Senators Demand Restrictions on E-Cig Ads "for the Children"

Jacob Sullum, senior editor at Reason magazine and a frequent contributor to Forbes online edition — and possibly the guy most cited here at Vape Squad — has another article on the Op/Ed section, this time calling out five senators who are calling for what he calls “unconstitutional” restrictions on e-cigarette advertising.

“Despite claims from some e-cigarette makers that they do not market their products to children, e-cigarette manufacturers have adopted marketing practices similar to those long used by the tobacco industry to market regular cigarettes to youth—including flavoring their products in candy or fruit flavors that appeal to children.”

–Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)

The five senators — Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Edward Markey (D-Mass.), introduced legislation Wednesday “to protect children from e-cigarettes.” The legislation, titled “The Protecting Children from Electonic Cigarette Advertising Act,” authorizes the FCC to “determine what constitutes marketing e-cigarettes to children,” and to work with state attorneys general to ban any such marketing.

However, as Sullum points out, many senators and others fighting against electronic cigarettes have traditionally played very fast and loose with what amounts to advertising to children. Manufacturers producing sweet flavors, for example, or those using celebrity endorsements, have been accused of “targeting children.”

As Sullum explains in his article, however, it seems unlikely this new legislation would pass constitutional review, citing a case involving Lorillard in 2001 where courts determined that much more modest restrictions on outdoor advertising of cigarettes was “vastly overbroad,” as it interfered with the company’s ability to communicate with its adult customers.

We can’t help nodding our heads in agreement with Sullum when he says that those flavors which e-cig opponents so often claim are “clearly targeting young people” are doing no such thing. Many of the flavors vaped here at Vape Squad HQ are of the sweet variety, and there isn’t a kid anywhere in sight.

Five Senators Demand Unconstitutional Restrictions On E-Cigarette Ads—For The Children – Forbes.

Senators Demand Restrictions on E-Cig Ads "for the Children"

Video: L.A. Moves Closer to a Ban

The Los Angeles city council moved a step closer Monday to banning the use of e-cigarettes in public areas where smoking is prohibited.

“We were surprised at how misinformed the committee was,” he told us. “They were using statements like lighting up, smoking – improper terms.”

–Brandon O’Connell, VapeDay

The matter has now moved out of committee, with a decision made to push forward toward amending smoking legislation to include electronic cigarettes, despite any evidence of health risks. Instead, the council is planning to ban the use of the devices because they look like smoking, according to City Attorney Mike Feuer, who says the ban should remain in place even if it can proven that vaping has no negative health effects whatsoever. “Even if it were determined later on that the emissions from e-cigarettes aren’t dangerous to a bystander in an outside environment, the existence of devices like this… in public places does threaten to renormalize the behavior of smoking.”

Unlike other cities, though, vaping will still be allowed in some shared spaces. LA Weekly reports that an amendment was agreed upon Monday evening which would allow the use of electronic cigarettes in vaping lounges.

L.A. City Council Takes Up Controversial E-Cigarette Ban | KTLA 5.

Video: L.A. Moves Closer to a Ban

Audio: Backlash Against UK TV for Airing Vype Ads

The British Medical Association is predictably upset about the recent airing of ads for British American Tobacco’s Vype electronic cigarette, afraid that e-cigarettes will “get a whole new generation of young people hooked on nicotine.”

Vivian Nathanson of the British Medical Association sees parallels between the new e-cigarette advertisements and tobacco ads of the past, which glamorized tobacco smoking as a way to gain sales.

“What this is doing is making the use of nicotine look attractive, socially successful, and all of those things that we used to see associated with cigarette smoking.”

British censorship agencies plan to meet in the coming weeks to discuss possible changes to advertising rules, with the possible result of a ban on televised advertisements for electronic cigarettes.

Audio: Backlash Against UK TV for Airing Vype Ads

E-Cig Doubles as a Mobile Phone

We’ve seen electronic cigarettes with some pretty fancy internal gadgetry, from variable wattage circuits to LED displays, USB-based computer interfaces, and even one with a fingerprint reader built in.

Netherlands-based Supersmoker, however, may have packed the most functionality we’ve seen yet into their new product, the Supersmoker Bluetooth.

