Smoking, Vaping and Nicotine

From: New York Times

“We need a national debate on nicotine,” said Mitch Zeller.

Zeller is the director of the Center for Tobacco Products, a division of the Food and Drug Administration created in 2009 when Congress passed legislation giving the F.D.A. regulatory authority — at long last! — over cigarettes. In addition, the center will soon have regulatory authority over other tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes, which have become enormously controversial even as they have gained in use. Through something called a “deeming rule,” the center is in the process of asserting that oversight over e-cigarettes.

What’s Driving the War on E-Cigarettes?

From: National Review

by Sally Satel

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What is driving the controversy over e-cigarettes? At its core lies a tension between two camps: the precautionists and the pragmatists.

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E-Liquid in E-Cigarettes: Is It Safe?

From: Motley Fool

Reducing the harm associated with tobacco use is a legitimate aim. … What is needed to determine how best to achieve this is good-quality science…
— Jeff Stier, senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research.

To obtain this “good quality science,” the U.S. Food and Drug Administration next month will announce a new regulation “deeming” electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and the nicotine-laced e-liquid that fuels them to be products subject to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Products that, like tobacco, need government regulation.

Goal: Reduce Harm from Tobacco Use

From: The National Center for Public Policy Research

Press Release

Jeff Stier to Speak at Smoke-Free Alternatives Trade Association 2015 Annual Conference

Washington, D.C. Jeff Stier, senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research, will give a talk on “Making Policy Decisions” at the Smoke-Free Alternatives Trade Association’s (SFATA) 2015 annual conference, “Revolution to Evolution: Next Steps for the Vapor Industry,” being held at the Hilton Orrington Evanston in Evanston, IL from May 4-5, 2015.

Stier, who directs the National Center’s Risk Analysis Division, also will moderate a panel on strategies and goals for advancing harm reduction after the FDA announces its new regulations on e-cigarettes, which is expected sometime next month.