Updated Aug. 8, 2014 1:09 p.m. ET
More than two dozen state attorneys general urged the Food and Drug Administration on Friday to impose restrictions on electronic cigarettes, including prohibiting television advertising and banning the wide variety of candy and fruit flavors that have helped make e-cigarettes popular.
Such curbs would be far tougher than those proposed in April by the FDA. At the time, the agency said it planned to prohibit the sale of the battery-powered devices to anyone under age 18 but stopped short of proposing restrictions on advertising, online sales and flavors except menthol.
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"While the Proposed Rule addresses some of our concerns, it fails to address matters of particular concern, such as characterizing flavors, the marketing of e-cigarettes, and the sale of tobacco products over the Internet," a group of 29 attorneys general from states including California, New York and Illinois wrote in a 33-page letter submitted to the FDA on Friday.
E-cigarettes turn nicotine-laced liquid into a vapor and represent a small but fast-growing alternative to traditional smokes in the $100 billion U.S. tobacco industry. U.S. sales of e-cigarettes could top $2 billion this year, up from zero less than a decade ago, according to industry estimates.
The call for stiffer regulations is part of a growing backlash against e-cigarettes and comes at a critical juncture for the nascent industry which is drawing heavy investments. The two largest U.S. tobacco companies, Marlboro maker Altria Group Inc. MO +1.17% Altria Group Inc. U.S.: NYSE $41.63 +0.48 +1.17% Aug. 8, 2014 4:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 4.39M AFTER HOURS $41.56 -0.07 -0.17% Aug. 8, 2014 5:07 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 12,494 P/E Ratio 19.18 Market Cap $81.62 Billion Dividend Yield 4.61% Rev. per Employee $1,971,440 08/08/14 States Urge Tougher Curbs on E... 07/30/14 Lorillard Profit Down as E-Cig... 07/29/14 Reynolds American Profit Impro... More quote details and news » and Reynolds American Inc., RAI +1.44% Reynolds American Inc. U.S.: NYSE $57.07 +0.81 +1.44% Aug. 8, 2014 4:01 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 1.96M AFTER HOURS $57.07 0.00 % Aug. 8, 2014 4:27 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 12,476 P/E Ratio 19.15 Market Cap $29.89 Billion Dividend Yield 4.70% Rev. per Employee $1,563,520 08/08/14 States Urge Tougher Curbs on E... 08/05/14 Ebola Virus: Giving Americans ... 07/30/14 Lorillard Profit Down as E-Cig... More quote details and news » maker of Camel cigarettes, are both in the midst of national e-cigarette rollouts.
Earlier this week, 13 Democratic members of Congress sent a letter to the FDA, also calling for stronger measures to restrict marketing to children, e-cigarette flavors and online sales.
The FDA ended a public comment period on its proposed e-cigarette regulations Friday and declined to comment on the attorneys general letter or say when it will issue final rules.
It added that it intends to work "as quickly as possible" to review all submitted comments. Many observers expect the review to take several months.
E-cigarettes are viewed as less harmful than traditional cigarettes, which release toxins through combustion. Proponents also argue they are a powerful tool to help smokers quit.
But critics say enough isn't known about e-cig health effects and that they serve as a new gateway to nicotine addiction—particularly for youth. The percentage of high-school students who had tried an e-cigarette climbed to 10% in 2012, up from 4.7% in 2011, according to a government study.
The FDA banned all flavors except menthol for traditional cigarettes in 2009. By contrast, e-cigarettes are sold in thousands of fruit and candy flavors. Blu, the top-selling e-cigarettes brand, owned by Lorillard Inc., LO +0.18% Lorillard Inc. U.S.: NYSE $60.41 +0.11 +0.18% Aug. 8, 2014 4:04 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 2.86M AFTER HOURS $60.41 0.00 % Aug. 8, 2014 4:27 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 2,685 P/E Ratio 19.89 Market Cap $21.71 Billion Dividend Yield 4.07% Rev. per Employee $1,726,210 08/08/14 States Urge Tougher Curbs on E... 07/30/14 Stocks to Watch: Twitter, Spri... 07/30/14 Lorillard Profit Down as E-Cig... More quote details and news » offers flavors such as "Java Jolt," "Cherry Crush" and "Piña Colada."
Regulators restrict advertisements for traditional cigarettes to magazines, direct mailings and store displays. E-cigarette advertisements, however, appear on television—four decades after TV ads for cigarettes were banned. Ad spending among top brands reached $79 million last year, up 278% from 2012, according to Kantar Media.
E-cigarette companies say their ads and their flavors target adult smokers, not teenagers. But the attorneys general disagreed in their letter to the FDA, calling for e-cigarette flavors to be banned because of their appeal to adolescents. "The primary basis for doing so is the protection of public health, particularly of youth," they argued.
They cited studies showing nicotine negatively affects neurological development among adolescents, including memory and impulse control. Widespread marketing of e-cigarettes will result in more young addicts, they argued. The attorneys general also called on the FDA to strengthen proposed health warnings. The proposed warning, that e-cigarettes contain nicotine, which is addictive, "will not prevent consumers from starting nicotine use or encourage them to quit,'' they wrote in their letter.
Write to Mike Esterl at mike.esterl@wsj.com
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