Equipped with a speaker, microphone, and Bluetooth, the Supersmoker Bluetooth is capable of wirelessly connecting to any Bluetooth-enabled device, so you can not only vape with it, you can also play your MP3 and even take calls on it by holding it next to your head like a telephone.

The device is selling for €79.95 (about $110 US) and can be shipped internationally from Supersmoker’s UK website.

Supersmoker Bluetooth e-cigarette doubles up as MOBILE PHONE | Mail Online

E-Cig Doubles as a Mobile Phone

Vype Advertises on UK TV

European tobacco giant British American Tobacco began airing spots for its Vype e-cigarette Monday evening.

While the New York Times treats the story as if BAT is the first company to air on UK televisions, this is certainly not the case. Advertisements for other brands, such as VIP and E-Lites, have previously been televised.

“There’s a lack of clarity among advertisers but also with consumers and we are aware of concerns that ads for e-cigarettes might be seen as cross-promoting tobacco and cigarettes through the back door.”

–Advertising Standard Authority

Past advertisements, however, were quickly pulled from the air after complaints from viewers. Due to anti-smoking regulations in the UK, depictions of cigarettes or cigarette-like objects is prohibited on television, as are references to smoking. Coupled with rules which require clearly identifying the product being advertised, UK’s e-cigarette companies have had to walk a fine line, describing their products without using any references to tobacco or cigarettes. BAT, for example, has had to change their tagline in the ads from “pure satisfaction for smokers” to “pure satisfaction for vapers.”

The Times describes the law which prohibits tobacco advertising but allows ads for electronic cigarettes as a “loophole,” which overlooks that the anti-smoking laws are in place to block the advertisement of a product proven to be hazardous, while no such hazards have been proven for electronic cigarettes. The comment is indicative of the sort of battle electronic cigarette manufacturers will have to face as legislative bodies look to revise the laws around advertising to account for electronic cigarettes: laws that have been in place for so long that it seems many have forgotten why they were enacted in the first place, and it seems a common knee-jerk reaction to try to lump electronic cigarettes into the same category, despite all evidence indicating they are not only much less hazardous than cigarettes, but quite likely are a real alternative for those looking to stop smoking.

Cigarette Ads Come Back to British TV – NYTimes.com.

Vype Advertises on UK TV

Infographic Shows How EU Ban Could Send Vapers Back to Smoking

From James Dunworth’s Ashtray Blog comes this infographic, showing what would happen if proposed bans on electronic cigarettes in the EU were to be enacted.  The statistics are based on a survey of 1,600 vapers taken last month.

Full results of the survey are available at the link below, or by clicking the image.

Infographic: How An EU Ecig Ban Could Send One Million People Back To Smoking.

Infographic Shows How EU Ban Could Send Vapers Back to Smoking

Victory and FIN to Merge

Yesterday, e-cigarette makers FIN and Victory announced that the two companies would merge, forming one of the largest e-cigarette manufacturers not owned by Big Tobacco.

“We are delighted to have someone of Elliot’s character and caliber join the team and are confident that the FIN brand will be an iconic American brand that we can leverage into much broader distribution.”

–Bill Fields, Victory board member

The merged company will sell e-cigarettes under the FIN brand, and is expected to drive consolidated sales over $100 million per year. The merger is expected to complete within the next few weeks.

The two companies expect the merger to save manufacturing costs and give the FIN brand a much broader reach, in the face of stiff competition from large tobacco companies, most notably Lorillard’s Blu brand.

The merger follows Victory’s acquisition of UK-based Vapestick, which was finalized less than a month ago.

E-Cig Startups Band Together as Big Tobacco Looms

Victory and FIN to Merge

KY Governor Calls for 20% E-Cig Tax

A tax reform plan crafted by Kentucky’s governor, Steve Beshear, includes a 20% tax on electronic cigarettes.

The bill, currently under discussion in Kentucky’s house appropriations and revenue committee, would also raise cigarette taxes by 40 cents per pack.

