Gainesville residents are reacting to the news that the Food and Drug Administration will begin regulating the sale of e-cigarettes.
Smoking-related illnesses are the leading cause of preventable deaths in the U.S., and as a result the FDA will start regulating the sale of unchecked tobacco production for the first time, which includes electronic cigarettes, according to the FDA website.
E-cigarettes, a smoke-free and battery-powered device that heats up nicotine, flavors and other chemicals and is then inhaled, have not been fully studied by scientists. The FDA is looking for citizen comment in the next two months about all unregulated tobacco products so they may better develop regulations.
Kathy Nichols, associate director of the UF Tobacco-Free Task Force, said that the regulation doesn’t affect smoking on campus, a ban that includes e-cigarettes. The FDA regulation doesn’t have to do with where people use e-cigarettes, but with the composition of the products, she said. Users may be unaware of the true amount of nicotine in e-cigarettes because the product wasn’t regulated in the past.
“Even if the packaging says the products contain a certain amount, inaccurate labels even within the same brand are common,” Nichols said.
However, Tico Regalato, a 20-year-old UF sociology senior who quit smoking by using e-cigarettes, said the regulation is unnecessary because the devices already serve their purpose as smoking cessation devices.
E-cigarettes work because you still have the feeling of smoking but with a healthier alternative, he said.
“It not only alleviates the use for nicotine, but fulfills the need to inhale and exhale by smoking,” Regalato said.
Betty Pritchard, a 19-year-old UF chemistry junior, said she thinks regulation of e-cigarettes will be good because it will bring the devices to the same level as cigarettes and other tobacco products. But as for health benefits, she said from what she’s seen, e-cigarettes just mean the user smokes more.
“The only benefit of letting people have e-cigarettes is that there will be less people throwing cigarettes on the floor,” she said. “It will be better for the environment in that way.”
[A version of this story ran on page 4 on 5/13/2014 under the headline "FDA will regulate sale of electronic cigarettes"]
