Doctor Wants Lawmakers to Classify E-Cigarettes as Tobacco

By: WILX NEWS 10
Michigan’s top doctor is calling on state lawmakers to classify e-cigarettes as tobacco products. Legislation currently in the Senate would make it a crime to sell the devices to minors. But Dr. Matthew Davis, Chief Medical Executive with the Michigan Department of Community Health says the bi-partisan package of bills doesn’t go far enough.
E-cigarettes are electronic devices that heat up liquid and allow the user to inhale a vapor. Davis says, “What we’re seeing is that kids are trying these in higher and higher numbers and many parents are concerned. We know this from national research, that their kids may get addicted to nicotine and end up using traditional cigarettes down the road.” Republican Senator Rick Jones of Grand Ledge agrees. “We have a problem in this state. Any 10 year-old can go in and buy electronic cigarettes. Some are flavored like root beer, orange, even cheesecake. and children are getting addicted to nicotine.”
Jones has sponsored Senate Bills 667 & 668. The legislation would make it immediately illegal for retailers to sell e-cigarettes to minors. But Davis says, that isn’t good enough. He wants lawmakers to protect everyone from the dangers of e-cigarettes by taxing them, and banning them from restaurants, bars and other public places. Davis says, “After all, liquid in e-cigarettes is extracted from tobacco and so therefore, they are essentially tobacco products . And certainly tobacco-derived products, it would make sense to use the existing regulations that we have about tobacco products and classify e-cigarettes under that existing regulation.” Jones says, he’s more concerned about limiting access to children. “I understand that they want the moon, and they want to be able to tax these devices just like cigarettes but that will have to wait for an FDA decision. Anything the federal government does will override Michigan law so there is no problem.”
While retailers can sell e-cigarettes to anyone, many say they treat them just like cigarettes and don’t sell to minors. Many restaurants also ban the devices. The legislation is now in a Senate committee.
http://www.wilx.com/home/headlines/Doctor-Wants-Lawmakers-to-Classify-E-Cigarettes-as-Tobacco-248439351.html?ref=351

E-Cigarette Critics Worry New Ads Will Make 'Vaping' Cool For Kids

by Debbie Elliott, NPR
Electronic cigarette makers are getting bold with their advertising, using provocative new print ads and celebrity endorsements on TV. But public health advocates say these images are luring kids to hook them on nicotine.
The latest ad for blu eCigs, for example, which ran in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, features an itsy bitsy bikini bottom emblazoned with the company name and includes the tagline “Slim. Charged. Ready to go.” You don’t see the model’s face. The frame is from pierced belly button to mid-thigh. It left Stan Glantz, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, struggling for a delicate way to describe it.
“The advertising just hit a new high in terms of chutzpah,” says Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education. Using sex to sell cigarettes is nothing new, he says, and e-cigarettes are pushing the envelope because they’re unregulated.
“If the Obama administration were serious about protecting the public on public health, they would immediately move to clamp down on the way e-cigarettes are being advertised and apply the same rules that apply to cigarette advertising,” Glantz says.
Those rules include bans on sports sponsorships, cartoon characters, flavors and TV advertising.
Blu eCigs use a cartoon character named Mr. Cool in a television campaign. (Sound familiar? Some have noticed similarities between the ways the e-cigarette industry has marketed its product and how traditional tobacco companies have. Here, a House committee compares the two.)
Vince Willmore with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids says these messages attract youth — especially the Sports Illustrated bikini ad.
“It’s going to appeal to teenage boys,” Willmore says.
Blu maker Lorillard has not responded to NPR’s requests for comment. Blu’s website asks if you are 18 to enter, and ads say “not for minors.”
Willmore says nonetheless, they re-glamorize smoking and threaten to reverse decades of progress in preventing kids from getting hooked.
“Kids may view them as something they can use that’s not going to harm their health without realizing that they contain very addictive nicotine,” Willmore says. “For kids, these products could serve as a gateway to nicotine addiction and even to regular cigarette smoking.”
A New Frontier
Electronic cigarettes don’t burn tobacco. They heat a nicotine-laced liquid and the smoker inhales vapor, not smoke.
After school at Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington, D.C., students say some of their peers use e-cigarettes. And that unlike smoking, “vaping” is perceived as something new and cool.
Thomas Mason, 16, thinks they’re beneficial. “And the e-cigarettes is like flavored nicotine, so as far as I think, I think that nicotine is supposed to help you stop smoking,” Mason says.
That perception worries Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found that e-cigarette use among kids doubled last year. Frieden says youth are particularly susceptible to addiction and vulnerable to ads.
“What we’re seeing from the e-cigarette companies is disgraceful. They’re working to get another generation of American kids addicted to nicotine,” he says.
Frieden says the Food and Drug Administration is working to regulate e-cigarettes and notes the first time it tried, the industry sued to stop it. He’s hopeful any new regulation would prohibit marketing that might result in kids trying them.
E-cigarette makers say that’s going too far.
“If you start pulling ads based on what children are going to do, there would be no alcohol advertising, there would be no condom advertising or any other types of advertising for that matter,” says Jason Cardiff, president of the e-cigarette company Cigirex. He says Cigirex targets adult smokers looking for an alternative.
“We think it’s very appropriate to be advertising in places that have been banned by a combustible tobacco cigarette,” Cardiff says.
Just five years ago, the industry was mostly small, independent companies. Now all the major cigarette makers are getting into the business. The latest is Altria, parent of Marlboro maker Philip Morris. Altria is about to launch its MarkTen e-cigarette nationally.
Spokesman David Sylvia says the company supports FDA regulation but says any new rules should not limit the industry’s ability to reach potential customers.
“Given the fact that it is a new and emerging category, it’s important to recognize that raising awareness for those adult tobacco consumers who are interested in these products is an important thing,” Sylvia says.
Interest in e-cigarettes is apparently already booming. It was a $2 billion industry last year and industry insiders say sales are on track to hit $5 billion this year.
http://www.npr.org/2014/03/03/284006424/e-cigarette-critics-worry-new-ads-will-make-vaping-cool-for-kids?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=share&utm_campaign=storyshare

