Long-awaited federal rules to keep electronic cigarettes out of the hands of children finally arrived this month, and not a moment too soon. Use of the nicotine delivery devices has been growing rapidly among middle- and high-school-aged teens in the last few years.
The rules, in the works since 2010, put the regulation of all tobacco products – including “novel and future” ones – under the authority of the Food and Drug Administration for the first time. This is a profoundly important step in reining in e-cigarettes, a popular product with unknown long-term health effects that has been virtually unsupervised by government until now. While e-cigarettes are not specifically a tobacco product – no tobacco is used in producing the liquid used in them – they are certainly a drug-delivery device, hence subject to FDA regulation.
Now, manufacturers will be required to disclose the ingredients in the liquid nicotine used in “vaping” and allow government review of how the devices are made before they can be sold to adults in the United States. Currently, anything could be lurking inside that liquid. Consumers taking the vapor into their lungs have a right to information about its contents.
That isn’t the only reason children shouldn’t be using electronic cigarettes. Even without the carcinogenic tar and smoke of regular cigarettes, e-cigarettes still contain nicotine, an addictive substance linked to heart disease. Children and adolescents are especially susceptible to nicotine addiction; responsible adults – and governments – should protect them from acquiring a habit that may dog them for a lifetime.
Adults should be wary as well. Dangerous chemicals have been found in the electronic cigarette “juice,” such as a Diacetyl, a flavoring associated with lung illness.
The devices themselves also can pose a threat to consumers, many of whom have been injured and disfigured in a spate of explosions. The battery-operated devices heat liquid nicotine into a mist that is inhaled. But neither the liquid nor the devices, most of which are made in China, must comply with any sort of safety standards.
The federal rules announced this month include other controls on tobacco products – including e-cigarettes – such as not allowing them to be sold in vending machines and requiring warning labels. The government chose not to prohibit the use of flavors in liquid nicotine such as “Peanut Butter Cup” and “Candy Crush” that seem clearly aimed at appealing to young users, but the age limits should get at that.
In several ways, vaping is significantly safer than smoking traditional cigarettes. It’s the other ingredients in tobacco smoke that are responsible for the most serious health hazards, not the nicotine. Many adults have taken to vaping in order to reduce consumption of tobacco cigarettes, though more research is required before declaring it to be a proven smoking cessation method.
While anti-tobacco activists have reflexively opposed e-cigarettes, the available research supports the FDA’s more limited approach. The priority should be keeping e-cigarettes – and all addictive substances – out of the hands of children.
The rules, in the works since 2010, put the regulation of all tobacco products – including “novel and future” ones – under the authority of the Food and Drug Administration for the first time. This is a profoundly important step in reining in e-cigarettes, a popular product with unknown long-term health effects that has been virtually unsupervised by government until now. While e-cigarettes are not specifically a tobacco product – no tobacco is used in producing the liquid used in them – they are certainly a drug-delivery device, hence subject to FDA regulation.
Now, manufacturers will be required to disclose the ingredients in the liquid nicotine used in “vaping” and allow government review of how the devices are made before they can be sold to adults in the United States. Currently, anything could be lurking inside that liquid. Consumers taking the vapor into their lungs have a right to information about its contents.
That isn’t the only reason children shouldn’t be using electronic cigarettes. Even without the carcinogenic tar and smoke of regular cigarettes, e-cigarettes still contain nicotine, an addictive substance linked to heart disease. Children and adolescents are especially susceptible to nicotine addiction; responsible adults – and governments – should protect them from acquiring a habit that may dog them for a lifetime.
Adults should be wary as well. Dangerous chemicals have been found in the electronic cigarette “juice,” such as a Diacetyl, a flavoring associated with lung illness.
The devices themselves also can pose a threat to consumers, many of whom have been injured and disfigured in a spate of explosions. The battery-operated devices heat liquid nicotine into a mist that is inhaled. But neither the liquid nor the devices, most of which are made in China, must comply with any sort of safety standards.
The federal rules announced this month include other controls on tobacco products – including e-cigarettes – such as not allowing them to be sold in vending machines and requiring warning labels. The government chose not to prohibit the use of flavors in liquid nicotine such as “Peanut Butter Cup” and “Candy Crush” that seem clearly aimed at appealing to young users, but the age limits should get at that.
In several ways, vaping is significantly safer than smoking traditional cigarettes. It’s the other ingredients in tobacco smoke that are responsible for the most serious health hazards, not the nicotine. Many adults have taken to vaping in order to reduce consumption of tobacco cigarettes, though more research is required before declaring it to be a proven smoking cessation method.
While anti-tobacco activists have reflexively opposed e-cigarettes, the available research supports the FDA’s more limited approach. The priority should be keeping e-cigarettes – and all addictive substances – out of the hands of children.
Resource: http://www.patriotledger.com/article/20160518/OPINION/160516031/?Start=2
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