Majority Statement

• John D. Rockefeller IV
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  Majority Statement

  John D. Rockefeller IV

  Today the Committee is examining the marketing of e-cigarettes, a product whose popularity has recently been soaring, including among young people.  

  E-cigarettes are battery-operated products that vaporize a liquid containing nicotine for the user to inhale.  They often look similar to cigarettes and are used by mimicking the act of smoking.

  These products are relatively new and their long-term health effects are unknown at this point.  However, they do deliver nicotine, a highly addictive substance.

  Some people claim that e-cigarettes can help adults quit smoking combustible cigarettes, while others are concerned they may reduce quitting by encouraging dual use of e-cigarettes with combustible cigarettes.  But we haven’t done enough research yet to resolve this question, and that is not the focus of this hearing. 

  Instead, we are focused on how marketing of e-cigarettes reaches America’s youth and what consequences that may have.

  Since generations of cigarette users became addicted to nicotine in their youth, it only makes sense to be concerned about whether e-cigarettes could also get young people on a similar path to addiction.

  The last thing anyone should want to do is encourage young people to start using a new nicotine delivery product. 

  Health experts are sounding several alarms on these virtually unregulated products.  In addition to the issue of nicotine addiction, e-cigarette related calls to poison control centers are on the rise, and most of these calls involve children under the age of five.

  Moreover, some studies indicate that toxins other than nicotine may be found in e-cigarettes. 

  Given these health concerns  and the lack of data substantiating health benefits  it is imperative to restrict youth exposure to e-cigarettes.  Simply stated, children and teens should not be guinea pigs as we await more conclusive research.

  Unfortunately, awareness and use of e-cigarettes by youth has been surging.  Consider the following:

  • Between 2011 and 2012, e-cigarette use among U.S. teens more than doubled;
  • 1.8 million kids have tried these products; and
  • A recent study found that awareness of e-cigarettes among youth is virtually “ubiquitous.”

  This growth in youth awareness and use of e-cigarettes has coincided with a flood of recent e-cigarette marketing activity. 

  A report published this month in the journal Pediatrics found that youth exposure to e-cigarette advertising on television increased 256 percent over the past two years.  A May American Legacy Foundation report found that  last year over 14 million teens saw e-cigarette advertising on television, and 9.5 million saw print ads. 

  So while major e-cigarette companies reiterate that they target only adults, a large youth audience still appears to be getting their message loud and clear.

  To look more closely at this issue, I joined a group of Senators and Representatives  including Rep. Waxman, Senator Durbin, Senator Harkin, and Committee colleagues Senators Boxer, Blumenthal, and Markey  in a recent investigation asking leading e-cigarette manufacturers about their marketing practices.

  The results of this inquiry were troubling.  The joint report we issued this April concluded that “e-cigarette manufacturers are aggressively promoting their products using techniques and venues that appeal to youth.” 

  Practices of surveyed companies include:

  • Sponsorship of youth-oriented sporting and cultural events;
  • Handing out free product samples;
  • Using celebrity spokespeople;
  • Airing television ads during programs that reach large youth audiences;
  • Using social media without imposing age restrictions; and
  • Marketing e-cigarettes in flavors that could appeal to children, such as “cherry crush,” “chocolate treat,” “peachy keen,” and “vanilla dreams.”

  This review provided just a snapshot of activities of nine market leaders in this industry, but there are hundreds of companies estimated to be in the market.  

  For example, beyond the flavors identified in our report, refillable nicotine liquid that is marketed can be found in flavors that include “Bazooka Joe,” “Gummy Bears,” and “Chocolate Toot See.”

  Products like these sound more like a candy shop display than a means for delivering nicotine vapor.  And it is not hard to see how they could appeal to kids.   

  Many of the practices e-cigarette companies are using to pitch their products are prohibited for cigarette marketing under measures including the comprehensive 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, but these restrictions do not currently apply to e-cigarettes. 

  It is worth noting that the Tobacco Control law was enacted following years of litigation that uncovered internal tobacco company documents showing that  despite claims that they only promoted their products to adults  the industry had targeted young people as a critical market. 

  In April FDA proposed rules to regulate e-cigarettes, but finalizing these rules could take a long time. 

  Meanwhile the e-cigarette industry is booming, and tobacco companies with a history of marketing cigarettes to youth have been jumping into the market. 

  As the e-cigarette industry continues to rapidly evolve, we need to hold companies accountable for promotional activities that encourage kids to start using e-cigarettes. 

