04.24.14

Members of Congress, Authors of E-Cigarette Marketing Report Respond to FDA Tobacco Regulations

[WASHINGTON, DC] – Today U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), John D. Rockefeller (D-WV), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jack Reed (D-RI), and U.S. Representative Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) – authors of a recent investigative report that found a dramatic recent increase in the marketing of electronic cigarettes – responded to deeming regulations proposed by the Food and Drug Administration Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that would expand the agency’s regulatory authority over tobacco products, including e-cigarettes:

“Last week, we joined colleagues in the House and Senate releasing the first comprehensive investigation of e-cigarette marketing tactics: “Gateway to Addiction? A Survey of Popular Electronic Cigarette Manufacturers and Marketing to Youth.” Our report showed a dramatic recent increase in the marketing of e-cigarettes, with extensive resources being dedicated to reaching youth audiences. From fruity flavors to glamorous celebrity endorsements, every single company surveyed in the report appeared to employ a marketing strategy that targets youth,” the Members said.

 

“Today, after years of waiting for the FDA to act, we are extremely disappointed by its failure to take comprehensive action to prevent e-cigarette companies from continuing to deploy marketing tactics aimed at luring children and teenagers into a candy-flavored nicotine addiction. Prohibiting sales of these products to minors is a positive step, but it isn’t enough. As long as e-cigarette companies continue to take pages from Big Tobacco’s old and cynical marketing playbook, our children will remain vulnerable to the grave dangers of nicotine addiction.”

Last week, eleven Democratic lawmakers released a report that shows a dramatic recent increase in the marketing of electronic cigarettes – or e-cigarettes – with extensive resources being dedicated to social media, sponsorship of youth-oriented events, and television and radio advertisements that reach substantial youth audiences. The report, “Gateway to Addiction? A Survey of Popular Electronic Cigarette Manufacturers and Marketing to Youth,” is the first comprehensive investigation of e-cigarette marketing tactics and was compiled using responses from eight e-cigarette manufacturers received by the lawmakers from their investigation into the industry and other publicly available information.

 

The report was released by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), who was joined by U.S. Representative Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee; U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee; U.S. Senator John D. Rockefeller (D-WV), Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee; and U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jack Reed (D-RI), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR); and U.S. Representative Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ).

 

More information is available here.