E-cigarettes have been marketed as the new, safer way to smoke. But scientists say they don't know enough about the long-term health hazards. E-cigarettes may not be as safe as we've been led to believe. In September, Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb sounded the alarm about what he called an "epidemic" of underage e-cigarette use. Over the past several months, the FDA has issued warnings and citations to more than 1,300 stores for selling e-cigarettes to underage users.