Philip Morris wants F.D.A. to say snus less harmful than cigarettes

[tom502]

I'm suprised we still have beer and alcohol ads on TV.

[xpinchx]

This is kind of related, but unrelated. I've been an e-cigarette user for about a year now and I've been closely following the legislation and all the bullshiat misinformation that the FDA spews about everything that doesn't have lobbyist pushing their politician's agendas. Michigan recently passed an anti-smoking bill that bans basically all cigarette use in any indoor places... in the entire state... with no excemptions. (cigar and hookah bars can still sell their products, but they must make something like 90% of their profit from said products and cigarette smoking is not allowed.)

Anyway, while reading up on the law before it took place they also came up with an e-cig fact sheet for business owners. Among many things, here's one of the most apalling quotes from the FAQ:

The FDA has concluded that e-cigarettes pose acute health risks and contain detectable levels of carcinogens and toxic chemicals. The carcinogenic substances diethylene glycol and nitrosamines have been found in FDA tested samples, as well as other tobacco-specific impurities that may be harmful to humans.
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The vapor emitted into a room, either from exhalation or the vapor emitted from the e-cigarette itself, may not be safe. E-cigarettes contain varying levels of nicotine, a toxic substance known to contribute to heart disease and heart attacks.

Sorry, but how the **** could any of this be worse than cigarettes? Cigarettes have tons of nasty shit in them that will affect your health over time - tar, NSA, formaldehyde, and a laundry list of other carcinogens that we've all heard dozens of times as smokers. What's the main composition of e-cigarette vapor? water, and some residual nicotine and various metabolites from the propyl glycol. The NSAs and other bad chemicals are almost exclusively in the "tobacco" flavored juices which are derived from actual tobacco. The various juices that are flavored with oils? Almost no trace of any of those nasty things like NSAs. The FDA knows this and specifically chose to test the tobacco flavored juices to get the results they wanted. I'm not even going to get started on how they deduced any detectable level of nicotine would be in the air after exhaling the vapor unless it's exhaled directly onto a sensor. The vast volume of even a modestly sized room would quickly disperse any residual nicotine exhaled. You'd do far worse for you lungs by walk outside near traffic.

Anyway, back to this FAQ, let's go back and read that last sentence:

E-cigarettes contain varying levels of nicotine, a toxic substance known to contribute to heart disease and heart attacks

Once we get past the "No shit, Sherlock" what does the FDA suggest we do instead with this nicotine debacle?

There are proven safe and effective nicotine replacement medications available over-the-counter at pharmacies including patches, gum, lozenges -- oral inhalers and nasal sprays can be obtained with a prescription.

Get nicotine through various pathways that they can tax. Thanks for looking out for us Americans, FDA. Can I get an Amen?

Kiss my ass, FDA. The IRS too while I'm at it.

Sorry, just got off a rough 16 hour shift and I needed to rant about something. I just happened to find this thread first.