She'd be just as sexy with an e-smoke. Photo: Kanaka's Paradise Life

The worst thing about smoking fags, docs say, is the smoke. Enter the e-cigarette, which uses a computer chip and a heating element to vaporize a nicotine gel insert.

That’s the good news, for smokers trying to quit.

The bad news is that the FDA hates the idea, and is suggesting in this San Jose Merc bit (link, excerpt, below) that the agency is about to crack-down on the smoke-free alternative to cancer sticks.

With so many fish to fry, I hope the feds decide to lay-off this technology, which might actually save some lives. Instead, I’d like to see the agency do its job, such as ensuring that generic drugs makers in China and Mexico, for example, are not stuffing their pills with dry wall, and coating them with road paint.

I do share the concerns of an American Lung Association director, however. These are reflected in this brilliant quote she gives the Merc: “If you had a serial killer who liked to stab people, would you give him a rubber knife?”

The point is that reduction technologies, such as Swedish Snus, are only the start of recovery for many addicts. That’s because, when they are not available, most will simply light-up again to get their fix.

Also, vaporizers have been found to release ammonia, which has been linked to cancer.

Last summer a Florida company began aggressively marketing e-cigarettes — which emit a nicotine vapor with the help of a computer chip — but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration now seems poised to pull e-cigs from the market because the agency considers them “new drugs.” That means they need approval from the FDA, which requires companies to back up their claims with scientific data.

“It is illegal to sell or market them, and the FDA is looking into this,” said Rita Chappelle, an agency spokeswoman.

via E-cigarette sparks attention as FDA crackdown looms – San Jose Mercury News.