U.S. Senators call for e-cigarettes advertising ban

​WASHINGTON – Last week U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, joined Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA) in introducing the Protecting Children from Electronic Cigarette Advertising Act, a bill that seeks to prohibit the marketing of e-cigarettes to children and teens.
“When it comes to the marketing of e-cigarettes to children and teens, it’s ‘Joe Camel’ all over again,” said Harkin in a press release. “It is troubling that manufacturers of e-cigarettes — some of whom also make traditional cigarettes — are attempting to establish a new generation of nicotine addicts through aggressive marketing that often uses cartoons and sponsorship of music festivals and sporting events. This bill will take strong action to prohibit the advertising of e-cigarettes directed at young people and ensure that the FTC can take action against those who violate the law. While FDA regulation of these products remains critical, this legislation would complement oversight and regulation by the FDA, and ultimately help prevent e-cigarette manufacturers from targeting our children.”
“Tobacco companies advertising e-cigarettes — with flavors like bubblegum and strawberry — are clearly targeting young people with the intent of creating a new generation of smokers, and those that argue otherwise are being callously disingenuous,” Blumenthal said.
“We’ve made great strides educating young people about the dangers of smoking, and we cannot allow e-cigarettes to snuff out the progress we’ve made preventing nicotine addiction and its deadly consequences,” said Markey.
The senators noted in a press release that e-cigarettes are not subject to federal laws and regulations that apply to traditional cigarettes, including a ban on marketing to youth. The Protecting Children from Electronic Cigarette Advertising Act would permit the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to determine what constitutes marketing e-cigarettes to children, and would allow the FTC to work with states attorneys general to enforce the ban.
In December, Senators Harkin, Durbin, Boxer, Blumenthal, Markey and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) sent a letter urging the FTC to investigate the marketing practices of e-cigarette manufacturers.
http://www.nacsonline.com/News/Daily/Pages/ND0303141.aspx#.UxSdH0JdXuc

Health Minute: Doctors weigh in on e-cigarettes

(CNN) — Tobacco-less cigarettes called e-cigarettes are gaining popularity in this country.
They can help people quit smoking, but some fear they can get others hooked on nicotine.
Peter Chugaev has been smoking for 45 years and for the past 15 he’s been trying to quit.
“You have a cup of coffee, you go on the deck, you have a cigarette,” Chugaev said.
Now he’s turning to electronic cigarettes to try to quit. Users inhale, but there’s no smoke. Taking a puff triggers a heating coil, which warms up liquid nicotine, in a plastic filter, resulting in nicotine-filled vapor.
But hardcore smokers aren’t the only ones seeking out e-cigarettes.
Young people are as well and this has some health experts concerned because these products are not federally regulated and there is limited research on their safety.
Dr. Sharon Bergquist, with the Emory School of Medicine said, “The greatest concern is that between 2011 and 2012 the rate of use between middle school and high school kids has doubled.”
These products come in flavors that may appeal to young people.
Dr. Thomas Frieden, Director of the Centers for Disease Control says, “Well, there are not a lot of adults who would smoke a cotton candy e-cigarette.”
Health experts worry that once addicted to the nicotine in e-cigarettes, young people may branch out and try tobacco products.
Manufacturers say they don’t market to kids and maintain that electronic cigarettes are a good alternative to conventional cigarettes.
And for Peter, e-cigarettes seem to be helping. He is down from a pack a day of regular cigarettes to about half that and hopes to kick the habit by the end of the year.
http://fox44.com/news/health-minute-doctors-weigh-e-cigarettes

