Controversy increases as regulation of e-cigarettes nears
From: The Philadelphia Inquirer via SFGate
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s plan to begin regulating electronic cigarettes this summer has renewed debate over tobacco “harm reduction.” The idea is that some smokers can’t or won’t quit, even if they want to. By replacing their cigarettes with e-cigarettes — which deliver nicotine but eliminate carbon monoxide, tar, and other toxic chemicals found in tobacco smoke — they’ll be better off, and so will the public.
“It would be in the same ballpark as being addicted to caffeine,” said tobacco-cessation researcher Jonathan Foulds, a professor of public health and psychiatry at Pennsylvania State University. “I’m not saying e-cigarettes are as harmless as coffee. But the harm isn’t such a disaster as death” from smoking.
