[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 36 (Monday, February 24, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1099-S1100]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              E-Cigarettes

  Madam President, I traveled to a couple of other Texas cities, where 
I was able to talk to people about the rise of e-cigarette use, 
particularly among teens. In Corpus Christi along the gulf coast and in 
Odessa in deep West Texas, I met with a range of local officials, 
health professionals, and community advocates about the impact of teen 
vaping.
  One study found that in the Permian Basin, in the middle of the 
Odessa area, about half of high school students used e-cigarettes and 
25 percent of them had vaped in the past month. This study found that 
in schools, the average age of first-time e-cigarette users is just 13 
years old. E-cigarettes--even the closed systems, where you can't add 
other ingredients, like the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, THC--
even in the closed systems that are designed to deliver only nicotine, 
nicotine is an addictive drug. When children get access to these 
addictive drugs, it may well end up being a gateway to other use--
whether it is tobacco or other drug use--later in life. It certainly 
encourages them to remain a user of this nicotine delivery device.
  I have introduced legislation called the Preventing Online Sales of 
E-Cigarettes to Children Act, which would make it difficult for 
children to get their hands on these devices, particularly when they 
buy them over the internet. All it does is apply the same safeguards 
already in place for online purchases of tobacco--it applies that to e-
cigarettes. Customers would have to verify their age at the time of 
delivery--a practice which, shockingly, does not currently exist.
  A recent survey published in the American Journal of Health Promotion 
found that 32 percent of underage e-cigarette users reported purchasing 
products online, making online sales the single largest source of 
purchases for underage users. We recently raised the age from 18 to 21 
to get access to these e-cigarettes, but still, as these studies

[[Page S1100]]

indicate, use of e-cigarettes and vaping devices is epidemic in our 
middle schools and our high schools. It is dangerous to the physical 
and mental health of our children. That is something you would think we 
would be able to address. If we are going to turn the tide on e-
cigarettes and prevent more young people from facing their deadly 
health consequences, passage of this legislation is a necessary first 
step.