FDA Rules Against Water with Nicotine

July 3, 2002
Water laced with nicotine is billed as a "refreshing break to the smoking habit," but the Food and Drug Administration ruled that it's also illegal - ending a California company's bid to begin selling bottles later this month.

The crackdown had been expected since the FDA ordered nicotine-laced lollipops and lip balm off the market in April, calling them unapproved drugs that contained enough nicotine to endanger children lured by their resemblance to candy.

But NicoWater underwent additional scrutiny because its maker was promoting the bottled water as a dietary supplement, and the FDA isn't allowed to regulate supplements nearly as strictly as it does medications.

Because nicotine is legally sold over-the-counter in FDA-approved smoking-cessation aids, federal law prohibits it also being sold as a dietary supplement, FDA lawyers concluded yesterday.

"FDA's decision underscores our commitment that consumers be protected from drug products that have not undergone our rigorous review process," FDA acting commissioner Lester Crawford said.

Manufacturer QT5 Inc. remained confident that its water met the definition of a dietary supplement but couldn't immediately say whether it will challenge FDA's ruling, said spokesman Ed Haisha.

Anti-smoking activists had pushed the FDA to issue the ruling, saying allowing nicotine-laced water would have set a precedent by opening the way for nicotine to be added to many products - including ones children use.

"The FDA decision is important because it recognizes nicotine as a powerful drug that needs to be regulated," said Matthew Myers of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, co-author of a petition filed with FDA against the products.

The FDA's attempt in the mid-1990s to regulate cigarettes was stopped by the Supreme Court. Now nicotine, the addictive ingredient in tobacco, is popping up in more and more novel products, and the FDA's reaction has been to deal with them one at a time, after Myers' organization files complaints.

The agency regulates nicotine-containing products marketed as drugs - meaning smoking-cessation aids like nicotine gum and patches, which underwent rigorous scientific studies before they were allowed to be sold.

In April, the agency stopped pharmacists from brewing up their own nicotine-laced lollipops and lip balm as alternatives to those products, ruling they were unapproved drugs.

The FDA also has begun reviewing a Virginia company's nicotine lozenges, which pose a slightly different legal question because they're made with tobacco instead of just nicotine, Myers said.

He also wants the FDA to regulate so-called safer cigarettes, saying the claims that they're less toxic or less likely to cause cancer are scientifically unproved.

Source: AP

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