US FDA Approves E-Cigarette Product For The First Time

The United States Food and Drug Administration has approved vape supplies for sale for the first time.

The United States Food and Drug Administration has approved vape supplies for sale for the first time.

In a press release, the FDA announced that it had authorised the sale and marketing of three Vuse e-cigarette products made by tobacco manufacturer R.J. Reynolds, mark a considerable breakthrough for vaping products after examining the implications for public health.

After a year of consideration, the FDA ultimately decided that the benefits of vaping as an aid to stop smoking are sufficient to approve their use, given they reduce a smokerโ€™s exposure to the many harmful chemicals found in tobacco.

A meta-analysis of over 12,000 people trying to quit smoking found that nicotine-containing e-cigarettes were more likely to help people quit than gum, patches and other nicotine replacement therapies, and found no evidence of serious harm using them.

E-cigarettes do not produce carbon monoxide or tar, which are the by-products that cause the most harm in cigarette smoke.

One interesting note is that the three Vuse Solo products were all tobacco-flavoured, and a decision on the products produced by Juul, the market leader in the United States, is still yet to have been released.

Whilst e-cigarette regulation in Europe and the UK has been enforced since at least 2012, there was a long period where e-cigarettes were not regulated in the United States, as the result of a court ruling that they were tobacco products rather than drug-device combinations.

This, in combination with a 2009 piece of legislation meant that the FDA had the authority to regulate some tobacco products but not e-cigarettes until August 2016, when they were given regulatory authority over the industry.

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