I think Amanda gives a good overview of the arguments for
and against the regulation of E-cigarettes. As she addresses in her post,
e-cigarettes provide a good alternative for people trying to quit smoking. I
agree that it is in our best interest to support e-cigarettes as a means of
tobacco cessation or at least reduce the smoking rates of traditional
cigarettes. However, I think it is important to discuss the different types of
potential FDA regulations on e-cigarettes.
The FDA has the authority to regulate products derived from
tobacco except for those that are marketed for therapeutic purposes (Above the Law). Under this
regulation, e-cigarette manufacturers would be unable to claim that their
products are a safer alternative to tobacco cigarettes. In my opinion, this
type of regulation should be avoided because it would be minimizing the
exposure of what I feel is the real appeal of e-cigarettes (the health benefits
and tobacco cessation).
Alternatively, if e-cigarettes were regulated under the
FDA’s therapeutic drug/device provision, manufacturers would be able to make
the claims that it is a healthier alternative. With more research into this
issue, regulating e-cigarettes as a therapeutic drug makes the most sense. I
think that if the research was able to support the effectiveness of
e-cigarettes for tobacco cessation then that is what they should be used
for. I believe it is very worthwhile to
put funding towards the research of using e-cigarettes as a healthy alternative
to smoking. Because tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death, we
should be supporting efforts to help people quit.
At the same time, we should be supporting the prevention of nicotine consumption for
non-smokers, especially children. We don’t know all of the risks associated
with e-cigarettes yet but we do know that nicotine is an addictive drug so we
should be taking measures to avoid the use of these products for reasons other
than tobacco cessation. The current marketing of e-cigarettes can be appealing
to children and even non-smoking adults. The promotion of a “healthy”
alternative with tasty flavors makes it seem like there is no harm associated
with its’ use. I feel like people are more likely to try e-cigarettes is they
are being labeled as healthy because
they will see no reason not to. However, I think marketing e-cigarettes as a
tobacco cessation device would be a much better approach if the research was
able to support this.
Grouping e-cigarettes with other smoking cessation methods,
like nicotine gum or patches, would eliminate some of the appeal for others to
use these devices. How many non-smokers do you know that chew nicotine gum? I’m
guessing not very many. In the end, we should be addressing e-cigarettes as an
option for tobacco cessation but not encouraging its’ use among other
populations.
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