“Legislators should remove these provisions from the plan before considering the rest of the package during this year’s legislative session. While Governor Beshear’s Kentucky Competes proposal is a good start for a discussion on the need for tax reform in the state, it represents a $210 million annual net tax hike on Kentucky taxpayers, which is the last thing Kentucky residents need after seeing over 20 new and higher federal taxes imposed from Washington in just the past few years.”

–Grover Norquist, ATR

A statement issued by Americans for Tax Reform expresses disapproval of the new e-cigarette tax, calling them “punitive for low-income individuals,” and saying the new taxes “make little sense.”

A letter from ATR president Grover Norquist to the Kentucky legislature opposes the cigarette tax, but calls the new e-cigarette tax “particularly troubling.”

“For decades, lawmakers have tried to mitigate smoking and the harm it causes through punitive taxation and heavy regulation,” Norquist says in the letter. “However, with e-cigarettes, the free market has provided a solution to a problem that social engineers have not been able to address through stiff government regulations. The imposition of new taxes on these products perpetuates an issue lawmakers have spent so much time trying to eliminate, as e-cigarettes cut down on smoking and people’s dependence on tobacco cigarettes.”

The letter goes on to call the new taxes “shameless tax grabs that make little sense from a revenue or publioc health perspective.”

KY Governor Wants Tax on Electronic Cigarettes – Tristatehomepage-Eyewitness News.

KY Governor Calls for 20% E-Cig Tax

Survey Shows Majority OK with Vaping Nearby

Harris Interactive has published the results of a survey, which it performed for e-cigarette maker Mistic, asking how people feel about people using electronic cigarettes nearby, and the results are quite interesting.

Adults under age 35 (70 percent) were more likely than adults 65 and older (46 percent) to say they didn’t mind people using e-cigarettes near them.


Midwesterners who gave an opinion were more tolerant than people living in the West about people using an e-cigarette on an airplane.


People making $50,000-$75,000 a year were less likely to care about someone vaping than someone with a smaller salary.

The poll, which surveyed 505 men and 506 women, asked various questions related to how people felt about people using electronic cigarettes in close proximity to themselves. Perhaps the most startling of the results, given recent trends toward banning the use of electronic cigarettes in public places, is that 63% of respondents said they were OK with someone using an electronic cigarette nearby.

However, results varied when the questions became more specific. 58% of those responding, for example, said they would be fine with vaping at sporting events, but approval sunk as far as 26% when the question of vaping on an airplane was raised. Other questions involved using e-cigarettes on public transportation, which was approved of by 35% of respondents, and movie theaters, at 29%.

Men overall were much more accepting of electronic cigarettes, with 77% saying they wouldn’t mind someone vaping near them, compared to 55% of women. Notably, however, in both cases the majority of respondents were accepting of the idea of someone vaping nearby.

Annoyed when e-cigarette users ‘light up’ near you? It depends on where you are, new survey says | cleveland.com.

Survey Shows Majority OK with Vaping Nearby

Poisoning Cases Doubled Sine 2011

A story in the Providence Journal by way of the Cronkite News Service warns that cases of poisoning by e-liquid for electronic cigarettes has increased more than two-fold since 2011, with many of the cases involving children.

The numbers are hardly surprising, given the boom e-cigarettes have seen in that timespan (as Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center Dr. F. Mazda Shirada says, “It’s just a matter of the mathematical growth that [e-cigarettes are] having”), but it serves as a reminder that nicotine, particularly in large doses, can be dangerous stuff, particularly if ingested.

“In a small kid, if they get into the concentrated refills, they can have similar effects of when [nicotine] is used as a pesticide.”

– Dr. F. Mazda Shirada, Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center

While it’s easy to discount stories like this as scare tactics (and there definitely are elements of that in the linked story, along with more than a little of the kind of anti-vaping propaganda we expect any time we see someone from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids quoted), it’s also important to remember that nicotine is, indeed, toxic, and should be treated as such.

We highly recommend always keeping e-liquid bottles and refill cartridges where kids and pets won’t get to them, and if your juice vendor of choice doesn’t offer childproof caps, consider dropping them a hint.

E-cigarette refills pose poisoning hazard for small children | Providence Journal

Poisoning Cases Doubled Sine 2011

India"s Health Ministry Furious with Air India for Selling E-Cigs

DNAIndia reports that an in-flight magazine on Air India flights which offers electronic cigarettes for sale has Indian authorities freaking out.

