Jump to full article: Raleigh (NC) News & Observer, 2009-06-16
Author: MATT EHLERS - Staff writer
Intro: Moss, who lives in Durham and once smoked three packs a day, wasn't bothered by the lack of studies on the e-cigarette.
"It's unproven," he said, "but I have no fear because I'm not smoking cigarettes."
E-cigarettes are available online as well as in a number of gas stations and at least one mall in the Triangle.
Earlier this year the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began cracking down on the import of the devices, stopping shipments at the border. Most e-cigarettes are manufactured in China.
"Basically, we don't have any data on these products," said Karen Riley, an FDA spokeswoman.
. . .
Jed Rose, director of the Duke Center for Nicotine and Smoking Cessation Research, said his lab has done some testing of e-cigarettes that focused on the way they deliver nicotine. E-cigarettes don't deliver all the cancer-causing agents that tobacco cigarettes do, but it's not clear exactly what they put in the user's body.
When asked whether e-cigarettes were safer than tobacco-filled ones, Rose said the required studies have yet to be done: "That's a tough question to answer without safety data." . . .
Moss said he used to spend more than $600 a month for cigarettes for himself and his wife. The e-cigarette habit costs only about $150. And because the vapor has almost no smell, he has smoked his e-cigarette in a movie theater as well as on an airplane.
If e-cigarettes are declared illegal, he said, "we'll go underground like anything else."
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