Julia Xanthos/New York Daily News The scrutiny from lawmakers comes as sales of e-cigarettes have doubled every year since 2010, reaching $2 billion last year, with an estimated 5 million Americans using them, according to the industry. E-cigarette makers are hawking their products to kids, getting the! m hooked on nicotine that can lead to a deadly smoking habit, top congressional Democrats charge.
Eleven lawmakers, led by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), urged the Food and Drug Administration to stub out the sale and marketing of e-cigarettes to minors.
"From candy flavors to rock concert sponsorships, every single company surveyed in this report has employed a marketing strategy that appears to target youth," Durbin told reporters Monday.
Democrats on Waxman's House Energy and Commerce Committee released a 40-page report Monday based on feedback provided by eight of nine leading makers of the battery-powered devices, which deliver vaporized nicotine to users.
The scrutiny comes as sales of e-cigarettes explode. They have doubled every year since 2010, reaching $2 billion last year, with an estimated 5 million Americans using them, according to the industry.
Lawmakers complain the new products are totally unregulated, and want the FDA, as well as state agencies, to move fast to catch up.
KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images Congressional Democrats say e-cigarette makers are hawking their products to kids, getting them hooked on nicotine. The report says all the firms market to children, through social media campaigns, free samples offered at "youth-oriented" events and ads that run during programs with "significant youth viewership."
One leading maker of the cigarettes, Lorillard, last year sponsored 13 music festivals as well as Grand Prix auto racing events.
Six of the nine companies offer flavors like "Cherry Crush," "Chocolate Treat" and "Grape Mint."
Lawmakers say those flavors risk acting as gateway products that hook teens users on nicotine, leading them to traditional smoking.
Cynthia Cabrera, who heads the Smoke Free Alternatives Trade Association, a trade group for e-cigarette makers, rejected those claims.
Alex Wong/Getty Images Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) is among 11 lawmakers who urged the Food and Drug Administration to stub out the sale and marketing of e-cigarettes to minors. 
Mark Wilson/Getty Images Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill) is among 11 lawmakers trying to stop e-cigarette makers from selling and marketing their products to kids.Previous Next
"It's a knee-jerk reaction that doesn't require learning about the product," Cabrera said. "They're an easy target."
Cabrera said the Democrats cannot find "any studies with direct evidence to support" the claim the devices lead to traditional smoking.
She said they instead give smokers a safer alternative, reducing health care costs.
"These products are not marketed to children," she added, arguing grownups like candy, too. "Adults have a taste pallete that includes flavor," she said. "You don't hit 18 and lose your taste."
"Pretty soon you're not gonna be able to wear pink because it attracts children," she added. "So it's a problem."
dfriedman@nydailynews.com
Source : http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/lawmakers-accuse-e-cigarette-brands-targeting-kids-article-1.1756261