“The said display is in contravention of Section 5 of Cigarettes and other Tobacco products (prohibition of advertisement and regulation of trade and commerce, production, supply and distribution) Act, 2003, and further tends to put the government in an embarrassing situation.”

The magazine, “Air Bazaar,” features electronic cigarettes among the goods for sale, and includes an image of a woman using the device.

“It has been observed that Air India through discount booklets Air Bazaar, distributed on board Air India flight, is selling a tobacco-free “electronic cigarette” with a picture of a model smoking,” says a letter written from the health ministry to Air India. “It is also contrary to our policy of using public conveyance for health promotion messages.”

Air India is owned by the Indian government, and the advertisement seems to be causing some cross-department conflict, with the health ministry saying the presence of such ads violates the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, enacted in 2003, which prohibits the promotion of smoking.

Health ministry fumes as Air India lights e-cigarettes | DNAIndia.com

India"s Health Ministry Furious with Air India for Selling E-Cigs

CVS Dumps Smokes -- E-Cigs on the Horizon?

CVS has announced it will stop selling tobacco products this October, leading many to wonder if it could be a precursor to a shift to electronic cigarettes.

“We wouldn’t speculate on how the FDA will decide about this product. We will evaluate once their decision is made.”

-CVS Spokesman Michael DiAngelis

For now, the jury is out. While CVS has clearly stated they will halt the sale of tobacco in their stores, they’re taking a cautious stance when it comes to e-cigarettes, which are not currently carried in CVS stores.

CVS currently takes in as much as $2 billion annually in cigarette sales, according to estimates.

President Obama, himself a former smoker, called the move by CVS a “powerful example.”

CVS Move to Ditch Tobacco Shifts Focus to E-Cigs | TIME.com.

CVS Dumps Smokes -- E-Cigs on the Horizon?

Got Germs?

Yes, it’s one of those “dangers of electronic cigarette” stories, but this one’s at least got a fairly unique twist, warning of the bacteria that can live on the devices.

“It’s a good reminder that you have to clean them out because it is high numbers, even regular non-pathogenic bacteria in large numbers… you don’t know what they can do.”

–Dr. Mohammed Fakhry

Oklahoma’s Fox 23 took swabs from the electronic cigarettes of volunteers, then sent them to a lab for testing at Tulsa University. According to the lab’s Dr. Mohammed Fakhry, “two of the three were really full of a good number of bacteria species and also some fungi.”

Fakhry says it’s expected to find microbes on just about everything, but that the number found on two of the three samples was “worrisome.”

Jeremy Dickerson of Vapor Eyes of South Tulsa says he recommends cleaning out your e-cigarette every time you change cartridges, adding that “It’s very important to know all of the proper maintenance techniques and cleaning techniques.”

Some of the tools Dickerson recommends having on hand include water, toothpicks, paper towels, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs.

“You really want to get in there and clean that with a Q-tip from time to time make sure there isn’t a bunch of residue down in there,” Dickerson says.

Good advice for more than just e-cigarettes.

Hidden bacteria living in electronic cigarettes | FOX23 News

Got Germs?

Altria to Buy Green Smoke

Altria, parent company of Phillip Morris of Marboro fame, has agreed to buy e-cigarette manufacturer Green Smoke for $110 million.

“Bottom line, we agree and believe that Altria can leverage its sales force, retailer relationships, and marketing expertise to quickly bring broader distribution to Green Smoke. From a regulatory perspective, this acquisition may put further pressure on the FDA to regulate e-vapor products as they become increasingly more mainstream.”

–Bonnie Herzog, Wells Fargo

The acquisition, expected to complete in the second quarter of this year, signals a move by Altria to grab a larger piece of the e-cigarette market. Altria has moved somewhat slowly into e-cigarettes, lagging behind competitors RJ Reynolds and Lorillard in getting a product out to consumers.

Green Smoke’s total revenue last year was about $40 million, compared to $24.5 billion for Altria.

Altria to Buy E-Cigarette Maker Green Smoke – WSJ.com

Altria to Buy Green Smoke