The Ethical Dilemma of E-Cigarette Regulation

Second- hand smokers are not exonerated from contacting same diseases. There have been reported cases of consumers’ hospitalization linked to E-cigarettes and its adverse effects on the people. To safeguard public health, there is need for urgent attention from FDA to stipulate rules and regulations for the sale and use of e-cigarettes. This will also include creating public awareness and education about the products, and other nicotine replacement therapies. The people need to know the benefits and adverse effects of electronic cigarettes if any, to be able to make informed decisions about their health

One of my first memories in the United States was taking a Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E) class. I was in sixth grade and a top student, as talking about drugs and alcohol and the way they affect us was fascinating to me. This is why, the following year, I volunteered to become a peer educator in Teens Against Tobacco Use (T.A.T.U). For a couple of years, I gave presentations to young students which included facts, demonstrations, and games, to spread the knowledge that tobacco is harmful and that staying away from smoking prolongs life expectancy and increases the quality of life. It should come as no surprise, then, that I consider myself a big proponent of staying tobacco-free and encouraging others to quit smoking as a great way to promote health. I remember watching my mom and sister as they took part in their nightly ritual of smoking a few cigarettes to unwind. “Did you know that a main component of cigarettes is used as rocket fuel?” I would ask them, as I opened the window and they stared back at me blankly. “We know, we know” was the answer every time. I knew that convincing them to quit was no easy task, but I was committed. Day after day, I proudly stated a new fact about the evils of smoking. Finally one day, they quit. At first, they attributed it to the cost. Since we had just immigrated to the United States, the cost of cigarettes was simply not something they could afford. I didn’t believe it. I proudly

Originally manufactured in China in 2003, electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) were manufactured as a better way of inhaling nicotine without the health effects of smoking tobacco. They were developed to provide the tobacco user with a device that would heat up liquid nicotine and other chemicals including carcinogens that once heated would create a vapor in which the user would inhale. Unlike cigarettes, nothing is burned, and there is no smoke released from the device. E-cigarettes are marketed to the consumer as a better way of quitting smoking or just sustaining the craving of tobacco by allowing the smoker the pleasure of nicotine in reduced amounts. Currently, the FDA Center for Tobacco Products regulates cigarettes, tobacco, and smokeless tobacco and only e-cigarettes that are marketed to the consumer for therapeutic purposes are regulated by the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

The e-cigarette format, however, does not eliminate concerns regarding public and individual health risks. The World Health Organization has called for e-cigarette usage to be monitored in the same way as more conventional tobacco products,(23) the US FDA is advocating for more research,(24) and there has been a dramatic increase in analyses of the chemical, physiological, psychological and socio-cultural aspects of e-cigarettes.(2-7,9-12,14-21,24-52)

Teens are smoking e-cigs and something needs to be done. One “pod” promises the amount of nicotine equal to an entire pack of conventional cigarettes. E-cigs are easy to hide and come in a variety of flavors. The Food and Drug Administration decided to hold off on implementing an already finalized rule that would regulate e-cigarettes. Postponing a regulation on e-cigs is a mistake.

The profitable business of electronic cigarettes has raised over $3 Billion dollars annually, vastly spread across over 466 brands which have joined the ordeal. Above all, known as a “gateway drug”, electronic cigarettes have claimed the once-ordinary lives of people, specifically to those who have turned from tobacco cigarettes. What is more, scientists have determined that not enough research has been executed to automatically assume the healthiness of e-cigarettes. Despite this, many have claimed that e-cigarettes, are, and will be the new “healthy” drug, so to speak. Provided that e-cigarettes do not release harmful smoke, they are still not safe for one’s health given that not enough research has been performed on them.

John Doe is an 18-year-old resident, Colorado. He’s active in his community and volunteers through the local public library, he’s a genuinely nice guy, and he’s a smoker. A few months ago, John Doe decided that he wanted to minimize his health risks from smoking cigarettes, so he switched to a new alternative: an e-cigarette. Electronic cigarettes contain no tobacco, and vaporize a vegetable glycerol fluid that contains nicotine, mimicking the feeling of smoking a burn cigarette without the tar, dangerous gases, and unpleasant smell (Block). In most states, smokers can “vape” in public places with their e-cigarettes, receiving the nicotine of a burn cigarette without complaint from others. Heavy smokers find that they can use e-cigarettes to gradually decrease nicotine and many use it as a gateway to quit smoking. Yet in the absence of regulation, sale of e-cigarettes to minors is only prohibited in twelve states (Lopes), and this is a definite problem. Adolescents may see vaping as a cool new thing to do and become addicted to nicotine. The lack of regulation in the e-cigarette industry especially contributes to this, as companies create appealing advertisements displaying a variety of new flavors. Furthermore, without Food and Drug Administration (FDA) screening, e-cigarette ingredients are unregulated and this could lead to unsafe or downright harmful products.

