Senator Markey Hails Long Overdue Tobacco Regulations Ensuring Federal Oversight of E-Cigarettes

Press Release

Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a final rule on unregulated tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and cigars. It has been two years since the FDA proposed a rule - the deeming rule - to extend its authority over all currently unregulated tobacco products. In April, Senator Markey joined a group of Senate Democrats in calling on the Office of Management and Budget to issue a final rule bringing all tobacco products under the FDA's jurisdiction as soon as possible. The 2015 National Youth Tobacco Survey released data showing that a record 3 million U.S. teenagers used e-cigarettes over the last year.

"It's about time we close this e-cigarette loophole and put in place rules so that Big Tobacco and other companies can no longer develop, market, and sell these products without federal oversight. My father died in 2000 from lung cancer after smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. We've made great strides educating the American public, especially children and teens, about the dangers of smoking. We cannot allow e-cigarettes to snuff out the progress we've made preventing nicotine addiction and its deadly consequences. E-cigarettes are a gateway to tobacco use by children and teens and should not be sold and marketed to youth, period. I thank the FDA for taking this important action to help protect the health and well-being of the American public."

In February, Senators Markey, Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) introduced the introduced the Protecting Children from Electronic Cigarette Advertising Act, legislation to prohibit the marketing of e-cigarettes to children and teens.

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