Are ‘E-Cigs’ Exploiting Regulatory Loopholes To Get Kids Hooked On Nicotine?

If you were one of the estimated 108.4 million Americans who watched this year’s Super Bowl game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens, you may have caught a glimpse of this advertisement for “Blu Cigs,” one of the most popular new “electronic cigarette” products out on the market:

The ad raised eyebrows in the public health and anti-smoking communities, as federal law has prohibited — or strictly limited — the marketing of tobacco-related products on television since the 1970s. President Obama even signed legislation during his first term to further limit the auditory and visual prerogatives of tobacco-related advertising. But electronic cigarettes — or “e-cigs,” as they are commonly referred to — aren’t technically the same kind of tobacco product, presenting a dilemma for those seeking to curb smoking rates among America’s youth.

E-cig advertisements tend to emphasize the fact that they do not contain the tar and other poisonous elements of cigarettes that lead to concerns over second-hand smoke — rather, they are simply mixtures of water vapor and pure nicotine (and, occasionally, some added flavors), making them more akin to nicotine gums and other smoking cessation products.

Public health advocates are a bit more skeptical. Organizations like the American Cancer Society and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have been ramping up efforts to determine how, exactly, e-cigs could impact public health:

“E-cigarette use is growing rapidly,” said Tom Frieden, director of the Office on Smoking and Health at CDC. “There is still a lot we don’t know about these products, including whether they will decrease or increase use of traditional cigarettes.”

The CDC noted that although e-cigarettes appear to have far fewer of the toxins found in smoke compared to traditional cigarettes, the impact of e-cigarettes on long-term health must be studied.

“If large numbers of adult smokers become users of both traditional cigarettes and e-cigarettes — rather than using e-cigarettes to quit cigarettes completely — the net public health effect could be quite negative,” added Frieden.

Some might find that e-cigs represent a relatively less harmful method of transitioning away from products that have continued to drive up public-health related care costs. Still, the transition to a more “high-tech” form of nicotine ingestion is oddly reminiscent of Big Tobacco efforts to deceive the American public into believing that life-threatening tobacco products are perfectly fine for moderate day-to-day use. And, unlike smoking cessation products such as nicotine gum, e-cigs allow users to indulge in the “oral fixation” of smoking — which tends to be one of the hardest obstacles to overcome for a smoking addict.

Ultimately, the lack of research and oversight into the issue of e-cigs and their effect on smoking habits prohibits an objective study into their efficacy and hazards. But while Americans — and teens in particular — are exposed to product placement promoting their worth, oversight groups would do well to press for more information on the products.

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Regulatory reform necessary for economic growth

By Former Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Dan Danner, president and CEO, National Federation of Independent Business - 02/11/13 02:30 PM ET

As we survey the horizon and consider the issues that lawmakers today are faced with, the natural conclusion is that the 113th Congress will be another challenging period for our political leaders.

Eleventh-hour deal-cutting, once a rare occurrence, is now standard operating procedure for a broken legislative process. This new regular order of brinksmanship provides little in the way of certainty to job creators; instead, it guarantees that just a few months down the road, Congress will once again return to dramatic 11th bickering, posturing and legislative clashes.

Unfortunately, even the most successful fiscal compromise is no match for the long-term recuperative impact of substantive economic growth on our nation’s budget and deficit issues.

No partisan divide exists when it comes to the question of whether lawmakers should pursue policy that facilitates growth. And one of the surest paths to facilitating growth – and encouraging the stability that investors and job creators need to build that growth – is to reform our arcane and inefficient regulatory system.

Inefficient, redundant and excessive regulations have had a pronounced destabilizing effect on job growth and recovery. The system is grossly outdated, and it is laden with too many regulations that were put in place and long ago forgotten.
Despite this, a tidal wave of new rules are being advanced.  Since Election Day alone, Washington has issued over 800 new rules – that is over 8 new regulations daily.
Unfortunately, many of these proposed new regulations aren’t fully thought through and poorly structured. According to a recent George Washington University and Washington University analysis, in 2012 there were 283,615 full-time government employees dedicated to drafting and enforcing regulations, while fewer than 50 employees at the Office of Management and Budget were responsible for reviewing the new regulatory mandates to ensure they are justified and accurate prior to implementation.
It should not surprise anyone, then, that employers large and small are choosing not to invest, expand and hire because of the uncertainty surrounding the current regulatory system.

Additionally, NFIB’s January Small Business Economic Trends report shows red tape to be the second most important issue facing small business owners today; while a recent NAM NFIB Poll found that two-thirds of respondents say economic uncertainty in the market makes it hard for them to grow and hire more workers causing economic stagnation.

And while sweeping last-minute deals like the one passed as a solution to the fiscal cliff generate headlines, rapidly shifting, unpredictable promulgation of regulations represent a destabilizing factor that have hung over our economy for decades.

Fortunately, the goal of modernizing and improving this system is both politically attainable and broadly supported by the public.

In order to better meet the goals of both preserving and protecting safety and the environment and stabilizing the economic landscape, our regulatory system should be adapted for the 21st Century and seek to be efficient, accountable, and fair:
· Improved risk assessment, for instance, would ensure that the best available scientific data was at the heart of every regulatory push.
· Commonsense cost-benefit analysis can and should be incorporated into the rulemaking process so that regulations strike the right balance between the benefits they bring to society and he costs they impose.
· Regulatory reform should also include an honest and transparent peer review process that ensures objective experts have the ability to shape rules before they are enshrined into law.
· Every rule should be subjected to ongoing review – through the courts and Congressional oversight – in order to ensure that the system functions in a way that is responsive to both needed improvements.
· Federal agencies should prioritize compliance over enforcement and place greater emphasis on promoting compliance than they do on issuing harsh penalties, particularly on small businesses.

?Reforms that meet these goals are within reach.
Political theater, no matter how compelling, will not fix what ails our economy. Growth, driven by small businesses around the nation, will necessarily be the engine that carries our economy beyond the periodic fiscal catastrophes that have defined our recent experience. ??Washington can help spur economic growth today by putting in place a regulatory system that not only allows, but also encourages, a new economic expansion.
Lincoln, a former Democratic Senator from Arkansas, chairs the Small Businesses for Sensible Regulations Coalition. Danner is president and CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business, the nation's leading small business association.

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