E-cigarette News

For years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been trying to decide what to do about e-cigarettes -- the electronic gadgets that vaporize nicotine, a process promoters say produces a healthier way of ingesting nicotine.

Apparently tired of waiting on the FDA, five U.S. Senators today introduced the "Protecting Children from Electronic Cigarette Advertising Act" to prohibit the marketing of e-cigs to children and teens. 

“We cannot risk undoing decades of progress in reducing youth smoking by allowing e-cigarette makers to target our kids,” Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said. “This bill will help protect our children from an industry that profits from addiction.”

State and local jusidictions have also been stepping into the void left by the lack of action by the FDA. Earlier this week, a committee of the Los Angeles city council passed a measure that would treat e-cigs like tobacco cigarettes and subject them to the same restrictions. Before leaving office last year, ex-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed a bill outlawing e-cigs and plastic plates. 

Mass marketing techniques

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), another sponsor of the Senate measure, said e-cig makers are increasingly adopting mass marketing techniques previously used by tobacco companies to target children and teens.

"With fruit and candy flavors and glossy celebrity ads, e-cigarettes makers are undeniably targeting young people. Unfortunately, it’s working. We must take action now to prevent a new generation from walking down the dangerous path towards nicotine addiction,” Durbin said.

“When it comes to the marketing of e-cigarettes to children and teens, it’s ‘Joe Camel’ all over again," said Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. "It is troubling that manufacturers of e-cigarettes – some of whom also make traditional cigarettes – are attempting to establish a new generation of nicotine addicts through aggressive marketing that often uses cartoons and sponsorship of music festivals and sporting events.” 

The other senators sponsoring the bill are Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.).

The Protecting Children from Electronic Cigarette Advertising Act would permit the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to determine what constitutes marketing to children, and would authorize the FTC to work with state attorneys general to enforce the ban.

The health implications of using electronic cigarettes are not yet clear, and the FDA has warned that consumers of e-cigarette products “currently have no way of knowing” if e-cigarettes are safe for their intended use, or how much nicotine or other potentially harmful chemicals are being inhaled during use.

Gateway to tobacco

“E-cigarettes are a gateway to tobacco use by children and teens and should not be marketed to youth, period,” Sen. Markey said. “We’ve made great strides educating young people about the dangers of smoking, and we cannot allow e-cigarettes to snuff out the progress we’ve made preventing nicotine addiction and its deadly consequences."

According to the National Youth Tobacco Survey, 1.8 million middle and high school students said they tried e-cigarettes in 2012, and a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that the percentage of high school students who had tried them had more than doubled in just one year – indicating that e-cigarette companies could be targeting youth through advertisements.

More than 76 percent of those users said they also smoked conventional cigarettes, suggesting that for many young people, e-cigarettes could be a gateway to nicotine addiction and smoking of conventional cigarettes, the senators noted.

The bill has been endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

In December, Senators Boxer, Blumenthal, Durbin, Harkin, Markey, and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) sent a letter urging the FTC to investigate the marketing practices of e-cigarette manufacturers.

The popularity of e-cigarettes continues to rise for teens across the U.S. Middle and high school students are glorifying habits like vaping, and many still believe that the products don’t pose much of an immediate threat to their health.

While different studies have disagreed over that fact, new findings from the University of Southern California suggest that the health of young users may be at serious risk in the short- and long-term. The reason, the authors say, is that e-cigarette use and vaping can be associated with an increased frequency of smoking and heavier smoking habits overall.

Heavier smoking patterns

Dr. Adam M. Leventhal and his colleagues came to their conclusions after analyzing surveys given to 10^th grade students in ten public high schools in Los Angeles County between 2014 and 2015. Questions focused on the frequency and heaviness of e-cigarette and cigarette use, as well as vaping habits. A follow-up survey was given six months later to gauge any changes.

The analysis found that students that smoked or vaped at the time when they took the first survey were more likely to increase their e-cigarette smoking frequency by the time the second survey was taken. Similarly, the researchers found that adolescents who smoked cigarettes were more likely to increase their smoking frequency and heaviness if they also vaped; this was especially true for infrequent smokers.

The researchers believe these findings speak to the need for stronger tobacco control policies, though they admit that more research will need to be conducted to verify the results. The full study has been published in JAMA. 

Tobacco companies face tough restrictions when it comes to marketing cigarettes. Advertising for e-cigarettes, on the other hand, faces no such regulations. At least not yet.

Not surprisingly, e-cigarette advertising spending in the U.S. tripled in one year, according to a study by RTI International. The researchers found ad spending went from $6.4 million in 2011 to $18.3 million in 2012.

“E-cigarette advertising expenditures are focusing heavily on national markets and TV ads, which will likely increase consumer awareness and use of e-cigarettes,” said Annice Kim, Ph.D., senior social scientist at RTI and co-author of the study.

Most of the ad spending was for television and magazines. Newspapers and the Internet received the lowest share.

Gray area

At the moment, e-cigarettes fall into a regulatory gray area. A federal court has ruled that they are tobacco products, even though they contain no tobacco.

But while cigarettes are barred from television and radio advertising, and face other restrictions, e-cigarettes remain unregulated, even though the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is reportedly drafting proposed rules.

Many former smokers praise e-cigarettes as a means to quit. They say e-cigarettes provide many of the pleasures of smoking, with nicotine delivered through water vapor that can be inhaled.

While e-cigarettes lack many of the toxins found in tobacco smoke, some health advocates worry that e-cigarettes could have some negative health effects that aren't yet known. Meanwhile, they are being heavily advertised.

