Senate Democrats yesterday put forward a piece of legislation regarding vaping (aka ecigarettes), which is a continuation of their ill-advised ongoing campaign against vaping across the nation. This bill is in a word awful. Odiously using children as cover, this bill attacks the core of the ecig industry using false anti-tobacco narratives:
http://www.help.senate.gov/...
WASHINGTON, D.C.— 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) today in introducing the Protecting Children from Electronic Cigarette Advertising Act 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. 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,” Harkin said. “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.”
“We cannot risk undoing decades of progress in reducing youth smoking by allowing e-cigarette makers to target our kids,” Boxer said. “This bill will help protect our children from an industry that profits from addiction.”
Durbin said, “E-cigarette makers are adopting the deplorable marketing tactics once used by tobacco companies to entice children and teenagers into using their addictive product. With fruit and candy flavors and glossy celebrity ads, e-cigarettes makers are undeniably targeting young people. Unfortunately, it’s working. We must take action now to prevent a new generation from walking down the dangerous path towards nicotine addiction.”
“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. “This legislation would prevent tobacco companies from advertising to young people, helping to ensure they are not lured down a path of nicotine addiction and premature death. I’m proud to join Senator Boxer in this effort to keep young people tobacco free.”
“E-cigarettes are a gateway to tobacco use by children and teens and should not be marketed to youth, period,” Markey 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. I thank Senators Boxer, Durbin, Harkin and Blumenthal for their leadership and look forward to working with my colleagues to get this important bill passed.”
Problem is, none of that is true about vaping, and this continues to be a huge policy misstep on the part of Democrats.
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