What a surprise! After long months of anxiety bordering on panic among devotees of public health regarding the EU s upcoming deliberations on how to deal with the burgeoning e-cigarette market, the lawmakers in Strasbourg voted not to ban, or even seriously restrict, the quit-smoking devices. As was completely appropriate given that the propaganda spewing from the public health nonprofits and most government agencies warning smokers about the hypothetical risks of e-cigs was based on no evidence of harm, while the massive damage from cigarettes is well-documented.
Now the controversy passes over the Atlantic to our shores: the FDA, as manifest through the head of its Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), Mitch Zeller, has indicated the agency will issue its proposed ruling on the nature of e-cigarette regulation this month.
ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross had this perspective: Public health is all the better today, for ex-smokers who managed to quit by switching to e-cigarettes, as well as for the many millions who will switch in the future, thanks to the EU s sound science-based, yet courageous vote. Now we must hope that the FDA has heard this message, and we should encourage Zeller s CTP to evaluate the likely benefits vs. the hypothetical risks of this device when rendering a decision, perhaps this month. But today, the millions of smokers who are desperately seeking a better option to help them quit can rest a bit easier.