Electronic Cigarette Manufacturer to Stop Selling Products in Oregon

Smoking Everywhere settled the lawsuit brought by the state.

August 11, 2010

PORTLAND, Ore. ?" On Monday, Oregon Attorney General John Kroger said Smoking Everywhere Inc. has agreed to stop selling its electronic cigarettes in the state, the Associated Press reports.

Oregon had filed a lawsuit to halt sales of electronic cigarettes. Kroger pointed out that Smoking Everywhere had neglected to get approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and had provided no research to back up claims that e-cigarettes are a "safe" alternative to regular cigarettes.

In settling the suit, Smoking Everywhere confessed that it had violated Oregon??s Unlawful Trade Practices Act. Along with a ban on its products, the company will pay more than $95,000 to the Oregon Department of Justice. Smoking Everywhere President Elico Taieb will shell out an additional $25,000; he is also prohibited from doing business in Oregon if it involves electronic cigarettes, nicotine or tobacco.

In 2009, the FDA outlawed the importing of electronic cigarettes, but a federal judge overturned the ban in January. The U.S. Court of Appeals will consider the matter in September.

One Smoking Everywhere owner is angry about the settlement. Ray Story would like the company to handle the product like any tobacco product, such as no radio advertising and no selling the product online. However, he also criticized Kroger for the lawsuit.

"The attorney general there really doesn??t know what he's talking about," said Story. "A state cannot ban a product without it banning every product within that same category."

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