DeLauro Urges FDA to Put Common Sense Restrictions on E-Cigarettes

Notes Children Are Especially Vulnerable to Highly Addictive Product

WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) today urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to put common sense restrictions on e-cigarettes. In a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg she noted that children are especially vulnerable to this highly addictive product.

Among the steps she asked the FDA to take are to:

· Prohibit tobacco companies from selling e-cigarettes to America’s youth, as they are currently forbidden from doing with traditional cigarettes

· Ban tobacco companies from targeting youth with their advertising

· Require ingredients to be listed

· Ensure all tobacco products are subject to FDA oversight

“Disturbing trends show that a growing number of our nation’s youth are using electronic cigarettes, which provide the latest method for delivering addictive nicotine into their systems,” DeLauro wrote. “These electronic delivery devices use battery powered mechanisms to vaporize tobacco derived liquid nicotine that are inhaled and metabolized. Furthermore, they come in a plethora of flavors attractive to youth such as chocolate, gummy bear, bubble gum, and strawberry. Parents are keenly aware that these flavors invariably appeal to a child’s palate. The latest data shows that in 2012 more than 1.78 million middle and high school students nationwide had tried e-cigarettes.”

DeLauro, who sits on the subcommittee responsible for funding the FDA, also pointed out in her letter that the FDA has the ability to put common sense restrictions on e-cigarettes under the Tobacco Control Act. The FDA recently launched a new initiative to curb adolescent tobacco use, but their initiative does not highlight e-cigarettes, one of the newest tobacco products on the market.