The Iowa Attorney General is looking to make some restrictions when it comes to e-cigarettes.
Attorney General Tom Miller is calling on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate electronic cigarettes. Miller would like to see the FDA restrict ingredients and advertising of e-cigarettes as well as prohibit the sale of them to minors.
Miller noted that although electronic cigarettes produce vapor instead of smoke, they are still a “nicotine delivery device,” and he said they are “highly addictive,” according to a statement on the Iowa Attorney General's website.
A study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that within one year, the use of e-cigarettes more than doubled among middle and high school students in the U.S.
"The increased use of e-cigarettes by teens is deeply troubling," said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. "Nicotine is a highly addictive drug. Many teens who start with e-cigarettes may be condemned to struggling with a lifelong addiction to nicotine and conventional cigarettes."
Miller shares the concern that the youth will move from e-cigarettes to “the combustible cigarette.”
“Unlike traditional tobacco products, there are no federal age restrictions that prevent children from obtaining e-cigarettes,” Miller said.
Miller is one of about three dozen officials who signed a letter to the FDA which pushes for e-cigarette regulations.