, Columnist
What the FDA Gets Wrong About E-Cigarettes
It's a mistake to tell Americans that vaping is as dangerous as smoking.
Not safe, but safer than a real cigarette.
Photographer: Dan Kitwood/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
President Donald Trump’s nomination of Scott Gottlieb to be the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration is a hopeful sign that the FDA’s illogical tobacco product regulations may soon end.
The rules as they stand lump all nicotine-containing products in the same basket, regardless of what risks they pose, so that electronic cigarettes -- which are orders of magnitude safer than tobacco cigarettes -- cannot remain on the market unless their makers submit expensive and burdensome applications to the FDA. Combustible cigarettes, meanwhile, are free to keep killing more than 400,000 Americans a year, no paperwork required.