My Op-Ed on Electronic Cigarettes Published in the Boston Herald

An op-ed piece I wrote on the electronic cigarette issue was published in the Boston Herald yesterday.

I'll let readers read the piece on their own, but the conclusion is as follows:

"It is clear that the real purpose and effect of the FDA tobacco legislation is to protect the conventional cigarette market from competition. And unfortunately, that competition - in the absence of FDA legislation - would come from truly reduced risk products, such as e-cigarettes. This is precisely why Philip Morris was brilliant in enticing the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and other health groups into supporting FDA regulation of tobacco products."

"Today, in extreme irony, these health groups stand as the most vigorous protectors of the current market of conventional cigarettes. As such, they stand as protectors, rather than opponents, of the death and disease caused by the nation’s most hazardous consumer product."