With Long-Term Effects of E-Cigarettes Unknown, Exempting Specific Products From State Tobacco Laws Would Jeopardize Public Health, Gov. Nixon Says

Press Release

Gov. Jay Nixon today met with local health advocates and community leaders in Columbia for a roundtable discussion regarding Senate Bill 841, legislation he vetoed this summer that would jeopardize public health by exempting electronic cigarettes from existing laws and taxes on traditional cigarettes. The General Assembly will meet on Sept. 10 for its annual veto session.

"With the restriction for minors already on its way from the FDA, the real impact of Senate Bill 841 is that it would exempt e-cigarettes from Missouri's tobacco laws," Gov. Nixon said. "Until we know more about the long-term health effects of e-cigarettes, creating new loopholes for these products would put public health at risk."

The American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association, the Missouri State Medical Association, the Missouri Association of Osteopathic Physicians, the Missouri Academy of Family Physicians, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and Tobacco Free Missouri all had called on Gov. Nixon to veto Senate Bill 841.

"Tobacco industry-sponsored electronic cigarette bills like these distract us from the evidence-based tobacco control policies we know work: comprehensive smoke-free air laws, increasing the price of tobacco products and well-funded cessation programs," said Stacy Reliford, Missouri government relations director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). "ACS CAN and its partners will continue to advocate for these effective policies to reduce the burden of tobacco in our state."

This past April, the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed new regulations to place e-cigarettes under the same restrictions as traditional tobacco products, including prohibiting the sale or marketing of e-cigarettes to minors, or advertising e-cigarettes on television.

In June, the R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co., whose parent company is Reynolds American Inc., released its e-cigarette product, Vuse. Reynolds American Inc. also produces Camel, Kool and American Spirit cigarettes which are all subject to Missouri's tobacco laws. Meanwhile, the Altria Group which owns Philip Morris USA, the largest tobacco company in America, now owns two e-cigarette brands as well. Similarly, Lorillard, the third largest manufacturer of cigarettes in the United States, now produces the e-cigarette BluCigs and has cornered about 40 percent of the e-cigarette market.

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