Pubs have started stocking simulation cigarettes to beat the smoking ban.
Licensed premises in Brighton and Hove have begun selling electronic cigarettes as an alternative to punters looking for a nicotine kick.

The battery-powered substitutes, dubbed “e-cigs”, contain liquid nicotine capsules and produce steam when exhaled.

The controversial product, which has been banned in Australia, is being stocked by the Prince of Wales and the Regency Tavern in the city.

Aron Barnes, the landlord of the Regency Tavern in Russell Square, Brighton, said: “It looks, feels and tastes like an ordinary cigarette.

“Because we don’t have an outside smoking area it’s something which we can offer to smokers as an alternative.

“It’s only the same as a nicotine patch except you can actually control how much goes into your system.

“The more we explain, the more and more people are trying them.”

E-cigs, which can be charged either through a socket or USB port, are on sale for about £5.

They can be used inside public areas because no flame or smoke is produced.

But critics claim the product presents a danger, particularly to young people.

Brighton and Hove city councillor Geoffrey Theobald has spoken out on the subject.

As chairman of the Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services, which oversees trading standards in councils across the country, he said: “It is disturbing that these products are on sale in Britain without a warning to people about the high nicotine content and the danger they present to children.

“The Government needs to introduce new laws to force manufacturers to restrict sales to people over 18.

“Councils are testing as many of these e-cigarettes as possible and protecting people by dealing with the issues relating to incorrect packaging and labelling.”

E-cigarettes have also appeared in other businesses in the city.

Stuart Morris, the manager of Marketplace Brighton in Meeting House Lane, said: “We’ve only just started stocking it so it’s too early to tell if its a popular alternative.

“But it ticks all the boxes from a variety of tests and checks. We’ll just have wait for feedback from our customers.”

Theargus

As trust in the government fades fast in the United States, they may be on the verge of another critical mistake: outlawing electronic cigarettes and giving smokers only two options: quit or die.

A recent laboratory study performed at the request of the Food and Drug Administration revealed ingredients in e-cigarettes that skeptics suspected all along. The minuscule presence of diethylene glycol, an ingredient that is found in antifreeze and certain levels of nitrosamines, were found in some cartridges.

Concern over the safety of these products is at a peak and the opposition questions the effects of the product on people’s health as well as the theory that the different flavored cartridges will attract children.

“When I think of the type of person that would use an e-cigarette, I think of a person who wants a good alternative to real cigarettes, not a child or a non-smoker,” says Juliet Herstrom, a supporter of e-cigarettes. “It’s not labeled as a cessation device, but they can’t control what people try to use it for.”

The e-cigarette is neither a cessation device nor has it been classified by the FDA as of this time.

“It matters, of course, that there is the presence of this chemical in e-cigarettes,” continues Herstrom. “But given the choice between the two, the smarter choice for a smoker is the e-cigarette. Hands down.”

Another supporter of e-cigarettes, Michael Norton, sounds off. “It’s ridiculous. It really is. They find a single chemical in the e-liquid and suddenly e-cigarettes are dangerous. How about the fact that tobacco cigarettes contain this same chemical and thousands of others at higher concentrations? How come those nicotine patches and inhalers are allowed to be sold? Why is there all of this concern when there are already products that deliver nicotine?”

Jennifer Corcoran, a supporter and user of e-cigarettes, declares that “there will be war in the courtroom if any law is passed that prohibits the sale of these devices.” She, among others, believes that the e-cigarette could truly help smokers stop smoking. “I’m on month 3, and I haven’t smoked a cigarette since I turned to the e-cigarette. If these are banned, the FDA will have hell to pay!”

Amidst the controversy, the e-cigarette, a product that could very well revolutionize the smoking industry, has collected the loyalty of its supporters.


© Prnewswire

ASH recently put out a press release stating that they had warned PayPal that they could be held criminally liable for processing payments for E Cigarette retailers in an attempt to shut down online retailers from selling their goods online, but the public reaction may not be what ASH expected and may have just solidified the resolve of e cigarette supporters to keep them on the market.

Due to the pressure by these special interest groups, PayPal has now not only frozen the money in the accounts of these retailers, but made sure no other transactions can be completed by the retailers that use PayPal as their merchant system, putting many online retailers in a financial crunch.

The backlash has begun as message boards, and forums have lit up with angry members and postings concerning the act’s of ASH and PayPals decision to cave to pressures from the special interest groups. On several online forums, dozens of users have stated that they are canceling their PayPal accounts and vow to never use them again as a payment processor online.