Fire officials issue warning about e-cigarette dangers

By Sam Wheeler, Mail Tribune
Electronic cigarettes may be safer for the lungs of smokers than the standard leaf-burning variety, some people believe, but Medford fire officials want people to know they can still cause fires.
E-cigs have caused minor fires at two Medford homes recently, Medford Fire-Rescue officials said.
Fire Marshal Greg Kleinberg said the lithium batteries used to power the nicotine vaporizers can explode if they overheat while charging.
Kleinberg said an overheating e-cigarette caused a mattress to catch fire at one local house, but the flames were quickly extinguished by a resident.
“If he didn’t do that right away, it would have been a different story. It would have been a building fire instead of just a small item on fire,” Kleinberg said.
On Wednesday, an e-cig exploded while being charged, sending bits of burning battery flying into the ceiling and walls, Kleinberg said. One hot piece of battery landed on a pillow, causing it to smolder and filling the house with smoke, he said.
Neither fire spread beyond the rooms where they started, but the potential for catastrophic damage was there, he said.
“Some of the batteries are failing in them or they are being overcharged,” Kleinberg said. “We just wanted to put a warning out there that people need to take precautions using some of these devices. Just unplug it when you go to bed. Make sure you have a working smoke alarm.”
He said e-cig users should follow the manufacture’s instructions concerning the devices.
“A lot of these devices are not really regulated right now; some of them are UL listed and some are not, some aren’t tested at all,” he said.
Most regulated electronic devices go through safety analysis conducted by Underwriter Laboratories or another nationally recognized testing laboratory before hitting the market.
Laws defining regulations and testing standards for electronic cigarettes are still in their infancy.
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140301/NEWS/403010309

Slick ways tobacco companies are targeting youth

By Carrie McDermott • Wahpeton Daily News

Although the tobacco industry states its marketing only promotes brand choices among adult smokers, they appear to be targeting youth with candy and fruit flavored tobacco products. Tobacco companies spend more than $1 million per hour in the United States alone to market their product, according to the U.S. Surgeon General’s Office.
Tobacco companies spend nearly $10 billion annually to advertise and promote their products in convenience stores, gas stations and other retail outlets. The marketing is very effective because two-thirds of teenagers visit a convenience store at least once a week, according to Tobacco Free Kids.
The Wilkin County Youth and Community Prevention Coalition recently shared examples of tobacco products packaged to mimic gum, candy and mints during its board meeting this month. Part of the group’s mission is to prevent and reduce tobacco usage by youth.
Naomi Miranowski, co-coordinator with YCPC, presented trays of candy, gum, breath mints and tobacco products, showing how closely the colors and packaging match.
“Tobacco companies are studying candy marketing to make their products appear safer,” she said. “One of my favorites is the new Camel Snus Frost. It looks like Ice Breakers Frost gum. Young people may think the Snus is okay as it resembles the gum in mom’s purse.”
Snus is a smokeless, moist powder tobacco product, similar to chew, consumed by placing it under the upper lip. The user gets a nicotine buzz on par with that of a cigarette. Unlike chew or dip, the user swallows the by-product rather than spitting it out. Snus is often produced in teen-friendly flavors such as cherry, apple and citrus.
Miranowski held up a recently redesigned box of Marlboro Black menthol cigarettes that uses the same mint green color packaging as Wrigley’s gum.
“They’re doing this purposely,” she said. “The general coloring is the same, bright green like the Mike and Ike’s candy. There are pinks, oranges and yellows that match candy colors.”
Skoal named one of their chews X-tra Mint, similar to Wrigley’s Extra gum. Other new smokeless tobacco products, which are dissolvable and easily concealed, include sticks, strips and orbs, that look like mints, breath strips and toothpicks.
She held up a three-pack of cigarillos that come in a bright pink package and are strawberry flavored. Another pack, grape flavored cigarillos, is bright purple and white. Even a cigar brand, Santa Fe, has a bright purple box.
Cigarillos are small cigars with sweet flavors, colorful packaging and cheap pricing. Brands include Swisher Sweets and Sugarillos, and come in flavors including peach, apple, grape and cherry.
Miranowski said she purchased the tobacco, candy and gum from the local Walmart and explained what she was doing to the clerk, who told her that young tobacco users, those who have recently turned 18 — the legal age to purchase tobacco – usually buy the fruit-flavored tobacco products.
“‘That’s what they go for,’ she told me,” Miranowski said. “They sell out of these things. Kids buy these because they’re cool.”
The YCPC board also examined an e-cigarette in black packaging.
“Stop ‘n’ Go sells a candy that matched the refills almost exactly,” she said. “It’s been eye-opening.”
She said she will use the examples to share during the Hidden in Plain Sight event that’s held at local high schools during their parent-teacher conference nights.
“I want these to be set out so parents can see what these are and how these tobacco products are not safe,” she said.
http://www.wahpetondailynews.com/news/article_92ec8fe0-a094-11e3-9da1-0019bb2963f4.html

