December 14th, 2011
In 2011, the rate of sales of tobacco to minors in Fond du Lac County was 10 percent, in compliance with the Federal Synar regulation which requires states to maintain a youth access rate of less than 20 percent.
This is part of a comprehensive approach to preventing youth access to tobacco, said Sandy Bernier, Fond du Lac County Tobacco Control program coordinator, in a press release.
The rate for 2011 is half of the rate from 2010.
December 11th, 2011
reason.com
The cigar industry is trying to stop the Food and Drug Administration from regulating its products, which it fears would result in onerous restrictions and burdensome fees that would drive many retailers and manufacturers out of business. The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 gave the FDA authority over cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and “any other tobacco products that the Secretary [of Health and Human Services] by regulation deems to be subject to this chapter.” If the FDA “deems” cigars to be covered by its regulations, an agency spokesperson tells The Daily Caller, they “would be subject to general controls, such as registration, product listing, ingredient listing, good manufacturing practice requirements, user fees for certain products, and the adulteration and misbranding provisions, as well as to the premarket review requirements for ‘new tobacco products’ and ‘modified risk tobacco products.'” The Daily Caller outlines some of the practical consequences:
December 7th, 2011
http://www.stevevape.com/
We interrupt our regularly scheduled e-Cigarette News Roundup to bring you this breaking news. I’ve always wanted to say that. But now that I have said it, I wish I hadn’t. Read on to find out what the FDA is up to.
UPDATE: The deadline has been pushed to January 19th, so you still have some time to get your comments registered.
In what may be it’s push into the endgame for e-Cigarettes, the FDA announced public comments will come to a close on December 8th for “Non-Face-to-Face Sale and Distribution of Tobacco Products and Advertising, Promotion, and Marketing of Tobacco Products.” The FDA will be considering in the very near future what actions to take to regulate how tobacco products (including new-fangled devices like e-cigarettes) and how they are marketed.
December 4th, 2011
Reason
Yesterday the Boston Public Health Commission voted to ban the use of electronic cigarettes in workplaces, including outdoor areas such as restaurant patios. It says it is simply “clos[ing] a loophole” by “treat[ing] e-cigarettes like tobacco products.” But since e-cigarettes do not contain any tobacco and do not generate smoke (merely a propylene glycol vapor containing nicotine), that is a puzzling way to characterize the decision. The official justification for banning smoking in workplaces is protecting employees and other bystanders from the toxins and carcinogens generated when tobacco is burned. Let’s leave aside the questions of how dangerous secondhand smoke really is and whether the government has any business regulating it on private property. In the absence of evidence that e-cigarettes are a hazard to other people, what possible justification is there for treating them the same as conventional cigarettes? I mean, they look like cigarettes, but surely that superficial resemblance is not enough for a scientifically grounded agency like the Boston Public Health Commission.