There has also been speculation that PayPal has only targeted online retailers that sell e liquid while turning a blind eye to the actual e cigarettes, but the reports of retailers is growing by the day that are on the PayPal banned list, and some do not sell e liquid.

There have also been several discussions online and in comments of other news releases of the e cigarette users filing suit against Ash and Paypal for the actions and possibly forcing once tobacco free users back to tobacco products.

It seems that the general population is not buying the political tactics of the FDA, ASH and PayPal, but they are buying and supporting e cigarettes, the users and suppliers like e cigarettes national that was not a PayPal user.

© Officialwire

BOSTON, – The FDA recently went public with misleading information about the safety of electronic cigarettes and the marketing of the devices, not only using its clout but recruiting other prominent organizations to demonize a product that has great public health benefit potential.

A group of prominent doctors and tobacco researchers, including Dr. Michael Siegel at the Boston University School of Public Health, Dr. Joel Nitzkin of the AAPHP Tobacco Control Task Force, and Dr. Brad Rodu, Endowed Chair, Tobacco Harm Reduction Research University of Louisville, challenge the FDA to provide the full quantitative data of the study upon which the FDA has based its warning against electronic cigarettes. They are concerned that the FDA’s disingenuous targeting of electronic cigarettes through a biased presentation of the scientific data has had significant negative impact upon the public perception of electronic cigarettes, when the best available evidence suggests that these have shown that the devices offer great potential to reduce serious health issues among traditional tobacco smokers.

In a July 22 news release, the FDA cited the detectable presence of carcinogens and “toxic chemicals” in a “small sample” of electronic cigarette cartridges as reason for alarm, singling out nitrosamines as particularly toxic. What the FDA fails to inform the public is that detectable amounts of carcinogens are also present in nicotine replacement products such as NicoDerm CQ and Nicorette gum, both approved by the FDA, and nitrosamines that can be also found in food items such bacon and beer. This double standard and alarmist attitude has had the significant and unfortunate effect of inducing hysteria among the public, discouraging tobacco smokers from using a product which is thought to be a significantly safer alternative to traditional tobacco.

Regrettably, the FDA has used biased reporting of this small and inconclusive study, the complete results of which have not been made public, to secure the vocal support of groups such as the American Academy of Pediatrics Tobacco Consortium, the Institute for Global Health, and the American Lung Association in their attack on electronic cigarettes. These researchers argue that it is absurd to consider taking electronic cigarettes off the market when it is the conventional ones which have been shown to be killing people. Further, the electronic cigarette community calls for accurate and fair reporting relative to the findings and statements of prominent medical professionals in favor of this new and important technology and challenges the media to tell the other side of the story.

“The FDA’s laboratory findings actually indicate that electronic cigarettes are much, much safer than conventional cigarettes,” says Dr. Michael Siegel. “The traces of carcinogens present are also present in nicotine replacement products. The FDA and the anti-smoking groups have fallen into a huge analytical trap as they have failed to ask the appropriate question. The question they are asking is: ‘Are electronic cigarettes safe?’ That is not the right question. The right question is: ‘Are electronic cigarettes much safer than traditional ones?’”

Dr. Rodu states, “The FDA tested e-cigarettes for TSNAs using a questionable sampling regimen, and the methods that were so sensitive that the results may have no possible significance to users. The agency failed to report specific levels of these contaminants, and it has failed to conduct similar testing of nicotine medicines that have been sold in the U.S. for over 20 years. These are not the actions of an agency that is science-based and consumer-focused. These pseudo-scientific actions are clearly intended to form the justification for banning a category of products that are probably 99.9% safer than cigarettes.”

Dr. Joel Nitzkin speaking as individual states, “The newly adopted FDA/Tobacco legislation will give full FDA approval to currently marketed conventional cigarettes. The new law encourages cigarette companies to produce new “reduced exposure” cigarettes to be marketed as reduced exposure products, with no scientific evidence that such reductions in exposure will reduce risk of future tobacco related illness and death. In the context of these provisions of the newly adopted FDA/Tobacco bill — FDA should be encouraging, not maligning the manufacture and sale of electronic cigarettes, and working with manufacturers to assure the highest possible quality control.”

