Page 30 - TOB Magazine March/April 2013

64
TOBACCO OUTLET BUSINESS
MARCH/APRIL 2013
E-Cigs C on tinu e to E-Volve
to issue a proposed rule to extend
oversight to e-cigarettes (along with
cigars and pipe tobacco) this April.
According to Ralph Tyler, former
chief counsel of the FDA, there are
arguments for and against whether
the FDA’s deeming authority reaches
e-cigarettes. Wells Fargo analysts
say it is “relatively unlikely” that
the government will issue deeming
authority to regulate e-cigarettes as
tobacco products as early as this April,
but they also believe it is likely that
there will be legal challenges that will
take months or years to resolve.
If e-cigs are regulated, the analysts
expect:
•Barriers to entry to increase;
•Existing e-cigarette players to
become entrenched;
•The e-cigarette category to
consolidate, and
•Altria to enter the category.
Forward-thinking players in the
industry say they are not scared off by
pending regulation.
“For the six years that I’ve been
in and around the tobacco industry,
one thing I know we’re assured of is
more regulation and taxation, year in
and year out—that’s almost a given,”
Vecchie states. “We assume that the
FDA is going to regulate the industry
and we’ll simply comply and move
forward. And as long as it’s not
unwarranted regulation that somehow
restricts or bans the use of these
products by adult tobacco consumers,
we’re actually as much for regulation
as we are for standardization.”
Similarly, White expresses, “in this
industry, you always figure out a way to
live within the rules and the laws. It’ll
be interesting, but that’s the business
life we’ve chosen—and wherever the
government takes us to go, we’ll go.”
Danielson’s dietary supplement
background has taught him to take
a proactive educational tact and not
one based on fear. “I have some level
of concern, of course, but coming from
the nutraceutical industry of the ’90s,
I know what it’s like to have the trade
get involved in government regulation.
With electronic cigarettes, I want to
make sure the FDA really understands
what they’re about to regulate and we
have to help educate them as much as
possible.” TOB
Best E-Cigs of 2013?
EcigaretteReviewed.com touts to be the home “for the best unbiased and
user-based e-cig reviews.” According to its website, ECR’s mission is to offer
reliable and comprehensive e-cig reviews based on a valid and accurate scale.
All electronic cigarette products are reportedly tested by its “team of experts
for a period of four weeks before coming to a concrete conclusion.” Hence, it
names its top 10 e-cigs for 2013, based on 173 user reviews:
1. V2Cigs
2. Green Smoke
3. White Cloud
4. South Beach Smoke
5. EverSmoke
6. Vapor Couture
7. blu
8. Premium Vapor
9. SmokeTip
10. Pure
“With electronic cigarettes, I want to make
sure the FDA really understands what they’re
about to regulate and we have to help educate
them as much as possible.”