US Sen. Commerce, Sci. & Transport Cmte Hearings Weds 6/18 2:30p - advertising and marketing

[Roger_Lafayette]

Topic: "Aggressive E-Cigarette Marketing and Potential Consequences for Youth"
Committee: US Sen. Commerce, Science & Transportation
Time: Weds June 18 2:30p

I haven't seen this posted in some of the obvious places (CASAA, Legislation, FDA Regs, Campaigning). I also have no idea where it should go. But since there's a media story, I figure it could at least go here:

http://www.charlestondailymail.com/
article/20140615/DM01/140619497/1301

The Charleston Daily Mail isn't exactly the US's most noteworthy media outlet - but apparently none of the others thought this was worthy of announcing. So I checked, and voilà - here it is:

http://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=Hearings&ContentRecord_id=42af91a8-6308-45b5-9842-74bc5833be73&ContentType_id=14f995b9-dfa5-407a-9d35-56cc7152a7ed&Group_id=b06c39af-e033-4cba-9221-de668ca1978a&MonthDisplay=6&YearDisplay=2014

Witness list:

1) Matt Myers

2) Suzanne Tanski (no longer on TPSAC)

3) Craig Weiss

4) Jason Healy

5) Scott Ballin

I'm wondering whether this whole thing wasn't thrown together at the last minute, there seems to have been little publicity, and the witness list surprises me in that it omits some notable vaping opponents (not to mention government officials - where is the FTC, let alone the FDA or the CDC?).

Kinda reminds me of a small local TV network affiliate that substitutes comedy re-runs for a rained-out ball game during the dog days of summer.

 

[AgentAnia]

Since it's a hearing on marketing, I think this forum is appropriate.

Thanks for the senate . gov link. I saw a mention by SFATA about a hearing before this committee about two weeks ago but was unable to find any info on the committee website. Apparently they rescheduled. Am going to investigate now.

Note that the hearing will be webcast live. There's a link to the viewer in Roger's link. (Not sure that makes sense. Going for more coffee.)

 

[AgentAnia]

FYI: Checking the committee membership, I note that among the majority (Dem) members are Blumenthal and Markey.

I agree about the witness list. Only well-known "heavy hitters" (IMO) are Myers (Center for Tobacco Free Kids) and Weiss (Njoy), though Blu is also represented (Jason Healy).

I see that Dr. Susanne Tanski is now listed as "Pediatrician and Chair, Tobacco Consortium of the American Academy of Pediatricians." I connect the dots and conclude that her influence is perhaps why we've seen so many anti-ecig comments forthcoming from pediatricians in news articles in the past months.

 

[Bill Godshall]

The primary goal of Democrat Sen. Rockefeller’s Senate Commerce Cmte hearing on June 18 (similar to and piggybacking on Harkin's H’ELP Cmte hearing a month ago) is to further lobby for swift implementation of FDA deeming regulation by once again falsely accusing e-cig companies of target marketing to youth.

The vehicle bill for Sen. Rockefeller's June 18 hearing is S. 2047, which is outrageously titled:
Protecting Children from Electronic Cigarette Advertising Act of 2014
Bill Text - 113th Congress (2013-2014) - THOMAS (Library of Congress)

The bill's stated goal is to urge FTC to ban e-cig ads.
"(b) Sense of Congress- It is the sense of Congress that the Federal Trade Commission should prohibit the advertising, promoting, and marketing in commerce of electronic cigarettes to children as an unfair or deceptive act or practice, in order to protect the health of the youth of the United States."

And among the bill's many false claims is:
"(6) Marketing of electronic cigarettes to youth is occurring in the form of advertising using cartoons and sponsorships of events popular with youth such as concerts and sporting events."

S. 2047 has only 6 cosponsors (Democrats Boxer, Durbin, Harkin, Blumenthal, Markey, Brown), has NO chance of enactment by Congress, has negligible chance of Senate passage, and probably won’t be able to get enough votes to pass the Senate Commerce Cmte.

