Smokey Vapor Blog

There is good news in the electronic cigarette industry today. And while it sounds great, I am not 100% sure it is completely great.

The news is that the FDA lost its appeal against an electronic cigarette company, Njoy, regarding regulation.

The FDA had tried to regulate the industry as a drug or device, and lost their initial claim. they filed an appeal to have the ruling overturned, and the appeals court has now decided and has upheld the original decision. The FDA cannot regulate the electronic cigarette industry, and ecigs must be treated like a tobacco product.

That means, while the government cannot regulate it is a drug, they can oversee the marketing of electronic cigarettes because they are tobacco products.

That seems to be good, and it is for now, but I worry about what kind of trouble they will make in the future with it now being officially described as a regular tobacco product.

We’ll have to see what lies in store down the road, but for now at least the electronic cigarette industry is happy because of the ruling on the appeal.

From Bloomberg BusinessWeek:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration lacks the authority to regulate electronic cigarettes as drugs or devices, an appeals court ruled, upholding a lower-court decision.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington said today the FDA can only regulate e-cigarettes as a tobacco product. The ruling means the government can oversee the marketing of the products, not restrict their sale.

E-cigarette maker Sottera Inc., which does business as Njoy, argued in the case that its products — battery-powered devices that generate a nicotine vapor instead of smoke — are tobacco products and not drugs. E-cigarettes are marketed as a tobacco alternative for “smoking pleasure,” rather than for therapeutic uses, the company said.

“We’re thrilled,” Craig Weiss, the president of Scottsdale, Arizona-based Njoy, said in a telephone interview. “Now we can continue to sell e-cigarettes under the regulations of the Tobacco Act.”

The FDA is “studying the opinion and considering next steps,” Jeffrey Ventura, a spokesman for the agency, said in an e-mailed statement. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a Washington-based group, criticized the decision.

“This ruling invites the creation of a wild west of products containing highly addictive nicotine, an alarming prospect for public health,” the group said in an e-mailed statement. “We urge the government to appeal this ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

If you are still not sure about where to buy electronic cigarettes, go with the best.

Go to Smokey Vapor to buy your electronic cigarettes.
Go to Smokey Vapor Updates for news and ratings of electronic cigarette companies and products.
Go to Soda Stream for more information about SodaStream products.

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