For more information and interviews, contact:

Michael Siegel, MD, MPH
Professor
Department of Community Health Sciences
Boston University School of Public Health
617-638-5167
Email: mbsiegel@bu.edu

Joel L. Nitzkin, MD, MPH, DPA
Chair AAPHP Tobacco Control Task Force
Phone: 504 899 7893 or 800 598 2561
Fax: 504 899 7557
jln-md@mindspring.com
www.aaphp.org

Brad Rodu
Professor of Medicine
Endowed Chair, Tobacco Harm Reduction Research
University of Louisville
Phone: 502-561-7273
Email: brad.rodu@louisville.edu

http://rodutobaccotruth.blogspot.com

Thomas R. Kiklas
Director of Media
inLife LLC
Phone: 949-250-9600 x108
Email: tkiklas@myinlife.com

/Standard Newswire/

A new type of cigarette is under investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
It promises to give smokers a nicotine hit without the deadly toxins. But as NewsCenter 5′s Liz Brunner reported Tuesday, there are questions about whether the smoking alternative is really safe.

From a distance they look like the real thing. And customers say they taste like it, too.

“I get the nice taste of menthol,” said Juan, a smoker.

“It actually fulfills every craving you would have off a regular tobacco cigarette,” said Leigh Ann Burns, another smoker.

But the cigarettes they’re referring to do not have tobacco.

“You’re eliminating the 3,000 chemicals that fill up a tobacco-filled cigarette,” said Steve Bayonne, the president of Cigotine.

Cigotine sells electronic cigarettes. The e-cigs contain one highly addictive ingredient, Nicotine, and run on a battery. It warms up a cartridge of liquid nicotine, creating a vapor similar to smoke.

“You’re getting just what you need, and it’s the nicotine. And it’s satisfying the habit,” Bayonne said.

Makers of e-cigs, and there are many, advertise their products as a cheaper, safer alternative.

“Everyone is asking, ‘is it safe? Is it effective?’ said Dr. Pragati Ghimire-Aryal, a smoking cessation specialist with Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

And the fact is, the FDA isn’t sure. It’s investigating e-cigarettes. But the FDA told NewsCenter 5 there is no scientific evidence that e-cigarettes are safe.

“They have stopped the import of this device into the US and it’s possible that soon they will stop the sale of this product,” said Shelly Kiser, of the American Lung Association.

But Ghimire-Aryal is calling for more testing to be done on electronic cigarettes, based on the fact that the products help smokers quit.

“It could potentially become an excellent smoking cessation aid if the FDA approves it,” she said.

And it could save smokers money too. A pack of tobacco cigarettes cost on average 8 dollars in Massachusetts.

While the equivalent e-cigarettes cost only $1.50, that’s only after users invest about $100 in a starter kit.

The FDA is trying to halt importation of e-cigs, but isn’t seizing products already being sold in the United States.


© Thebostonchannel

Scott Marino was recently in Kroger puffing away on a cigarette when an employee told him he couldn’t smoke in the store. The 43-year-old Shelby Township resident said “no problem” – because the cigarette wasn’t real.

Marino hasn’t smoked in a little more than a month due in part to electronic or e-cigarettes, which provide a nonflammable, tar- and tobacco-free alternative to traditional cigarettes. Powered by a lithium battery, the cigarette includes a liquid nicotine cartridge, a “glowing” end and smoke-like vapors.

“It’s a great option, especially in light of the state considering a smoking ban,” said Marino, who smoked two packs of cigarettes a day for 25 years. “You can smoke it in restaurants or work, and carry it around with you and not need a lighter.”

But the federal government and some doctors aren’t so enthusiastic.

The FDA in March blocked the import of future e-cigarettes while it investigates whether they can be considered a drug delivery device, such as a nicotine patch.

The electronic cigarette kits sell for roughly $99 to $129.99 and include a wall charger as well as a pack of five cartridges valued at $10 that come in four different nicotine levels: 16 milligrams, 11, 6 and 0. Various flavors such as regular tobacco, apple and vanilla are also available. One nicotine cartridge is the equivalent of 20 traditional cigarettes — or a pack. A pack of cigarettes in Michigan costs about $6.

Dr. Samuel A. Allen, who specializes in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Beaumont Hospital, Troy, admits electronic cigarettes are an alternative to smoking but “not necessarily a good one.

“It’s the lesser of two evils because you’re essentially exchanging one addiction for another,” he said.

One product, called Smoking Everywhere, is made by a Florida company and is sold online and at about 130 outlets nationwide, including kiosks in Oakland Mall and Birch Run outlet mall near Saginaw.

