Bill would prevent e-cigs from being marketed to minors

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) has introduced legislation in the House that would prevent manufacturers from selling and marketing e-cigarettes to children.

{mosads}The Stop Selling and Marketing to Our Kids E-Cigarettes (SMOKE) Act, unveiled Wednesday, would not only ban companies from marketing or selling e-cigarettes to minors, it would direct the Food and Drug Administration to issue rules for safer packaging, dosaging and labeling.

“E-Cigarette makers think they can take us back to the days of Joe Camel,” Speier said in a news release, referencing the one-time mascot for the Camel cigarette brand. “They are selling nicotine to children in flavors like gummy bear, cotton candy, and chocolate cake. Something is gravely wrong with that picture.”

Despite industry advocates who calling the study misleading, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that of the 23 percent of high school students who were using tobacco products last year, 4.5 percent had smoked an e-cigarette in the last 30 days, up from 2.8 percent in 2012.

And with an increase in calls to poison control for children ingesting liquid nicotine, lawmakers have been working to move legislation that will require manufactures to create childproof packaging.

Last month, the Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved the Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act, which directs the Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue the new rules to manufacturers.