U.S. Representative Pallone Questions Vaping Companies on Teen Marketing

May 05, 2022 by Alec Stone MA, MPA, Former ONS Director of Government Affairs and Advocacy

As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues its review of tobacco and e-cigarette products’ marketing applications, legislators and government officials, such as Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), are taking a stand and sharing their concerns on Big Tobacco’s marketing (https://energycommerce.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/pallone-questions-vaping-companies-over-marketing-of-synthetic-nicotine) to teenage audiences.

In March 2022, Pallone “wrote (https://energycommerce.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/pallone-questions-vaping-companies-over-marketing-of-synthetic-nicotine) to four leading vaping companies that sell synthetic nicotine products to request information regarding the health and safety of their products,” in addition to asking each company about their plans to “comply with federal regulation, details on their marketing practices, and their role in the promotion of vaping and nicotine use by kids and teens.”

The companies that received the letter from Pallone are 7 Daze (https://energycommerce.house.gov/sites/democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/files/documents/7%20Daze.2022.03.22.Letter%20re%20Synthetic%20ENDS.OI__0.pdf), Daddy’s Vapor (https://energycommerce.house.gov/sites/democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/files/documents/Daddy%27s%20Vapor.2022.03.22.Letter%20re%20Synthetic%20ENDS.OI__0.pdf), Puff Bar (https://energycommerce.house.gov/sites/democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/files/documents/Puffbar.2022.03.22.Letter%20re%20Synthetic%20ENDS.OI__0.pdf), and VaporSalon (https://energycommerce.house.gov/sites/democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/files/documents/Vapor%20Salon.2022.03.22.Letter%20re%20Synthetic%20ENDS.OI__0.pdf).

According to a press release from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Pallone has addressed the youth vaping crisis (https://energycommerce.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/pallone-questions-vaping-companies-over-marketing-of-synthetic-nicotine) by launching an inquiry on the impact of e-cigarettes on adolescents, holding a hearing on e-cigarette manufacturers’ impact on public health, and authoring legislation to address the youth tobacco epidemic, including language clarifying FDA’s authority over synthetic nicotine.

As part of the inquiry, Pallone asked (https://energycommerce.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/pallone-questions-vaping-companies-over-marketing-of-synthetic-nicotine) the vaping companies to answer the following questions:

“Given the well-established health consequences of nicotine addiction, I am concerned by the proliferation of synthetic nicotine products like yours when so little is known about the scientific consequences of their use. I am also deeply troubled by the evident influence of your products on youth use of e-cigarettes,” Pallone wrote (https://energycommerce.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/pallone-questions-vaping-companies-over-marketing-of-synthetic-nicotine) in the letters. “The rapid increase of adolescents using their products is alarming in its similarity to early tactics of other tobacco companies that contributed to the emergence of the youth vaping epidemic.”


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