... the AMA has been consistently opposed to any effort designed to promote the public welfare. The agenda of the AMA is not aligned with the interests of the average American citizen. With a mission to block any meaningful health care reform, why would any hard working American with an ounce of sense listen to the AMA?

The pharmaceutical nicotine hijack continues. This is why we can't have nice things!!!1!

This is the bit that makes me laugh, it's too ridiculous for words:

So ecigs must be really, really bad to be banned in favour of FDA approved tobacco products ...
so bad that there are no reports of serious harm after six years of availability to millions of users ... oh, wait ...

It must be devastating to them that they're not able to control everything we do and who we have to pay for it.

If it sounds like a duck it's probably a quack.

CASAA's response to the AMA decision:

Consumer Organization Denounces AMA Electronic Cigarette Policy
Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Theresa Whitt, M.D., medical director of the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-Free Alternatives Association (CASAA), criticized the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates (HOD) recent passage of a policy urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) as drug delivery devices. Whitt stated, "The new policy also urged state legislatures to ban sales and use of the products in non-smoking areas, despite the fact that they produce no smoke."

Whitt pointed out that CASAA surveys show that 98% of e-cigarette users who have discussed the products with their doctor have their doctor's approval. "A survey conducted by the University of Alberta found that over 90% of users report health benefits such as better lung function, improved breathing, reduction or elimination of wheezing and coughing, and better ability to exercise. Physicians who have seen the positive impact these devices have had on the health of their patients should contact the AMA to recommend that it rescind this new policy," urged Whitt.

In the AMA press release announcing the new policy, board member Edward L. Langston, M.D. states, "Because e-cigarettes have not been thoroughly tested, one cannot conclude that they are less harmful or less dangerous than conventional cigarettes."

"That's ironic," Whitt asserted, "given the fact that the new AMA HOD policy also rescinded last year's approval of a study of appropriate use of e-cigarettes in smoking cessation programs. It's outrageous that the AMA HOD wants to ban the products because they haven't been studied and also wants prevent study of the products.

"An average person understands that eliminating tar, carbon monoxide, and particles of ash from what is being inhaled most likely reduces health risks," said Whitt. "Electronic cigarettes do not deliver any of these harmful components because they use the process of vaporization instead of the process of combustion.

"The FDA needs to regulate electronic-cigarettes as tobacco products," declared Whitt, "rather than banning the products by regulating them as drug-delivery devices. E-cigarettes are a reduced harm alternative to inhaling cigarette smoke. All of the FDA-approved smoking cessation treatments require nicotine abstinence in the long run. This explains why the FDA approved treatments work for only 7 to 10% of users. Approximately 79% of e-cigarette users are able to completely switch away from smoking to inhaling vaporized nicotine.

"This product can be a life-saver for long-term smokers for whom nicotine abstinence is unworkable," stated Dr. Whitt, who worries about the effects of a ban. "Former smokers should not be forced into the position of choosing between relapsing to smoking or seeking e-cigarette supplies on a black market."

CASAA is a non-profit organization that works to ensure the availability of reduced harm alternatives to smoking and to provide smokers and non-smokers alike with truthful information about such alternatives. It is run and funded completely by volunteers and receives no funding from electronic cigarette manufacturers, tobacco companies nor pharmaceutical companies. More information about electronic cigarettes and other smokeless alternatives may be found at CASAA.org.
http://www.casaa.org/news/article.asp?articleID=100&l=a&p=