On February 16th, Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Richard Blumenthal reintroduced the "No Tax Subsidies for E-Cigarette and Tobacco Ads Act" in Congress. The bill aims to crack down on e-cigarette companies and close a tax loophole that currently allows manufacturers to receive federal tax breaks on advertising expenses for e-cigarette and tobacco products.
In November 2022, federal data released by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that over 3 million middle and high school students had used tobacco products in the past 30 days. The use of electronic cigarettes by teenagers has risen by 1800% from 2011 to 2019. More than 30% of teenagers who start using electronic cigarettes switch to traditional tobacco products within six months.
Currently, more than 25% of teenage e-cigarette users use their e-cigarettes every day. More than 85% of users prefer fruit flavors. Among students surveyed, 73.5% reported seeing e-cigarette content on social media.
Electronic cigarette and big tobacco companies must be held accountable for their advertising targeting young people. These dangerous products are fueling a public health crisis – especially among teenagers," said Shaheen. "Taxpayers should not foot the bill for these harmful marketing practices. That's why I am reintroducing this critical legislation, which would close a tax loophole that allows companies to write off their advertising costs and require responsibility from electronic cigarette companies.
The tax breaks for the tobacco and e-cigarette giants allowed the industry to profit from their manipulative marketing tactics. Our legislation has put an end to these loopholes, in order to protect children and other consumers from being lured into lifelong addiction," said Blumenthal. "I am proud to have worked alongside Senator Shaheen to prevent big tobacco companies from enticing the next generation.
According to federal law, television and radio advertisements for traditional tobacco products have been prohibited, and certain other forms of tobacco advertising are also restricted by the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. However, these restrictions do not apply to electronic cigarettes. While some television media have begun to pull electronic cigarette advertisements during broadcasts in response to the ongoing youth vaping crisis, other media are still airing these ads. To ensure equality between electronic cigarettes and traditional tobacco, the Shaheen and Blumenthal bill also prohibits tax breaks for advertising expenses related to cigarette rolling tobacco, cigars, snuff, chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco, and homemade cigarettes.
Senators Brown (D-OH), Reed (D-RI), Durbin (D-IL), and Merkley (D-OR) have also joined the ranks of sponsors for this reintroduced bill.
The full text of the legislation can be found here.
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