State attorneys generals have been carrying out their own campaigns to oppose the sale and advertising of e-cigarettes to minors, after frustration due to slow federal action on this matter.
AGs amounting to more than a dozen from New York, California, Indiana and Ohio are implementing new state and local laws to pressurize the industry at all levels. This includes neighborhood vape shops, and big tobacco selling companies like; Altria Group, and Reynolds American Inc.
The government data released on the matter in April has hastened State actions. The data pointed out that teen use of e-cigarettes tripled in 2014 alone, making them more common for youngsters than tobacco. The campaign mostly threatened to sue violators, or provoke the sense of responsibility among companies, though some lawsuits have been filed, too.
Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller believes, the key is to encourage another generation not to be addicted to nicotine. Battling tobacco companies over conventional cigarettes was essentially fought by State attorneys general during the 1990s.
Significant changes to cigarette marketing, and the requirement of tobacco industry to pay the states about $10 billion annually for the indefinite future, was a consequence of the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA); an contract reached in November 1998 between the state attorneys general of 46 states, five U.S. territories, the District of Columbia and the five largest tobacco companies.
A group of AGs asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to get aggressive on e-cigarettes, almost a year back. The risks and benefits of it are still being examined. According to public health advocates, banning the sale of e-cigarettes to people under the age of 18, without prohibiting advertising, flavored products or online sales would be a better way to help the youngsters. This was proposed by the agency in the April of 2014.
Some AGs are working together where one of the groups is responsible in pressuring certain e-cigarette manufacturers and vendors to limit ads that appeal to teens, especially on company websites and places like YouTube. Letters have been sent to more than 150 e-cigarette and vaping companies in recent years by California, to pursued voluntary compliance with applicable state and federal laws that also includes a ban on sales to youth.
An electronic cigarette company changed its age verification system in some states after being contacted by a state AG, according to its CEO and co-founder, Jan Verleur. He believes, the cost per order would increase by approximately 50 cents but, did not confirm if VMR would absorb any of that. This company makes about half its sales online.
Philip Gorham, an equity analyst at Morningstar who covers consumer products, predicts this to be sour for the smaller players but, sweet for the tobacco companies, whose business model relied on mass manufacturing, not personalized products.
