CDC: Number of teens hooked on e-cigs might be greatly underestimated because many teens don't know

[pnwmom]

58. 40 State Attorney Generals have petitioned the FDA to restrict the use by minors.

Because, as it stands now, e-cigs are mostly unregulated.

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/09/26/2683181/attorneys-general-fda-letter-e-cigs/

Attorneys general from California, New York, North Carolina, and 37 other states have sent a letter to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg urging her agency “to take all available measures” to issue rules regulating the manufacturing, advertising, and marketing of electronic cigarettes (or “e-cigs”).

“With the protection of our States’ citizens again in mind, the undersigned Attorneys General write to highlight the need for immediate regulatory oversight of e-cigarettes, an increasingly widespread, addictive product,” wrote the attorneys general.

Big Tobacco companies have enthusiastically jumped on the e-cigarette bandwagon as traditional tobacco use rates in the U.S. continue to dwindle, and there is little doubt that products’ popularity has risen dramatically in recent years. According to a September survey by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), one in ten high school students self-reported trying an e-cig last year. The attorneys general note in their letter that industry sales have doubled every year since 2008 and are expected to reach a peak of $1.7 billion in 2013.

While product use has steadily increased, the FDA has been slow to issue e-cigarette regulations. One anti-tobacco advocate told ThinkProgress that “it’s the wild, wild west” when it comes to current e-cigarette oversight. The attorneys general reflected that view in their letter, criticizing the tobacco industry for advertising the high-tech products using marketing that appeals to children. For instance, one company uses a cartoon monkey to sell its e-cigs — a tactic that is explicitly prohibited for all other tobacco products. There is also little oversight regarding the ingredients that can be placed into e-cigarettes.


http://www.fox19.com/story/23827549/electronic-cigarettes-can-be-sold-to-kids-fox19-investigates

While e-cigarettes may look like the real thing, they're not subject to U.S tobacco laws. The e-cigarette industry is largely unregulated.

In September, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine joined 39 other state attorneys general to urge the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the e-cigarette industry the same way it regulates the tobacco industry and restrict use by minors.

"In the state of Ohio, you can buy e-cigarettes no matter what your age," DeWine said. "it's not just vapor they're inhaling. It's heated nicotine and nicotine we know, is highly addictive."