The device is not marketed as a smoking cessation device. It’s intended to give users the feel of a real cigarette but without the carbon monoxide, smell and smoke.

When a person inhales, the tip lights up and it tastes like a cigarette, but only vapors are emitted, according to Walt Linscott of Atlanta, an attorney for Smoking Everywhere.

The technology was invented by a Chinese scientist in 2004, and Smoking Everywhere obtained the right to sell the product in the United States. It’s one of about five major e-cigarette companies. Njoy and Bloog use similar technology.

Smoking Everywhere filed a complaint against the FDA importation ban in late April and is awaiting the outcome of court arguments.

The company argues its device is more properly classified as a tobacco product because it’s marketed as “an adult smoking experience” and not as a device to help people kick the habit, said Linscott, noting all products sold are from existing stocks across the country.

Electronic cigarettes are illegal in Australia, and the Netherlands doesn’t allow the products to be advertised.

“We take the position that FDA approval isn’t needed, just like regular cigarettes. They are taking a hard line, limited view of a product that doesn’t produce all of the negative health effects and by doing so are yanking away consumer options. It doesn’t seem like good public policy,” Linscott added.

While the liquid nicotine in electronic cigarettes doesn’t have the same components as traditional cigarettes, “There is still some pretty concerning stuff in them,” including the nicotine and propylene glycol, which is used in antifreeze, Allen said.

Regardless, Jackie Wilson, 51, of Detroit is considering buying the product. She’s been smoking since age 16, has emphysema and “desperately needs” something to help curb the habit.

“I need to quit bad. I get tired just going up the stairs. When I do, it feels like I ran around the block a few times,” said Wilson taking a puff on a sample Smoking Everywhere e-cigarette at Oakland Mall last month.

“I like the way it tastes. This might be a healthier option for me when I come up with the cash for it.”

Smoking Everywhere has reported sales of about $12 million in 2008 for the product marketed to ages 18 and older, Linscott said.

It has become about a $100 million industry, said Matt Salmon, president of the Electronic Cigarette Association.

The kiosk in Oakland Mall has sold more than 130 kits since it opened May 1, and sells about 20 packs of cartridges daily, according to co-owner John Mannino, who opened a second kiosk at Birch Run mall Wednesday.


© Detnews

The Oregon Attorney Generals office is investigating a Florida-based company that operates Electronic Cigarette kiosks at local malls.

The company, called Smoking Everywhere, Inc. is coming under fire for allegations it falsely markets the product and allegations it markets to children.

“We need to have proof that these products are safe.” Said John Kroger, state attorney general.

The product comes in different flavors, such as strawberry and mint.

On the company’s website there is a glowing endorsement from celebrities Danny Boneduce and Jose Canseco as they appeared on the Howard Stern Show.

“I mean, kids can still look cool, with these cigarettes, “ Said Artie Lange, comedian on the show.

Electronic cigarettes have gained support from those people who don’t want second-hand smoke.

Instead of exhaling nicotine, the electronic cigarettes exhale a water vapor, while they are ingesting the nicotine.

Kroger’s argument is that these products have not been tested.

“We don’t know if they are safe. And with flavors like bubble gum, I fear we are sending a message to our kids that is horrible”

NewsChannel 8 took an undercover camera to a kiosk.

We did see a child listening to the sales pitch but she was accompanied by her mother.

There also is a sign that clearly reads the products are for adults 18 and up.

The company’s attorney says the products are safe.

“They are legal and no authority has shut them down.” Said Conrad Yunker, attorney for Smoking Everywhere Inc.

The company has six days to respond to documents to Aleve the state’s fears or it will be shut down.

With its slim white body and glowing amber tip, it can easily pass as a regular cigarette. It even emits what look like curlicues of white smoke.

The Ruyan V8, which produces a nicotine-infused mist absorbed directly into the lungs, is just one of a rapidly growing array of electronic cigarettes attracting attention in China, the U.S. and elsewhere _ and the scrutiny of world health officials.

Marketed as a healthier alternative to smoking and a potential way to kick the habit, the smokeless smokes have been distributed in swag bags at the British film awards and hawked at an international trade show.

Because no burning is involved, makers say there’s no hazardous cocktail of cancer-causing chemicals and gases like those produced by a regular cigarette. There’s no secondhand smoke, so they can be used in places where cigarettes are banned, the makers say.

Health authorities are questioning those claims.

The World Health Organization issued a statement in September warning there was no evidence to back up contentions that e-cigarettes are a safe substitute for smoking or a way to help smokers quit.

