Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen has joined 39 fellow attorneys general in asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issue regulations on electronic cigarettes by Oct. 31.
The AGs want the agency to classify e-cigarettes — battery-operated devices that heat and vaporize liquid nicotine — as tobacco products.
The health effects of e-cigarettes haven’t been adequately studied, the AGs said, though that hasn’t stopped some manufacturers from claiming the devices are safer than regular cigarettes. The FDA sent a warning letter to some distributors in 2010 regarding making those claims, which the FDA called unsubstantiated.
Though states have set a patchwork of regulations on the devices,there are no federal laws against selling e-cigarettes to minors, and some of the nicotine cartridges come in fruit flavors.
