and also a link on “how to write a letter” to the government.

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https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/veto-fda-restrictions-e-cigarettes/kdKtpFH4