At Wednesday's hearing, I expect much of the talk (by Democrat Senators and by e-cig prohibitionists CTFK's Matt Myers and AAP's Suzanne Tanski (who was never on TPSAC) to cite the April 2014 Senate/House Democrat ANTZ report "Gateway to Addiction" that falsely accuses e-cig advertising of targeting youth (by claiming that any ad that might be seen by a youth is target marketing to youth).
http://www.durbin.senate.gov/public...?File_id=81d14ff7-f2f6-4856-af9d-c20c0b138f8f

Please note that Blumenthal, Markey and Boxer are on Rockefeller's Commerce Cmte, and their staff helped to draft the Gateway to Addiction report (as was Rockefeller's). So I expect at least one or two of them to show up and grandstand at Wednesday's hearing (by falsely accusing Healey and Weiss and the rest of the e-cig industry of target marketing to youth).
Committee Members - About - U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation

Below is the timetable of events leading up to this hearing.

9/13 Senate/House ANTZ and Rockefeller send letter to nine cigalike companies (NJOY, Lorillard, Reynolds, Altria, LOGIC, Eonsmoke, GreenSmoke, VMR Products/V2, and Lead By Sales/White Cloud) inquiring about their advertising and marketing practices and expenditures.
Durbin, Harkin, Rockefeller, Waxman & Members of Congress Call on E-Cigarette Makers to Explain Marketing Tactics Targeting Kids - Press Releases - Press Office - U.S. Senator .... Durbin

12/13 Senate ANTZ letter to FTC to urge them to investigate and restrict e-cig ads
Official Website of U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer: Press Releases - Boxer, Blumenthal, Durbin, Harkin, Brown and Markey Urge the Federal Trade Commission to Investigate E-Cigarette Marketing Practices

2/14 Senate ANTZ introduce S. 2047 urging FTC to ban e-cig ads to adults (to protect the children)
Press releases sent out by Boxer, Durbin and Harkin announcing S. 2047, and an Ad Week article
Official Website of U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer: Press Releases - Boxer, Durbin, Harkin, Blumenthal, Markey Introduce Legislation to Protect Kids From E-Cigarettes
Durbin, Boxer, Harkin, Blumenthal, Markey Introduce Legislation to Help Protect Kids from E-Cigarettes - Press Releases - Press Office - U.S. Senator .... Durbin
http://www.help.senate.gov/newsroom...57d3-9831-4fb9-b93a-38a54865ebe1&groups=Chair
Senators Introduce Bill to Limit E-Cigarette Marketing to Kids and Teens | Adweek

2/14 Jacob Sullum rips into S. 2047 for being unconstitutional
Five Senators Demand Unconstitutional Restrictions On E-Cigarette Ads

4/14 Senate/House ANTZ issue report "Gateway to Addiction" falsely accusing e-cig advertising of targeting youth
http://www.durbin.senate.gov/public...?File_id=81d14ff7-f2f6-4856-af9d-c20c0b138f8f
Durbin, Waxman, Harkin, Rockefeller & Members of Congress: Report Shows E-Cigarette Marketing Campaigns Lighting Up Among Young Users - Press Releases - Press Office - U.S. Senator .... Durbin

Article in Roll Call on fraudulent Gateway to Addiction report
Ban on E-Cig Sales, Marketing to Kids Pushed by Durbin, Waxman

 

[Bill Godshall]

Last week, Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley (who urged the US Senate to ban all dissolvable nicotine products in 2009) repeated false fear mongering claims about e-cigs to lobby for FDA’s proposed deeming regulation, and even claimed to be releasing the Gateway to Addiction report (which was released back in April).
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/june062014/oregon-tobacco-kh.php

 

[Roger_Lafayette]

The marketing-to-minors aspect was a critical part of a larger gateway-to-tobacco-cigarettes meme. There was more there than grandstanding by politicians. The key argument there was that vaping was going to create a new generation of tobacco cigarette smokers (as opposed to a new generation of vapers).

Let's not forget Dutra & Glantz ("seven times more likely"), which I believe generated more than a thousand media stories, not to mention the much-ballyhooed studies to be done by the CDC and the state of CA. And there was a whole slew of pieces written about "vape pens," and "e-hookahs." The whole shebang lasted more than six weeks, until the "e-cigarettes don't help smokers quit" extravaganza begun by Grana, Popov & Ling (which was followed by the poison festivities, as I recall).

What I don't understand is why this hearing wasn't promoted more effectively. Why aren't we seeing a massive flurry of press conferences and press releases? Where are the parents who caught their kids vaping and who are going to plaintively weep on the witness stand as they recollect their relatives' deaths from lung cancer? Why aren't there more high-profile anti-vaping witnesses - surely a lousy high school principal could've been obtained? Why was this thing apparently announced with less than a week's worth of advance warning? Why aren't there scores of capitol hill staffers on the horn to every major media outlet in the country? It's the middle of summer for heaven's sakes - and the US press is suffering from a shortage of domestic news (who wants to hear wall-to-wall coverage of the situation in the middle east?).

