The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Thursday (4/24/14) it's plan to extend it's control of tobacco products to include cigars, little cigars, dissolvable products, hookah, and e-cigarettes. The proposed rule would required people purchasing the tobacco product to show a photo ID and would prohibit the sale and purchase of the product to those under 18 as well as create a few other restrictions on the products.By far the most newsworthy piece of the proposed regulation, e-cigarettes. Most likely if you listened to the morning news, checked a news website or social media page you heard something about the proposed regulation.
Let's run through what this proposed regulation looks like, specifically for e-cigarettes.
1. Current producers of e-cigarettes would be required to provide justification for remaining on the market, provide an ingredient list, and disclose the manufacturing process and scientific data.
2. New e-cigarette producers would be required to get FDA approval before being sold.
3. Selling e-cigarettes to minors would be illegal.
4. Selling e-cigarettes in vending machines in a place kids are allowed would be illegal.
5. Giving away free samples of e-cigarettes would be illegal.
6. E-cigarettes would have a warning label stating they contain nicotine, which is addictive.
7. E-cigarette manufacturers would be able to claim that their product provides reduced risk IF the FDA confirms scientific evidence supporting the claim, and confirms marketing the product will benefit public health.
Whew. That is a lot to take in. So, the FDA has proposed these new regulations and will be accepting public comment for 75 days, starting today (4/25/14). If you have thoughts on this issue I encourage you to be part of the process by submitting a comment to the FDA. We'll get more information posted once we have it.
For more information on the proposed ruling check out the information below.
FDA Press Release
FDA Proposed Regulation
CNN
New York Times
ABC News Video
NPR Blog
