A Historical Timeline of Electronic Cigarettes

2003: The electronic cigarette is first developed in Beijing, China by Hon Lik, a 52 year old pharmacist, inventor and smoker. He reportedly invents the device after his father, also a heavy smoker, dies of lung cancer. The company Lik worked for, Golden Dragon Holdings, developed the device and changed their name to Ruyan, which means “like smoke.”

April 2006: Electronic cigarettes introduced to Europe.

2006-2007: Electronic cigarettes introduced to the U.S.

March 2008: Turkey’s Health Ministry bans the sale and importation of e-cigarettes. Health Ministry Drugs and Pharmacy Director, Mahmut Tokac,, claims electronic cigarettes are just as harmful as regular cigarettes. The vice president of the Foundation Combating Smoking in Turkey, K?yas Gu"ngo"r, claims that “nicotine is the most dangerous element among 4,800 poisonous chemicals in cigarettes.”

September 2008: The World Health Organization (WHO) proclaims that it does not consider the electronic cigarette to be a legitimate smoking cessation aid and demands that marketers immediately remove from their materials any suggestions that the WHO considers electronic cigarettes safe and effective.

October 2008: In a study funded by Ruyan, Health New Zealand conducts a detailed quantitative analysis and concludes that carcinogens and toxicants are present only below harmful levels. On the basis of the findings, the e-cigarette is rated several orders of magnitude (100 to 1000 times) less dangerous than smoking tobacco cigarettes. The nicotine dose is comparable to that of a medicinal nicotine inhaler. Overall, the product tested was deemed a “safe alternative to smoking.” http:// healthnz.co.nz/ecigarette.htm

January 2009: Australia bans the possession and sale of electronic cigarettes which contain nicotine, citing that “every form of nicotine except for replacement therapies and cigarettes are classified as a form of poison.”

January 2009: Jordan’s Ministry of Health bans the import of the electronic cigarettes, citing World Health Organization’s health concerns. In a February 2012 review of the ban, Malek Habashneh, director of the ministry’s awareness and communication directorate, claims that “e-cigarettes contain toxic chemicals that cause more health problems than the nicotine in normal cigarettes.”

March 2009: FDA adds electronic cigarettes to Import Alert 66-41 and directs the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to reject the entry of electronic cigarettes into the United States.

March 2009: Canada bans the sale, advertising and import of electronic cigarettes. Health Canada advises Canadians not to purchase or use them, claiming they contain a “known irritant” (propylene glycol.)

March 2009: Hong Kong Department of Health bans electronic cigarettes. The maximum penalty for possessing or selling e-cigarettes is a HK$100,000 fine and two years’ imprisonment. Since smoke-free tobacco is prohibited in Hong Kong, the ban on e-cigarettes continues to leave high-risk cigarettes as the only legal tobacco product available.

March 2009: FDA notifies electronic cigarette company “Smoking Everywhere” that its shipments have been refused entry into the U.S. The FDA maintains that electronic cigarettes “appears to be a combination drug-device product” that requires preapproval, registration and listing with the FDA.

May 2009: Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) files a petition to the FDA, calling for FDA regulation of electronic cigarettes.