Save the Electronic Cigarette!! As actisim finally starts to heat up around the industry I've been very critical that many retailers and manufacturers have not done enough to point their customers towards the many petitions various folks have written or to send them to the requests for comments at places like the all important FDA. I think mostly it's that they do not wish to alarm the average customer or feel that it's none of their business to be activists or perhaps they fear it may bring unwanted attention by the FDA or anti smoking groups.

Honestly, I really don't know why many have not joined the fight. It's the retailers who have the email lists of all the vapers of the world. It's they who could most quicky mobilize all the vapers, not just those who find the handful of forums or sites like this. It is the retailers and manufacturers who make the most off ecigs and could band together to hire some professional Public Relations folks to help us combat the pros our enemies own.

Morning news reporter Debra Alfarone over at NBC Connecticut published a story on Tuesday titled "Call it E-Puffing, But Don't Do it Indoors" which has caused a bit of outrage on some electronic cigarette forums. Vapers , the term e-cigarette users prefer to call themselves, seem to disagree very strongly with some of the "experts" quoted in this story and question why NBC would bury the opinions of truly impartial e-cigarette experts in favor of those people heavily dependent to the pharmaceutical industry for their funding.

First up is Michelle Marichal of the American Cancer Society, listed on ct.gov as the contact person for their helpline, who was asked "if e-cigs are safer than old fashioned cigs" and was quoted as saying:

Over at the Electronic Cigarette Forum's Smoking Everywhere V. FDA Daily Docket Sheet Update there has been great debate this week about how the vaping community should respond and proceed after the U.S. Court of Appeals sided with the FDA in the Smoking Everywhere vs FDA case resulting in a stay of Judge Leon's previous ruling denying their jurisdiction over ecigs until at least September when the court will hear arguments and make a final ruling.

Needless to say most people are outraged, some are confused and sadly many of those the vaping community looks up to as leaders have been arguing with each other instead of taking action while some vendors seem to be finally ready to challenge the FDA themselves.  

As usual in matters this important regarding things I've taken hours to consider and write my thoughts about, I figured I'd share here as well.

State legislatures considering banning electronic cigarettes have now heard the advice of their doctors, namely the Tobacco Control Task Force of the American Association of Public Health Physicians, an organization of physician directors of state and local health departments, who say bans are going too far and that this new product may actually be of great benefit in their fight against cancer and smoking related deaths.

The AAPHP is recognized by the American Medical Association as a medical specialty society and even has formal representation in the AMA House of Delegates. These are just the people one might think politicians should be turning to for recommendations on proposed legislation affecting the public health.

However, prompted by a strong lobbying effort from groups like the American Cancer Society, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the American Heart Association and the non smokers rights group Action on Smoking and Health, which critics claim is largely funded by drug companies out to protect their profits, many states like New York, Utah, Illinois and New Jersey have recently introduced legislation that would ban or restrict the sale of E-cigarettes or their use in public spaces.

In a 32 page ruling released today for the Smoking Everywhere vs FDA lawsuit, US Federal Judge Richard Leon has said the FDA has no jurisdiction over electronic cigarettes, at least in so far as regulating them as drug delivery devices. The FDA's efforts to regulate ecigarettes as a drug has taken a severe blow and ecig makers, sellers and users around the globe are rejoicing.

In his ruling Judge Leon had scathing words for the FDA:

This case appears to be yet another example of FDA's aggressive efforts to regulate recreational tobacco products as drugs or devices, Unfortunately it's tenacious drive to maximize its regulatory power has resulted in its advocacy of an interpretation of the relevant law that I find, at first blush, to be unreasonable and unacceptable."

Ray Story, CEO of Smoking Everywhere said ""big big big victory for us." and ecigarette forums around the Internet lit up tonight with rejoicing and celebration at the good news.

What effect with this ruling have as the electronic cigarette industry faces challenges from attorney generals from California and other states as well as stiff opposition from anti smoking groups has yet to be seen.

 A couple of days ago we reported that USACIG has secured a deal with Hop-on to act as their agent to submit an application to the FDA to allow them to begin clinical studies to see if their Electric Cigarette could be an effective treatment for Parkinson's Disease.

This was a surprise move to many people, me included. So i've been looking into it.

Yes, there is some evidence that nicotine could be a treatment for PD and it's been shown smoking may be a major factor in the reason smokers have a lower instance of PD than non smokers. One study from the College of Medicine at the University of Vermont concluded:

We have begun quantitative studies of both acute and chronic nicotine in PD to assess both cognitive and motor effects. Fifteen (15) nondemented subjects (age 66 +/- 5.3; M/F = 11/4) with early to moderate PD (mean Hoehn-Yahr stage = 1.77; MMSE = 28.6) received a dose-ranging study of intravenous nicotine up to 1.25 microg/kg/min, followed by chronic administration of nicotine by transdermal patch with doses ranging up to 14 mg per day for 2 weeks. Testing occurred both during drug administration and up to 2 months after drug cessation to look for prolonged effects.

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USACIG, maker of the "Electric Cigarette" announced they have signed an exclusive agreement with Hop-on to submit it's electronic cigarette technology to the FDA for clinical studies for the prevention and treatment of Parkinson's disease.

Recent studies by the Parkinson's Institute and Clinical Center lead by Maryka Quik, Ph D have indicated intermittent nicotine treatment can reduce medication induced dyskinesias by as much as 50%. USACIG is hoping their electronic cigarette might be the perfect way to deliver nicotine to Parkinson's patients.

Peter Michaels, CEO of Hop-on, the company one usually associates with multi media services, the first disposable cell phone and the licencing of technology like CDMA, GSM and WIFI, says they are excited to be the exclusive agent for FDA submission.

The Monitor recently published an article titled "Are e-cigarettes really safer?" and while I do have to say they are one of the few i've seen recently who tried to get both sides of the story, I did have a few comments to share about some of the quotes. I thought I'd post them here as well.

Over all it is a good article, they actually talk to some e-cig supporters and manufacturers, something the main stream media doesn't seem to see the need to do. But, of course, the anti smoking groups have their talking points well rehearsed and a few statements made it into the article which, in my opinion, were not fully accurate.

Here are my thoughts:

Breaking news on the vaccine front!! If I were John Banzhaf I'd be sending out press releases saying "in response to my recent blog posts regarding vaccines, the National Institute of Health announced they are giving a $10 million dollar grant to the developers of NicVAX, the anti smoking vaccine, to fund phase III testing." But I won't.

What is NicVAX? An anti-smoking vaccine?

NicVAX is a new injectable vaccine developed by Nabi biopharmaceuticals of Rockville Md which the FDA has already granted "fast track status" to that researchers claim will help people quit smoking and prevent them from relapsing.

NicVAX has already passed initial regulatory hurdles to show the idea is sound and now move to clinical trials where patients are given six monthly shots. Early results show that smokers using the vaccine had a higher rate of success at abstinence from tobacco than those given the placebo.

I was browsing around and saw a question about using the electronic cigarette to quit smoking that i just had to answer. I went on a bit, I know, so much so the site wouldn't let me even finish my answer!! But I thought I'd post it here in it's entirety, not just because I didn't want to waste the time it took to write it, but because this is my honest advice to anyone thinking of using the electronic cigarette to quit smoking