Electronic cigarettes don't deliver

[Royal]

I just received this article in my email.

Washington (CNN) -- "Electronic cigarettes" that vaporize nicotine juice to inhale instead of smoke from burning tobacco do not deliver as promised, according to research at Virginia Commonwealth University.
"They are as effective at nicotine delivery as puffing on an unlit cigarette," said Dr. Thomas Eissenberg, at the school's Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies.
His study, funded by the federal National Cancer Institute, is the first by American doctors to check the function of so-called "no-smoke tobacco" devices, which are unregulated in the United States for sale or use.
The units are shaped like a cigarette and contain a battery that heats a filament to vaporize liquid nicotine in a refillable cartridge. Smokers buy the devices to get around no-smoking restrictions and to attempt to quit conventional cigarettes.
Some users nickname what they're doing as "vaping" instead of smoking, to reflect the vapor produced by the heating element. The devices are marketed as an alternative to smoking, but retailers avoid making claims about health or safety.
Jimi Jackson, a former tobacco smoker in Richmond, Virginia, who sells electronic cigarettes, is convinced there are immediate health advantages in avoiding the known cancer-causing substances in the smoke of a burning cigarette.
"I smoked 37 years, and when I found them, I was, like, 'Thank, you Jesus,' " Jackson said with a laugh, as a reporter visited his shop, No Smoke Virginia, coincidentally just a few blocks from where the research was conducted at Virginia Commonwealth
In March, the Food and Drug Administration imposed a ban on continued imports of the devices, pending regulatory review for any health risks.
The latest clinical evidence suggests users are not getting the addictive substance they get from smoking tobacco "These e-cigs do not deliver nicotine," Eissenberg said of the findings he expects to publish in an upcoming issue of the British Medical Journal.
This past summer, Eissenberg recruited smokers without prior experience using e-cigarettes to volunteer to use two popular brands of the devices for a set period. The 16 subjects were regularly measured in a clinical setting for the presence of nicotine in their bodies, their reported craving for conventional cigarettes, and certain physiological effects such as a change in heart rate.
"Ten puffs from either of these electronic cigarettes with a 16 mg nicotine cartridge delivered little to no nicotine," the study found.
But the units may deliver hazardous chemicals, according to preliminary checks by federal regulators. In a notice to importers, the FDAblocked continued shipments after finding diethylene glycol, a chemical used in antifreeze that is toxic to humans.
The government's statement noted there are no health warnings on the products, and that "the FDA analyses detected carcinogens, including nitrosamines."
The notice of the import ban says "the product appears to be a combination drug-device," that "requires pre-approval, registration and listing with the FDA" in order to be marketed in the United States.
A company challenging the import ban claims in federal court documents to have sold 600,000 of the devices in a year's time through a network of 120 distributors in the United States.
"We are on the verge of going out of business, which is why we are suing the FDA in U.S. District Court," said Washington, attorney Kip Schwartz, representing a company called "Smoking Everywhere," a U.S. wholesaler that was importing the devices from China.
The lawsuit questions the FDA's authority to block shipments of a non-tobacco product, and says the agency has violated its statutory process for product review. Liquid nicotine is available on the open market through pharmaceutical houses and vendors who sell e-cigarettes.
A judge has yet to rule on the company's request for an injunction that would allow imports to resume. "There has been no change," said FDA spokesman Siobhan DeLancey. She said "a decision in the case is still pending, with no timeline."
President Obama, who has described himself as an occasional smoker, has been offered one of the devices by Florida Rep. Cliff Stearns. The Republican lawmaker's office said the president did not respond.
An administration spokesman last year said the White House was not aware of the offer.
In a copy of a letter to the chief executive dated March 26, Stearns wrote, "I have recently given out e-cigarettes to a few members of Congress and they have become quite a hit."
Sales of the devices continue at shopping mall kiosks and small storefront retailers, apparently drawing from stock imported before the FDA began to block shipments from overseas suppliers.

IMO, this is just another way to try and defame e-cigs and keep smokers using big tobacco products.
Hey, you can't get nicotine from these devices, but you may be able to get other more hazardous chemicals. -They forgot to tell you that you can die from smoking real cigarettes, with all the thousands of chemicals inside them.

[mcquinn]

I don't beleive I got as much nic as all the people formulate,but I did get enough to quench my desire.

[Dialbolic]

Yea i disagree on the nicotine part i was a 25 year smoker 2 packs a day and so far i am satisfied i dont have any withdrawls from nicotine while using my e cig or pass through my fav now.

[smokum]

Absolutely getting nicotine !!! Just don't know how much "exactly". But, then again, did we every REALLLY know what we were absorbing with tobacco cigs ?

Now if I could just figure out what the heck I'm missing and get off the damn analogs.

VapeOn,
Greg

[lordmage]

old article rehashed and updated that all.

[Royal]

Originally Posted by lordmage

old article rehashed and updated that all.

This article was just released
By Paul Courson, CNN
February 8, 2010 7:55 p.m. EST

I had never heard or read of a study on e-cigs that states they do not deliver any nicotine. This was news to me, and is the first time it is being discussed here.
I agree as it is obvious that some of their information is dated.


Here is some interesting information I dug up on this Doctor who apparently did this study.

Declared and Non Declared Conflicts of Interest. The case of Thomas EISSENBERG, Wasim MAZIAK, Jack HENNINGFIELD

Here is a small excerpt taken from this information.

Thomas EISSENBERG
He maintains close relations with the Pharmaceutical Industry. He works at VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University, USA) and for the US-Syrian Center for Tobacco Studies. His work was financially supported by many grants from US agencies and the Pharmaceutical industry. He is an excellent slanderer though, surprisingly, he didn’t state in many of his publications that he has worked (and probably still works) as a consultant for firms like Plowshare Inc. and Sention Inc. This obviously represents a non-declared conflict of interest. Besides, see, as an example, the interesting and innocent products a company like Plowshare develops… If you still don’t understand what it is about, contact us.

Whether this be an old article or not, anytime something like this is brought up in the media, it needs to be discussed and scrutinized.

The good doctor states that he plans to later release his study in an upcoming issue of The British Medical Journal. This makes me wonder as well, He is an American Doctor working out of an American University and getting paid with grants from American interests. So why is he not publishing his study in an American paper?
Interesting!!!

[MsSki]

Im getting my Nic and sometimes to much because i start pinging around the house....LOL

Tara

[Jim Davis]

Wow. Another Texan. Howdy Tara. to ESF.

[Royal]

Hi Tara,

When you think about this article and how it is titled. It is easy to see that the intial intent is to undermine the growing popularity of e-cigs.

But when you look at the findings, Ths is great news for e-cig users!
His study finds the e-cig has less of an effect on heart rate, and the user is taking in less chemicals.

This furthers our cause with analytical results that backs up what so many of use have already concluded.

IMO, Whether or not an e-cig user is getting any nicotine is moot, when so many users have stated how long they smoked, then picked up an e-cig and never looked back. So if we are doing this without nicotine being absorbed into the body, then all the better for us.


Thanks Doctor Eissenberg!

[Jim Davis]

I expect to see more of this in the future. Everyone has their opinion, and statements like those only help our cause on the legsl side. I feel that statements like that will only make it harder for the legal system to ban e-cigs.