

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

General Comment:Dear FDA:

I am writing as an individual consumer to request an extension of the comment period for the Food and Drug Administration's ("FDA") Proposed Rule Deeming Tobacco Products to be Subject to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended by the Family Smoking and Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (the "Proposed Rule") published at 79 Fed. Reg. 23,142 and Federal Register No. 2014-09491. On behalf of myself, I am requesting that the comment period for the Proposed Rule be extended by the FDA for an additional 105 days, from its current 75-day period, to 180 days.

The Proposed Rule raises a number of significant issues and questions that are important and relevant to me, as a consumer of products that are proposed for regulation under the Proposed Rule. The Proposed Rule asks about a hundred different questions I might want to respond to. I want to provide my thoughts and comments on many of these issues, but my time to devote to researching and providing thoughtful comments on these important questions is limited. I have already spent many hours researching and dissecting these issues, but they take time. I know that the FDA took many years to even come up with the Proposed Rule, so I do not think it is at all unreasonable to allow the public a mere six months to comment on it. This is our only opportunity, as consumers, to provide our feedback. 

I feel very strongly about personal vaporizing devices as alternatives to combustible cigarettes. Quite simply, I firmly believe that they saved my life. I used a personal vaporizing device to quit smoking regular cigarettes in January of 2012. I did tons of research on the e-liquid used in the device before starting the venture to make sure I was not going from bad to worse. From my own account I cannot see any reason a pvd and e-liquid are not a safe alternative to regular cigarettes. Since I have been using the pvd I feel better, my breathing is better, I didn’t gain any weight(like in the past when quitting smoking), I am more approachable in public because I don’t smell like an ashtray, and my fingers and teeth are no longer yellow. 

I realize that the FDA has the authority under 21 CFR 10.40 to extend this time frame and that the FDA has exercised this authority on numerous occasions in the past. I would therefore ask that you do so here, so that all stakeholders have the opportunity to provide their comments on this proposed regulation.

I appreciate your consideration of my request as I am an avid “vaper” and an advocate of e-vaping.
Thank you,
Dale

