Smoking Everywhere Electronic Cigarettes Defeats the FDA

Due to the efforts of Smoking Everywhere, Inc., American consumers will continue to have access to an electronic cigarette.
On January 14, 2010, Federal Court Judge Richard Leon ruled in favor of Smoking Everywhere, Inc., the industry leader who brought suit against the FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Smoking Everywhere's contention was that it was unlawful to prevent the continued import of electronic cigarettes into the United States, something which the FDA believed was within its power to do.
“This is a huge victory for the American consumer,” said Smoking Everywhere's Vice President Ray Story. “Now this product will be readily available, just like conventional cigarettes. Consumers will be able to purchase the electronic cigarette as a smoking alternative, wherever they can find conventional cigarettes.”
Story said that because the electronic cigarette doesn't use tobacco and, therefore, has no carcinogens, tar, and “thousands” of other harmful chemicals, there is no second or third-hand smoke, which statistics say kills about 15,000 people annually.
Story openly theorized why the FDA would be against the import of such a product.
“My guess is that it has something to do with ‘big tobacco' ruling the roost,” he said.
Smoking Everywhere is the largest retailer of the electronic cigarette, a product that's been available for over three years. Story said his company has been a retailer for about a year, but the FDA's import ban took up about nine months of that time, limiting the product's availability.
The electronic cigarette delivers nicotine, but none of the other major harmful ingredients in cigarettes, not the least of which is the presence of the deadly second and third-hand smoke. And there's another way the product will save lives, according to Story.
“Texas has a law that went into effect on January 1 that mandates that all cigarettes sold in the state must be ‘fire safe compliant', or FSC,” Story said. “In other words, an FSC cigarette must be designed to go out if it's not being actively smoked, reducing the risk of an accidental fire. Smoking Everywhere's electronic cigarette can be smoked without being a fire hazard,” he added.
Story said that with Judge Leon's decision being rendered, his company will quickly begin to broker agreements with major chains and department stores in the United States to begin carrying the electronic cigarette.
“We should be good to go by the second quarter of this year,” Story said of the presence of electronic cigarettes in major retail outlets.