Another day, another lawmaker aims to regulate the controversial electronic cigarette.
This time it's a California lawmaker intent on stemming marketing that may be aimed at youths.
Congresswoman Jackie Speier is proposing Congress regulate electronic smoking devices the same way the government regulates traditional tobacco.
"With flavors like gummy bear, cotton candy, and chocolate cake, our kids are literally vaping these things up," said U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier. "With ads using sex and sex appeal, our teens are lusting after these objects."
The San Francisco lawmaker debuted her new legislative proposal Friday and claims the e-cig industry is intentionally trying to lure in under-age smokers with marketing strategies.
Her proposed bill would restrict advertisements on TV, according to the lawmaker's spokeswoman, Katrina Rill. Speier intends to formally introduce the bill Monday.
Speier aims to stop marketing of e-cigs to minors and also require the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to mandate childproof packaging standards and dosage limitations.
Meanwhile the FDA is already mulling new regulations on e-cigs and has extended public comment on its efforts to August. It's considering establishing mandated warning labels and a ban on sales to minor.
The move comes as the FDA also looks to impose e-cigarette regulations. The federal agency said Friday it was extending the public comment period to August on a proposal to ban sales to minors, add warning labels and require new products to get FDA approval. Its measure doesn't restrict marketing or ban flavors but leaves room for further regulations.
Meanwhile other advocating such effort believe the focus should ultimately be on stopping everyone from smoking, whether it's tobacco or e-cig vapor.
"Obviously, tobacco companies would be more concerned with protecting cigarette market share than smaller e-cigarette companies," said author Shu-Hong Zhu, Ph.D., a professor of family and preventive medicine and director of the Center for Research and Interventions in Tobacco Control at UC San Diego, in a press statement.
The news comes as industry vendors came under fire during a Senate hearing last week for increased advertising practices using social media, TV ads and print publications and some lawmakers believe the marketing is directly aimed at luring youths.
"While major e-cigarette companies reiterate that they only target adults, a large youth audience still appears to be getting their message pretty loudly and pretty clearly," said Democratic Senator John Rockefeller. That's true "particularly when they aim the message at TV and magazines and social media and events which just really come down hard toward kids," he added.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention more youths are using the devices and are being exposed to device marketing with the number of middle and high school student users more than doubling between 2011 and 2012. The CDC claims there was a 256 percent spike in e-cigarette ads between 2011 and 2013.
Pediatricians "are seriously concerned that e-cigarettes may lead adolescents to a lifetime of nicotine addiction and could serve as a gateway to traditional cigarettes," said Susanne Tanski, chairperson of American Academy of Pediatrics' Tobacco Consortium.
The news also comes on the heels of the fifth anniversary of the 2009 federal tobacco law, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act that gave the Food and Drug Administration control over tobacco products.
Some are pushing to extend the law and the FDA's authority to include e-cigarettes, specifically the marketing of the devices. The FDA is scheduled to finish an effective final rule on the request by next April.
Many believe that the e-cig industry's expanding practice of flavoring the vapor is a major reason more children are using the device. Earlier this week R.J. Reynolds announced it's expanding its e-cigarette business by launching a national campaign for it Vuse brand.
There are currently 460-plus e-cigarette brands and 7,800 flavors on the shelves.