  And because e-cigarettes can look so similar to cigarettes, we also must make sure e-cigarette marketing doesn’t undermine decades of work to de-glamorize and de-normalize smoking for American youth.

  I look forward to talking about these issues with the major e-cigarette companies represented here today and our panel’s accomplished experts.

  # # #

Minority Statement

• Senator John R Thune

  Ranking Member

  U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transporation
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  Minority Statement

  Senator John R Thune

  WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator John Thune (R-South Dakota), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, delivered the following prepared remarks at today’s “Aggressive E-Cigarette Marketing and Potential Consequences for Youth” full committee hearing:

  Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank today’s witnesses for appearing before the Committee. 

  According to the World Health Organization, there are more than one billion smokers in the world.  Sadly, in one year alone, more than 5 million of those people will die prematurely due to direct tobacco use. 

  In 1976, Professor Michael Russell, a leading expert on cigarette addiction, wrote: “People smoke for nicotine but they die from the tar.” The introduction of e-cigarettes, which usually contain nicotine but none of the tar involved in ordinary cigarettes, presents new challenges for policymakers, regulators, and the public health community. It is also a new opportunity for increased public health to the extent that these new products may help reduce the number of individuals who smoke combustible tobacco cigarettes. 

  Dr. David Abrams at the American Legacy Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing tobacco use that is funded by payments from the Master Settlement Agreement between state attorneys general and the tobacco industry in 1998, has called the e-cigarette a potentially “disruptive technology, able to render the combustion of tobacco obsolete.” Similarly, Mitch Zeller, Director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products, recently said, “we have to have an open mind on the potential for these emerging technologies to benefit public health.” 

  In addition, a recent study by researchers at the University College London on the efforts of people to stop smoking found that e-cigarettes are 60 percent more effective than nicotine replacement therapies, such as nicotine patches or gum. 

  Many e-cigarette companies argue that their product is still an emerging technology, and warn that restrictions on e-cigarettes that do not follow the science may inhibit future innovation to create safer products for existing smokers.

  At the same time, we should be mindful that, even if e-cigarettes are shown to be less harmful than combustible tobacco cigarettes, nicotine is addictive and the long-term usage and health effects of these products are currently unknown. Opponents of the product also believe that e-cigarettes are a gateway to combustible tobacco cigarettes, especially among minors. 

  Recent studies have shown that, with an increase in e-cigarette marketing, overall awareness of e-cigarettes is growing and some advertisements, whether they are intended to or not, are reaching youth audiences.  In addition, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids – represented here today by Mr. Myers – has identified e-cigarette advertisements that employ similar campaigns and themes as advertisements from combustible cigarette companies decades ago. While this is not necessarily the case for all e-cigarette companies, it raises understandable concern about the targeting of this advertising.

  There has also been a recent rise in the number of calls to poison centers involving children related to e-cigarettes and the accompanying solution, which often contains nicotine and other ingredients. The American Academy of Pediatrics – represented here today by Dr. Tanski – has raised concerns about the lack of child resistant packaging on these products.

  Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration proposed a deeming rule to regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco products. A number of questions are being asking about just how these products should be regulated, especially how they can and cannot be marketed. Given that these are relatively new products, and given the extent to which they may provide benefits to public health, I believe sound science should drive any discussion of federal regulation 

  I also think we would all agree that children should not be able to purchase these products. My home state of South Dakota has banned the sale or use of e-cigarettes by those younger than 18 years of age. Several other states have done the same.

  While I am opposed to smoking in general, I look forward to learning more about the apparent potential of e-cigarettes to reduce harm to current smokers. As with most issues that we face in Congress, I believe that more scientific investigation and thoughtful discussion is needed, and Mr. Ballin is here to discuss some of his work with the University of Virginia to start a dialogue between various stakeholders on these issues.

  I would like to end with a quote from Dr. Thomas Glynn, a director at the American Cancer Society, who sums up the current debate surrounding e-cigarettes as follows, and I quote, “…as with so many highly celebrated, or reviled, products, their true nature likely lies somewhere in between, with both pros and cons to recommend or discourage their use.” Hopefully we can shed some light on those pros and cons today.

  Thank you again to our witnesses for appearing today and I look forward to your testimony. 

Testimony

• Dr. Susanne Tanski

  Pediatrician and Chair

  Tobacco Consortium of the American Academy of Pediatricians
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• Matt Myers

  President

  Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
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• Jason Healy

  President

  blu eCigs, a subsidiary of Lorillard
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• Craig Weiss

  President and CEO

  NJoy
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• Scott Ballin

  Health Policy Consultant
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