E-cigarette regulation bill begins to move in Minnesota Legislature

By Don Davis, Forum Communications

ST. PAUL — Electronic cigarettes would not be available to youths under a bill the Minnesota House is considering, but a provision that would have banned them from public locations was not expected to survive.

The bill would prohibit e-cigarette sales to anyone younger than 18 and ban them from schools.

“It seems like a no brainer,” Rep. Laurie Halverson, D-Eagan, said about her bill.

The use of e-cigarettes among youths doubled in the last year, state Health Commissioner Edward Ehlinger told the House Health and Human Services Committee Wednesday. He said he thinks the products are marketed to hook youths on nicotine in the product, and later they will smoke tobacco cigarettes.

E-cigarettes often include flavors to appeal to children, he said. Some are linked to Gummy Bears and others connected with Hello Kitty.

To continue reading, visit http://www.grandforksherald.com/content/e-cigarette-regulation-bill-begins-move-minnesota-legislature

E-cigarette worries

Minot ordinance would keep e-cigarettes from kids

JILL SCHRAMM (jschramm@ minotdailynews.com), Minot Daily News
Electronic cigarettes should be treated like tobacco when it comes to minors, Minot’s STAMP Coalition told a city committee Wednesday.
The Minot City Council’s Public Works and Safety Committee voted at the coalition’s urging to recommend the council make it illegal to sell or provide e-cigarettes to minors and for minors to possess the devices.
E-cigarettes are designed like a cigarette but are battery powered with a vaporizer and mouthpiece to deliver nicotine.
They don’t fall under the definition of tobacco so there is no legal requirement for stores to restrict sales to minors. Many stores are checking identification and restricting on their own, but there is no penalty if a store fails to do so.
Some legislators are considering changing state law to bring e-cigarettes under the same rules as conventional cigarettes.
“We are absolutely going to be working toward that and hoping for that during the next session,” said Erin Oban-Hill, executive director for Tobacco Free North Dakota, in Bismarck. In the meantime, she said, “A number of communities didn’t want to wait.”
To continue reading, visit http://www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/592629/E-cigarette-worries.html?nav=5010

To the Editor: Curbs on E-Cigarettes

To the Editor:

Re “Hot Debate Over E-Cigarettes as Path to Tobacco, or From It” (“The New Smoke” series, front page, Feb. 23):

As you note, the health effects of e-cigarette use remain unknown, and their use may actually be leading to greater smoking of traditional cigarettes, especially among children.

In fact, a recent study of 76,000 South Korean teenagers indicates that users of e-cigarettes were less likely to succeed in quitting smoking and were more likely to be heavy smokers.

The availability of e-cigarette flavored vapors (mango and watermelon) enhances the attraction. The troubling increase in the use of e-cigarettes among American teenagers found in the survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also reported in the article, suggests that e-cigarettes are a gateway to tobacco addiction.

The American Thoracic Society, as a member of the Forum of International Respiratory Societies, supports an age restriction and government regulation of the sale of e-cigarettes, which in many states do not exist. Until more research is done, it is dangerous to promote their widespread use.

PATRICIA FINN
Chicago, Feb. 24, 2014

The writer is president of the American Thoracic Society and chairwoman of the department of medicine at the University of Illinois Chicago.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/28/opinion/curbs-on-e-cigarettes.html?_r=0

Poll: Minnesotans strongly support prohibiting e-cigarette use indoors

MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — A poll released today shows that a strong majority of Minnesotans (79 percent) support prohibiting e-cigarette use indoors in places where smoking is prohibited. Other regulations to prevent youth from using e-cigarettes are also overwhelmingly supported by Minnesotans.
“This new poll shows that a strong majority of Minnesotans – 79 percent – support prohibiting e-cigarette use in indoor public places, including workplaces,” said Janelle Waldock, Director of the Center for Prevention at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. “E-cigarette use threatens our high standard of clean indoor air. Limiting their use the same way we limit conventional cigarettes will protect the clean air that Minnesotans have come to expect and support.”
To continue reading, visit: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1758111#ixzz2uT8Px5H7