Tweet The Food and Drug Administration is supposed to protect the public’s health and safety. So why is it trying to block the sale of an electronic alternative to cigarettes that can save people’s lives by simulating smoking without burning tobacco? Electronic cigarettes, also known as e-cigarettes, are battery-powered devices that deliver nicotine in a vapor composed mainly of the food additive propylene glycol. There’s no que ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet In a way, going “cold turkey” is the most popular way to quit smoking. Most smokers try this strategy—stopping all at once without the help of medication, nicotine replacement methods, or any formal therapy—on their first attempt to give up cigarettes. But only about 3% to 10% are actually able to kick the habit without help. “It is like tightrope-walking without a net,” says Thomas Glynn, director of cancer scie ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet The other day an ad for the SmartSmoker electronic cigarette landed in my inbox. Its text, which surrounded an image of a glamorous woman savoring a smoke, called the e-cigarette “a smart New Year’s resolution” and declared the product “the healthier alternative to smoking.” My first thought was that just about anything would be healthier (or, as I prefer, “more healthful”) than smoking. And this e- ... Jump to full article >>