Document ID: FDA-2014-N-0189-5506
Agency: fda
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2014-06-16T04:00Z

Comment Info: =================

General Comment:Dear Mr. Zeller:

I am writing as an individual consumer and citizen of the USA, to request an extension of the comment period 

for the Food and Drug Administration's ("FDA") Proposed Rule Deeming Tobacco 

Products to be Subject to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended by 

the Family Smoking and Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (the "Proposed Rule") 

published at 79 Fed. Reg. 23,142 and Federal Register No. 2014-09491. On behalf of 

myself, I am requesting that the comment period for the Proposed Rule be extended by 

the FDA for an additional 105 days, from its current 75-day period, to 180 days.

The Proposed Rule raises a number of significant issues and questions that are 

important and relevant to me, as a consumer of products that are proposed for 

regulation under the Proposed Rule. The Proposed Rule asks about a hundred different 

questions I might want to respond to. I want to provide my thoughts and comments on 

many of these issues, but my time to devote to researching and providing thoughtful 

comments on these important questions is limited. I have already spent many hours 

researching and dissecting these issues, but they take time. I know that the FDA 

took many years to even come up with the Proposed Rule, so I do not think it is at 

all unreasonable to allow the public a mere six months to comment on it. This is our 

only opportunity, as consumers, to provide our feedback. 

I feel very strongly about e-cigarettes as an alternative to combustible cigarettes. 

Quite simply, I firmly believe that they saved my life and the life of my wife and 

my friends who have started vaping. I wish to provide you with my personal story, as 

well as science- and evidence-based responses to your questions so that you can take 

my comment into account. I realize that the FDA has the authority under 21 CFR 10.40 

to extend this time frame and that the FDA has exercised this authority on numerous 

occasions in the past. I would therefore ask that you do so here, so that all 

stakeholders have the opportunity to provide their comments on this proposed 

regulation.

I appreciate your consideration of my request and am happy to discuss this issue 

with you further.

As a citizen of the USA, and a member of a group that may be in the minority, it is 

important that the majority does not impress its will on us for biased, 

unscientific, baseless grounds.