States Urge FDA to Place Harsher Limits on E-Cigarettes

The attorneys general from 29 states are asking the United States Food and Drug Administration to craft even harsher regulations on e-cigarettes than the ones the agency proposed earlier this year.

The call for even stronger rules for electronic cigarettes comes as the industry has blossomed into a $2.5 billion business with without any appreciable regulatory oversight, reports the New York Times.

The FDA previously proposed first time restrictions that would include a ban on the sale of e-cigarettes to people under 18 and a requirement for identification to verify a buyer's age.

However, in a strong appeal letter sent the the agency on Friday, the attorneys general argued the curren proposals don't go far enough.

"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," the states said in a copy of the letter acquired by the Times, which also noted more than 7,000 flavors, including Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Graham Cracker - which public health officials say such can be used to appeal to children - are currently being sold available throughout the market.

The attorneys general want the federal government to prohibit the sale of most e-cigarette flavoring, along with slapping greater limits on the advertising and marketing of e-cigarettes to better leave the e-cigarette rules in line with those that apply to traditional cigarette companies.

In 2009, the regulatory agency banned flavors from traditional cigarettes, like clove, chocolate and vanilla, but not menthol, to deter young people from picking up the habit.

In a statement, New York's attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, one of the letter's signatories, said each year "electronic cigarette companies spend millions of dollars advertising their product, often on prime-time television, glamorizing smoking in the same way combustible cigarettes did before those commercials were banned... and each year, more and more youth try electronic cigarettes, exposing themselves to the proven dangers of nicotine."

Some public health experts contend e-cigarettes appear less dangerous than traditional tobacco products, which are loaded with substances like tar that e-cigarettes do not have.

Others, though, say not enough data is yet known e-cigarettes to arrive at any accurate conclusions about their safety, and that the electronic vapor sticks may in fact hook more people onto nicotine than they help quit regular smokes.