A former American congressman called Matt Salmon, who also happens to be the president of the (American) Electronic Cigarette Association (ECA) has responded to the United States FDA’s issued warning about E Cigarettes by stating that it is a rather disheartening situation that has arisen because of this FDA announcement, and that at the moment there are no grounds for this warning as no evidence has come to light offering support that E Cigarettes are bad to people’s health. Nevertheless, because of the FDA’s warning, the states of Oregon, Connecticut and Kentucky have all put a ban on the sale of E Cigarettes. Matt Salmon also insisted that the FDA should have done a bit more research into the question of E Cigarette safety, and if anything had been proven, to then have presented these results with the warning that was originally issued.
Currently, in the United States alone there are hundreds of thousands of E Cigarette users, and if the FDA did carry out its threat to ban them then there would be a huge outcry. The users of E Cigarettes are adamant that these devices offer them huge health benefits over traditional tobacco.
One American E Cigarette user, Tanya Moraffah, said that by being made to go back to smoking tobacco would be akin to being lined up for a death sentence. She also said that when she smoked tobacco, she constantly felt sick, had a severe cough and generally felt horrible.
Another user, Peter French, went on record to say that he is adamant that E Cigarettes are literally saving his life, while Terri Davidson said that she no longer had the heavy feeling in her lungs due to the tar caused by smoking cigarettes. There are literally thousands of similar stories of people that have quit smoking “real cigarettes” and are now using E Cigarettes to the benefit of their health.
One expert in tobacco control research, Dr. Michael Siegel, launched a stinging attack on the FDA claiming they are comparing E Cigarettes to nice fresh spring water as a solution as opposed to comparing its effects to something that matters – a real cigarette. Although slightly tongue-in-cheek, the doctor’s point is a valid one. He also went on to state results of tests carried out in New Zealand which showed toxic emissions from E Cigarettes were significantly lower than those of real ones. So much lower, in fact, that the toxic emission score which is based on particular levels of 59 main toxins found in tobacco, was zero in E Cigarettes. In comparison, no leading brand of cigarette was below 100 and Marlboro cigarettes even tipped the scale at 126!
Another eminent doctor in the field, Dr. Brad Rodu of the Tobacco Harm Reduction Research University of Louisville, said that the FDA tested the E Cigarettes for specific toxins and TSNA’s using a dubious testing technique, with methods so sensitive that any results found would have absolutely no significance to E Cigarette users. He also said the agency had also failed to report on (any) specific levels of contaminant found.