

Comment Info: =================

General Comment:First, the comment period on this issue should remain open for 180 days. I am a frequent user of electronic cigarettes and am only just now hearing about this. 

I would like to tell you about my father-in-law, who died in January 2013. He was 76 and had smoked cigarettes since he was a teenager. He had heart problems and his doctors told him in 2010 he only had 6 months or less to live if he continued his lifestyle. We purchased an electronic cigarette for him and he quit smoking cigarettes within a week. He started to eat better, his body became healthier and he was better for a time. He had smoked for over 50 years. He lived another 2 and a half years thanks to e-cigarettes. Our family was given 2 more years with him. 

My husband I have been smokers since the age of 17. We are both currently 34. In 2009, we were sick of our addiction and we decided to try electronic cigarettes. We had already tried chantix, Wellbutrin, patches, and nicotine gum. We just couldn't quit Within a few months of using electronic cigarettes, we had both quit smoking traditional cigarettes. We are both healthier, no hacking and coughing in the mornings. If we even smell someone smoking, it is offensive. Regular cigarettes are nasty and they are killers. With e-cigarettes, we can slowly reduce the amount of nicotine in the juice we purchase. We can completely control our vaping experience, and no one around us is offended. 

The FDA may see a purpose in regulating e-cigarettes, but it certainly shouldn't be under the tobacco category. There is no traditional tobacco in electronic cigarettes. For some, like me, there is no nicotine. There is no burning, offensive odor, no staining of teeth, no residue in the lungs, no second hand smoke. You can vape anywhere and but for the puff of vapor, no one would know you are doing it - there literally is no odor. 

There should be some type of oversight, as I wouldn't want to ingest any chemical that would be harmful. However, e-cigarettes and their parts and juice shouldn't be regulated under existing tobacco regulations. 

My biggest fear here is that regulations will cause a major change in the industry, products will become unavailable, costs will increase, and people like me will not be able to get e-cigarettes and we will go back to regular cigarettes, which are much more harmful. Up until now, e-cigarettes have been able to evolve with demand and the products have gotten much better over the years. I have been using e-cigarettes for almost 5 years and they have gotten much better in that time. Regulations only serve to stifle industry. Free markets thrive because they are more responsive to the public. 
