You may have already heard more than enough from me about e-cigs, but here I go again. The FDA put out a press release the other day, saying that carcinogens were found in one e-cig cartridge they tested — one out of only eighteen cartridges tested, and those from only two out of the hundreds if not thousands of companies selling e-cigs. Carcinogens are bad news. But the good news they didn’t exactly highlight is that the carcinogens were only detectable to the level of parts-per-billion, whereas those same carcinogens are measured in “analog” cigs in parts per million. So there may be a quality control issue with one company — a company known to e-cig users for hawking one of the highest-priced and worst-performing brands on the market — but even so, that “tainted” brand is still about a thousand times safer than a normal cigarette, right? Why didn’t they compare e-cigs to regular cigs? And why are they only testing products from the same two companies that are currently suing them in federal court? Things that make you go “hmmmm.”

There’s a lot more to be refuted about the FDA’s “warning”. Like: be very wary anytime you hear the word “antifreeze” used in a press release. It’s a word that’s only useful for its shock value. I’ll stop there… let me point you towards some people who can do a better job countering all this hysteria…

From Brad Rodu, harm-reduction advocate and Professor of Medicine at the University of Louisville… The FDA Crusade Against E-Cigarettes

Michael Siegel is a grade-A lunatic zealot, but he makes sense a lot of the time… Disingenuousness of the FDA’s Press Conference is Concerning; FDA and Anti-Smoking Groups are Committing Medical Malpractice on a Massive Scale

From the Electronic Cigarette Association, a group of e-cig suppliers on a mission to inform about, and defend their industry from smear campaigns like this… Response To The FDA

Me, I’ve had great success substituting e-cigs for real cigs. I still bum a cigarette every once in awhile, but that means one cigarette every week or two, whereas before I was smoking a whole pack every day. I’m getting my nicotine now without burning anything. Nicotine isn’t a carcinogen, and it’s no more dangerous than caffeine. I have very little desire to quit nicotine, but I’m very happy to be (mostly) off the combustibles. I have no problem with the idea of a regulating the industry to insure that e-cigs aren’t sold to children (duh!!) and that the nicotine I get is clean and has no harmful ingredients… but when you talk about banning the e-cig while leaving regular cigarettes perfectly legal and available, I have a huge problem with that.