Jump to full article: St. Petersburg (FL) Times, 2009-06-09
Author: Robert Trigaux, Times Business Columnist
Intro: When Florida's new $1 tax on cigarettes takes effect in about three weeks, it should discourage at least marginal and cost-conscious smokers from lighting up as often and dissuade youngsters from getting hooked in the first place.
At least in theory.
. . .
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration spent several months investigating e-cigarettes. FDA spokeswoman Karen Riley told me the agency has determined e-cigarettes, as well as e-cigars and e-pipes, are "drug device combustion products." So far, the FDA has "refused entry" at U.S. borders to the products. Most e-cigarettes are made in China.
Seventeen shipments have been stopped since March, Riley says. But beyond border patrols, the FDA offers no stance on whether a device that vaporizes liquid nicotine for inhaling is a yea or a nay. And if any e-cigarettes are made in the good ol' U.S. of A., a border ban seems pointless, or even protectionist.
Some e-cigarette companies, arguing the FDA has no jurisdiction over the products, have sued the federal agency in federal court.
One South Florida provider of e-cigarettes, Smoking Everywhere Inc., says you can buy its $100 e-cigarette kit and flavor cartridges ($10 apiece) at the Sawgrass Mills Mall in Sunrise or at more than 100 resellers. It's even available on Amazon.com. . . .
In this recession, we may have discovered one of Florida's new growth industries.
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