Sen. Lautenberg wants to snuff out electronic cigarettes
Sen. Lautenberg wants to snuff out electronic cigarettes
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) wants to ban a smoking device that
several House Republicans have trumpeted for helping them quit smoking.
The
battery-operated device, known as an electronic cigarette, looks like a
normal cigarette, but contains no tobacco and instead of smoke emits a
nicotine vapor when the user inhales. Reps. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.),
Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) and Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) have all been
spotted using the device on Capitol Hill.
But the device, which
is sold over the Internet and at select mall kiosks, needs to be tested
by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before it is deemed safe for
general use, Lautenberg wrote in a letter to the FDA on Monday.
“Manufacturers
and retailers of these products claim that e-cigarettes are safe, and
even that these products can help smokers quit traditional cigarettes,”
he wrote.
“However, there have been no clinical studies to prove
these products are effective at helping smokers quit, nor have any
studies verified the safety of these products or their long-term health
effects.”
Stearns shot back at Lautenberg on Monday, saying that there is no evidence that the device is harmful.
“Before
the FDA takes any immediate action, it should put forward scientific
evidence that these products are harmful or unsafe,” he said in a
statement.
“These e-cigarettes are smokeless and do not produce
carcinogens. The nicotine in e-cigarettes is controlled in a capsule
that can help in smoking cessation by allowing the user to reduce
gradually the nicotine level, hopefully to zero.”
Stearns has
sent electronic cigarettes to House Minority Leader John Boehner
(R-Ohio) and President Obama to help them quit smoking. He’s been seen
using the device in the Speaker’s Lobby, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.) banned smoking two years ago. Her office did not respond to
a request for comment by press time.
A longtime opponent of
smoking, Lautenberg authored the law that banned smoking on airplanes
and a law that banned smoking in federal facilities that serve children.