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E-Cigarettes: A $1.5 Billion Industry Braces for FDA Regulation

E-cigarettes are cheaper, cleaner, more flavorful, and less harmful than tobacco, and could make entrepreneurs billions. They could also go up in a puff of regulatory smoke
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Behind this week’s cover
Photo illustration by Justin Metz;Cowboy: Mark Lisk/Alamy

The first time J. Andries Verleur tried an e-cigarette in 2008, he burned his lip and accidentally inhaled the nicotine fluid. “It was one of the worst products I ever tried,” he recalls, “but the idea was amazing.”