At last the Food and Drug Administration has issued its proposed rules for nicotine vaporizers, commonly known as electronic cigarettes. Perhaps now, the public health community can renew its focus on the tobacco products that kill 443,000 Americans every year — traditional cigarettes.

Since their introduction, the public health community has paid so much attention to e-cigarettes that we’ve lost focus on the real target — tobacco that is burned and inhaled, cigarettes.

Progress reducing cigarette smoking has largely stalled, particularly for people living in poverty and with mental illnesses. We need dramatic advances in policies and programs to prevent and reduce tobacco use. E-cigarettes seemed like an easier public health target and a potential problem that could be "nipped in the bud."

Unfortunately, e-cigarettes are only the most recent addition to the confusing landscape of nicotine delivery products. There is no doubt that products like nicotine patches and gum provide a safer therapeutic alternative to cigarettes.

However, the FDA’s contradictory regulatory approaches do not allow the safer forms of nicotine delivery to be sold in all locations where cigarettes are sold. E-cigarettes, on the other hand, are more affordable and are sold alongside traditional cigarettes.

A potential lesson learned from e-cigarettes is that the traditional cigarette is an unnecessary, outdated product for current smokers.

The FDA and state lawmakers should recognize the traditional cigarette as an unnecessary evil and take strong action to substantially reduce the harm cigarettes cause our society.

For example, today in Shawnee County about 19 percent of the adult population smokes cigarettes. In our state alone, more than $1 billion is spent treating diseases caused by smoking. Only through such bold action can we make tobacco use a minor public health issue rather than the leading cause of preventable death.

JEFFREY WILLETT, Wichita

vice president of programs,

Kansas Health Foundation