As with other such technologies, e-cigarettes don’t neatly fit into regulatory niches. The federal government is struggling to understand how to regulate e-cigarettes and, sadly, is on the verge of making a harmful first step with the FDA’s proposed rules. E-cigarettes are not tobacco products and should not be regulated as such E-cigarettes are a boon for public health because they help smokers quit using cigarettes

The article “To regulate or not to regulate? Views on electronic cigarette regulations and beliefs about the reasons for and against regulations” brought forward on the regulation of vapes and electronic cigarettes. This article shows studies that were taken through online polling of adults from Amazon mechanical Turk. The polls took place in May of 2015. Overall the article is about whether to or not to regulate electronic cigarettes or vapes. As most people disagreed with most of the reasons to not regulate the vapes, most did agree with one idea that should be implied if the regulation of vapes and e-cigs “electronic cigarettes” continued. That was if they continued to be regulated then a label warning exclaiming that the products contain nicotine should be added to all devices and products that go along with it.

As FDA analysis indicated, e-cigarettes contain the same toxic substances and carcinogens found in traditional cigarettes, which contradicts the statement made by e-cigarette advocates that e-cigarettes are safer. Recently, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that about 47.1 percent of the cigarette and e-cigarette exposure-calls to poison control centers are now due to e-cigarettes (Kucinich, 2014). Therefore, I do not think it is reasonable to promote e-cigarettes to the public as safer alternatives to traditional tobacco cigarettes, let alone smoking cessation aids. Additionally, health experts have repeatedly mentioned that e-cigarettes maybe potential gateway drugs for many individuals, particularly the young. Pepper and colleagues (2013) reported that nearly 1 in 5 adolescent males in their study were willing to try e-cigarettes if offered to them; and being a smoker increased the willingness to try e-cigarettes. As teens are highly inclined to try e-cigarettes, extensive public promotion of e-cigarettes may mislead them into thinking that e-cigarettes are safe to use. The false claim may even spark teenagers’ curiosity and motivate them to try e-cigarettes and other tobacco products haphazardly. It is highly likely that the effort to promote smoke cessation through e-cigarettes could create an entirely new problem: e-cigarette abuse in teens. Overall, I take the stand against e-cigarettes. I

E-cigarettes have exploded onto the scene in the past three years. Whole stores dedicated to these devices have opened their doors to the public and business is thriving. E-cigarettes are battery-charged devices that have an atomizer, or heating element, in them to vaporize liquid nicotine. The user is able to inhale this vapor and get the nicotine without the other 4,000 chemicals present in tobacco cigarette smoke (Schroeder). Nicotine is a chemical that is produced by the tobacco plant. People have discovered that by smoking the leaves of a tobacco plant the nicotine in the leaves is delivered into the bloodstream. Nicotine by itself is not an awful drug as far as drugs go, although it is highly addictive, it is the tar in cigarettes that does so much damage. Tobacco use remains the number one preventable cause of death in the U.S. with 480,000 Americans dying prematurely from tobacco related disease. Kicking this habit remains difficult for most (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). Mark Twain once wrote “It’s easy to quit smoking, I’ve done it hundreds of times.”

As stated by Eleanor Roosevelt, “One 's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes... and the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.” Everybody has a myriad choices in life. Some choices are better than others, and some are the worst choices one could have possibly chosen. The choices of one may work in one’s favor, or one’s choices may work in contrariety of one’s goals altogether. Electronic cigarettes, also called e-cigarettes or e-cigs, are an alternative choice to smoking actual cigarettes. Whether e-cigarettes should be regulated is a controversial topic among the people of the world today. A few people withhold the beliefs that electronic cigarettes should not be regulated as regular cigarettes are. It is possible that they believe that the regulation will lead to the prohibition or cease of smoking wholly. However, speaking as a candor person, one may say that these people are blind to the potential harms that the lack of regulation could create and that the lack of regulation may actually be causing electronic cigarettes to work in opposition of the purpose they are mostly used for. E-cigarettes are proven to not to have the same detrimental effects as regular cigarettes, however they are potently harmful, with different and serious consequences. The regulations would not be banning electronic cigarettes; the regulations are working to protect the health and well-being of everyone.

However our concern here is not only about the cigarette as a product but with the ethics of cigarettes as well, that affect the social process of marketing. This is because marketing process makes things worse and is also considered as unethical, and as a result has a significant negative impact on the societal welfare. Multinational tobacco companies apply sophisticated strategies ( such as putting flavor in the cigarettes and placing cigarettes in the shops near the sweets to make them more appealing) and invest huge amounts of money for marketing, in order to establish brand familiarity and future loyalty among young peoplem, to secure profits in the long run. 'The tobacco epidemic is a man-made international health crisis, created and sustained by multinational tobacco corporations.' (Yach, Brinchmann, Bellet page 2).

There are several ethical philosophies in play here regarding the tobacco company and these ethical issues can be explored by analyzing the myriad of interplay of relationships

This case deals with the ethical dilemma that Tobacco manufactures face when selling tobacco products in third world countries. First, there is the ethical dilemma of business versus health. The opening and development of the tobacco business in Third World countries like China, Malaysia, Indonesia, India and Africa, is considered against the health consequences of tobacco use which according to an Oxford University epidemiologist, has estimated to cost 3 million lives annually rising to 10 million by 2050 without effective tobacco control program A second ethical dilemma is employment versus impoverishment, where the opportunities for work in the tobacco industry are considered against a background of malnutrition. This is a problem that