“Our results suggest that federal-level efforts are needed to track e-cigarette advertising, as the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) does not currently require companies to report e-cigarette ad expenditures,” Kim said. “Tobacco companies are required to report their ad expenditures annually to the FTC, but there are no comparable reporting requirements for e-cigarette companies because e-cigarettes are not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.”

Congressional push

Eleven members of Congress released their own report this week, not only showing a spike in e-cigarette advertising but claiming the marketing efforts are aimed at young people.

“For years, federal regulations prohibiting tobacco companies from targeting young people have helped to protect a new generation of smokers from getting hooked on nicotine,” said Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL). “Now, we must close this new gateway to addiction to protect our children.”

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), said he sees parallels between past cigarette marketing and e-cigarette marketing.

“E-cigarette makers are starting to prey on kids, just like the big tobacco companies,” Waxman said. “With over a million youth now using e-cigarettes, FDA needs to act without further delay to stop the companies from marketing their addictive products to children.”

States taking action

Some states have not waited for the federal government to draft rules governing e-cigarettes. Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear this week signed legislation that outlaws the sale of e-cigarettes to minors.

The law addresses concerns that young people will be lured into using e-cigarettes and, as a result, will become addicted to nicotine. E-cigarette makers, meanwhile, are trying not to be seen as promoting use by young consumers.

One of the main cheerleaders for the new Kentucky law was Lorrilard, a major tobacco firm and parent company of the Blu e-cigarette brand.

"Legislation that prevents the sale or distribution of electronic cigarettes to minors is the right thing to do," said Murray Kessler, Lorillard's chairman and CEO, who attended the bill signing.

Kessler said Lorillard has actively supported age of purchase legislation in other states and encourages states that have not passed similar legislation to do so.

Concerns about cigarette marketing

A new study by Dartmouth researchers, meanwhile, raises new concerns about young people's exposure to advertising for traditional cigarettes. This exposure, the study argues, leads to increased use of tobacco.

“For several years, the emphasis in the tobacco industry has been on direct marketing, especially to young people who are highly price sensitive and who may find coupons, samples, and promotions appealing,” said Samir Soneji, a Dartmouth professor and lead author of the study.

The research team said it found exposure to tobacco coupons and websites increased the chances that a young person would start to smoke. Direct marketing includes coupons and ads sent through the mail or posted on the web, as well as in-store displays and signs.

In 2010, the tobacco industry spent $236 million in cigarette coupons and $22 million in Internet marketing, the study found.

Internet marketing proved particularly effective as some of it made its way to social media, widely used by teens and young adults.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) served notice some time ago that it will probably regulate electronic cigarettes but has yet to take the first step.

The FDA said it was preparing proposed regulations in 2011 but none appeared. It said the same thing the following year with the same results. Earlier this year it suggested a proposal would be offered in April.

Now the agency is coming under pressure from some lawmakers to get the process rolling. Five U.S. Senators have written to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, urging her agency to issue "deeming regulations" for the increasingly popular devices that some smokers have adopted in place of cigarettes.

The letter was signed by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Il.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sherrod Brown (D-Oh.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.). They note that the number of people who have used e-cigarettes has doubled since 2010 but, to date, the nicotine delivery devices are currently not required to be evaluated or approved by the FDA.

Can currently be marketed to children

“Unlike traditional tobacco products, e-cigarettes can be legally sold to children and are not subject to age verification laws,” the Senators wrote. “E-cigarettes marketed to appeal to kids in candy and fruit flavors, like bubblegum and strawberry, are readily available to youth in shopping malls and online. These products risk addicting children to nicotine, which could be a pathway to cigarettes and other tobacco products.”

Earlier this month the CEO of an e-cigarette company also endorsed some regulation of his industry by the FDA. Eli Alelov, CEO of LOGIC Technology, told ConsumerAffairs that he wants to see manufacturing standards and age restrictions.

“I support raising the bar for the industry,” Alelov said. “Right now my biggest enemy is not the FDA, it's these 'me too' brands that come into the market with cheap electronic cigarettes, trying to make a buck, and they're putting lousy products on the market. That's hurting the entire industry.”

Alelov's company makes e-cigarettes in only two flavors – tobacco and menthol. He says the wide variety of fruit flavored e-cigarettes offered by other companies don't appeal to people who smoke cigarettes, but instead appeal to young people who don't smoke.

'Reasonable regulation'

The general counsel of FIN Branding Group LLC, another e-cigarette company, is also calling for "reasonable regulation."

"As the electronic cigarette industry continues to grow, it is important to work with stakeholders, including the FDA, to better understand how new regulations might alter our industry," said FIN Branding Vice President and General Counsel Rebecca Maisel. "We believe that some reasonable regulation that addresses quality control, product consistency, and a ban on selling products to minors is important."

State action

While the FDA ponders regulations, some states are considering action of their own. California is considering a measure that would ban the use of e-cigarettes in locations where smoking is banned. Currently e-cigarettes can be used in public spaces since they do not emit smoke, only water vapor.

The measure, SB 648, would ban e-cigarette use inside or within 20 feet of any public building or in a vehicle owned by the state. It would also allow landlords to ban e-cigarette use in private homes.

The Rhode Island legislature is currently debating a measure to ban e-cigarette sales to minors, but would also greatly restrict online sales of nicotine-containing products by treating e-cigarettes the same as traditional tobacco products.

E-cigarettes contain no tobacco but simulate the act of smoking by using heat to create water vapor that is inhaled. The flavored vapor contains nicotine and many smokers have said they find e-cigarettes an acceptable alternative to tobacco.

Anti-smoking groups, however, don't consider them acceptable. They have called for regulating e-cigarettes as tobacco products.