It also said companies should stop marketing them that way, especially since the product may undermine smoking prevention efforts because they look like the real thing and may lure nonsmokers, including children.

“There is not sufficient evidence that (they) are safe products for human consumption,” Timothy O’Leary, a communications officer at the WHO’s Tobacco Free Initiative in Geneva, said this week.
Source: Huffingtonpost

Federal regulators and antismoking groups are taking steps that could snuff out electronic cigarettes, the smokeless nicotine products embraced by a growing number of people trying to kick the habit or avoid bans on smoking in public.

Electronic cigarettes typically consist of a metal tube containing an atomizer, a battery and a cartridge filled with liquid nicotine. When a user sucks on an e-cigarette, a light-emitting diode causes the tip to glow and the atomizer turns the liquid nicotine into a vapor — thus it is called vaping instead of smoking. The vapor can be inhaled and then exhaled, creating a cloud that resembles cigarette smoke but dissipates more quickly and doesn’t have the lingering odor.

The American Lung Association, along with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Association and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, recently called for e-cigarettes to be removed from the market. The groups say e-cigarettes have yet to be proven safe and that kids may be attracted to the products, some of which come in flavors like chocolate and strawberry. “Nobody knows what the consumers are actually inhaling,” says Erika Sward, director of national advocacy at the American Lung Association.

But e-cigarette companies say their product is a better alternative to cigarettes because there is no smoke or combustion involved. “Anybody who doesn’t think this product without any smoke attached to it is orders of magnitude less harmful than cigarettes just has no concept of basic science,” says Jack Leadbeater, president and chief executive of Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Sottera Inc., which sells the Njoy brand of electronic cigarettes.

There are three large U.S. companies and dozens of smaller ones selling electronic cigarettes, most of which are made in China. Sales of the products, which barely registered in the U.S. just two years ago, have more than doubled over the past 12 months to an estimated $100 million, according to the Washington-based Electronic Cigarette Association, an industry association formed this spring.

A startup kit, which typically includes the e-cigarette device, a set of nicotine cartridges and batteries, costs between $60 and $120. Companies say that using e-cigarettes is cheaper than regular cigarettes in the long run on a cost-per-puff basis.

Regulators have acted quickly to quell the rising popularity of e-cigarettes, saying e-cigarettes are drug devices that need regulatory approval before being legally sold and marketed in the U.S. The Food and Drug Administration says that as of March 1 it “has refused 17 shipments of various brands of these ‘electronic’ cigarettes, cigars, and pipes, and their components.” The agency added that it will continue to evaluate the products on a case-by-case basis “to determine the appropriate action to take.”

The FDA has the power to regulate smoking-cessation products but not tobacco. It says it has examined electronic cigarettes and determined that they meet the “definition of both a drug and device under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act,” according to legal filings. Drugs and delivery devices must receive FDA approval before being marketed.

Some e-cigarette companies have sued the FDA in federal court, saying the agency has no jurisdiction over the products because they are an alternative to smoking, not a drug device aimed at helping people quit.

“If everybody in the U.S. were to switch to the electronic cigarette tomorrow, you will have removed secondhand smoke, you will have removed combustion products” from the market, says Walt Linscott, lead counsel for Smoking Everywhere Inc., an e-cigarette company in Sunrise, Fla.

Still, some smokers swear by e-cigarettes as a tool for quitting. “I’m a nervous wreck” over a possible halt to e-cigarette sales, says Carolyn Smeaton, 48 years old, of Fall River, Mass. Ms. Smeaton used to smoke three packs of cigarettes a day and now mainly uses e-cigarettes, which she says have helped her get rid of her smoker’s cough.

Although not all companies clearly label their ingredients, e-cigarettes typically include water, nicotine, scents or flavorings and propylene glycol, a common ingredient used in hand sanitizers. Nicotine, while addictive, is generally thought to be non-carcinogenic, but it has been linked to high blood pressure.

Electronic cigarettes have become increasingly popular in the U.S. as more states and localities ban indoor smoking and boost taxes on cigarettes. Users have had varied experiences vaping in public, ranging from indifference to odd glances.

On a recent day, Shai Shloush, 25, from Knoxville, Tenn., huddled in the back of a movie theater to watch the new Star Trek movie. He powered up his e-cigarette and puffed away. “I was covering the LED part so people wouldn’t notice,” said Mr. Shloush, a former smoker. “Every once in a while I’d be really sneaky about letting out the smoke.”