Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. It seems the Food and Drug Administration agrees with Freud’s alleged assertion, announcing today that it would regulate e-cigarettes as cigarette/tobacco products and not under more stringent drug-device guidelines.
The news comes as a victory for e-cigarette manufacturers, who had been under FDA scrutiny since September 2010. At that time, the FDA sent a letter to five electronic cigarette distributors, claiming that their products were being marketed illegally, and were subject to FDA approval as drugs. Under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, a company cannot claim that its drug can treat or mitigate a disease, such as nicotine addiction, unless the drug’s safety and effectiveness have been proven.
Full story: FDA Attempt to Regulate E-Cigarettes as Drugs Goes Up in Smoke