FDA Seeks to Regulate E-Cigarettes
E-cigarettes have been touted as a healthier way to ingest nicotine - even to quit smoking - but the popular alternative to tobacco cigarettes has fallen outside the purview of the Food and Drug Administration -- until now.
The FDA will propose policies governing the use of e-cigarettes as early as this month, which could drastically affect the e-cigarette industry, whose sales in 2013 nearly topped $2 billion.
Currently only e-cigarettes that are meant to serve a therapeutic purpose are regulated by the FDA, according to the agency.
The FDA has proposed extending its authority to regulate e-cigarettes, and the public can submit comments on the FDA's site beginning Friday, April 25.
Possible regulatory instruments include "age restrictions and rigorous scientific review of new tobacco products and claims to reduce tobacco-related disease and death," according to the FDA.