[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16721]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    REGULATING ELECTRONIC CIGARETTES

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, it has now been more than 6 years since 
Congress gave the FDA authority to regulate the tobacco industry, and 
it is absolutely outrageous that we are still waiting for a final rule 
that would protect our children from e-cigarettes.
  What has happened while we wait? E-cigarette use among middle and 
high school students tripled last year compared to the year before. 
That means that as many as 2.5 million children are now experimenting 
with these dangerous products.
  While we are finally making progress in reducing traditional 
cigarette smoking among young people, the soaring use of e-cigarettes 
is putting our children at risk of lifelong addiction to nicotine.
  Every day that e-cigarettes continue to go unregulated, more and more 
children and teens are being exposed to nicotine--which according to 
the Surgeon General poses health risks for adolescent brain 
development.
  E-cigarettes also contain potentially dangerous chemicals like 
benzene, cadmium, formaldehyde, propylene glycol, and some of the very 
same nanoparticles that are in traditional cigarettes according to the 
California Department of Public Health.
  But those chemicals are masked by e-cigarette flavors like bubble gum 
and gummy bear--which are clearly marketed toward children.
  And the industry's dangerous targeting of young people is working. 
New research published in the Journal of the American Medical 
Association just this week shows that 81 percent of teens who have ever 
tried an e-cigarette started with a flavored one--81 percent.
  Combine those flavors with TV ads airing during the most popular 
youth TV shows and Big Tobacco is clearly seeking to lure the next 
generation into a lifetime of addiction to their products. A study 
published in the journal ``Pediatrics'' last year found that youth 
exposure to television e-cigarette advertisements increased 256 percent 
from 2011 to 2013.
  This is not an accident. Big Tobacco used the same marketing tactics 
with traditional cigarettes decades ago--until we stopped them. These 
companies will not stop until millions more are hooked on nicotine.
  So what do we do? We need to protect the health of our children by 
regulating e-cigarettes just like traditional cigarettes.
  The administration needs to issue the final FDA rule to regulate e-
cigarettes, which is currently at OMB. It has been more than a year and 
a half since it was first proposed. While this rule may not go as far 
as I would like, it is a critical first step, and it must be approved 
immediately.
  First, the regulation should ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors 
because it is just common sense. Take these dangerous products out of 
the hands of our children.
  Nearly every State already bans sales to minors--it is beyond time 
the Federal Government makes this the law of the land.
  Second, the FDA should subject products to FDA review before they can 
be marketed.
  Third, the FDA should ensure that e-cigarettes are labeled with 
health warnings.
  Fourth, I want the FDA to go even further and ban flavors and 
marketing tactics that appeal to children--and ban online sales as 
well.
  Now, we have seen some progress in how e-cigarettes are being 
handled--like the Department of Transportation's announcement yesterday 
that it will ban e-cigarettes from checked bags to reduce the risk of 
fires in flight. But we are still waiting for the final DOT rule 
prohibiting the use of e-cigarettes on board airplanes--where 
passengers are subject to the potentially toxic secondhand exposure.
  The cost of doing nothing is putting too many lives at risk. The 
research is clear, and as time goes by, Americans are worried for their 
health and safety--and parents are worried about the long-term health 
consequences for our children.
  Just listen to what Sondra, from Corona, CA, told me. She says, ``I 
have worked in our local high schools for almost 15 years. The e-
cigarettes definitely need to be regulated for people under 18. I am 
consistently told by students that `these are better' than traditional 
cigarettes. They don't realize the harm and the addictive qualities are 
still present.''
  There is no time to lose. We don't need another public health 
epidemic just as we have finally started to save lives by reducing 
cigarette smoking.
  I join my colleagues and urge the administration to finalize the 
pending regulation. We cannot wait another day.

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