Compared to the excitement they generated in late winter/early spring, this is a pretty dull event. Which makes me wonder what's going on.

Incidently the CDC released its annual youth risk behavior report and there isn't a peep in it about vaping. Actually teen smoking is down to the lowest level since the survey was started. (It does cover tobacco use in detail. Even in the limitations section, there's no explanation about why vaping was omitted, e.g. perhaps for historical continuity reasons.)

All in all, the timing of this hearing and the lack of promotion seem odd - if not downright half-hearted.

Although it seems reasonable to suspect that the "back to school" period immediately following Labor Day will be marked by yet another huge media frenzy, in which various studies and reports are released - allegedly to demonstrate that vaping is turning America's youth into cigarette smokers.

 

[Bobbilly]

"Dr. Kenneth Warner, a professor of health management and policy at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, looked back through the data and found that among kids who have never smoked a conventional cigarette, only 0.7% have ever tried an e-cigarette within the last 30 days. What this shows is that the same kids who are smoking regular cigarettes are smoking e-cigs. "http://time.com/2864214/teen-smoking-is-way-down-but-what-about-e-cigs/

 

[Bill Godshall]

The worst part of this hearing is that all five of the testifiers have advocated FDA regulation of e-cigs.

Myers and Tanski are e-cig prohibitionists who want FDA to ban all e-cigs (as CTFK and AAP urged FDA to do in 2009).

Healey and Weiss have both endorsed the FDA deeming regulation because it would ban >99% of e-cigs from the market, and would eliminate >99% of their e-cig competitors.

Scott Ballin is likely to point out that e-cigs are less hazardous than cigarettes, but Ballin has also advocated FDA regulation of e-cigs since 2007, and Ballin has never publicly opposed (to my knowledge) the FDA's 2009 e-cig ban.

Nothing like inviting five FDA deeming reg advocates to testify at a Congressional hearing, but nobody who opposes the FDA's proposal to ban >99% of e-cig products.

 

[KODIAK (TM)]

I keep saying it's all smoke and mirrors and everything is just a foregone FDA conclusion. Let's just hope Njoy and Lorillard have thrown a few attorneys at this along with some researchers to help Healy and Weiss. But something just smells wrong here. I suspect Healy and Weiss will just throw in the towel. They are used to being on the pointy end of the FDA's stick.

 

[aikanae1]

The worst part of this hearing is that all five of the testifiers have advocated FDA regulation of e-cigs.

Myers and Tanski are e-cig prohibitionists who want FDA to ban all e-cigs (as CTFK and AAP urged FDA to do in 2009).

Healey and Weiss have both endorsed the FDA deeming regulation because it would ban >99% of e-cigs from the market, and would eliminate >99% of their e-cig competitors.

Scott Ballin is likely to point out that e-cigs are less hazardous than cigarettes, but Ballin has also advocated FDA regulation of e-cigs since 2007, and Ballin has never publicly opposed (to my knowledge) the FDA's 2009 e-cig ban.

Nothing like inviting five FDA deeming reg advocates to testify at a Congressional hearing, but nobody who opposes the FDA's proposal to ban >99% of e-cig products.

I don't recall a big whoop over the HELP hearing. I think we got wind of it a day (?) in advance. Of course, they also heard for just 2 people, both happen to be architcts of much of the misinformation around.

Balin's got some interesting positions going way back. He seems behind THR concepts and pushes modified risk. One thing he keeps pointing out is what is the difference between nicotine used in NRT products vs. ecigs. He's not anti-legislation, but he's not in agreement with the way the FDA has handled it either.

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Adviso...uctsScientificAdvisoryCommittee/UCM294432.pdf
Tobacco at a Crossroads

 

[Roger_Lafayette]

NOTE: If you live in any of these states, please see this thread: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...tee-before-wednesday-2-30pm.html#post13450358

AR *(Pryor)
AK *
CA (Boxer)
CT (Blumenthal)
FL
HI *
MA *(Markey)
MO
MN
NE
NH
NJ *
NV
SC *
SD
TX
WA
WI
WV (Rockefeller)

[States marked with asterisks have members of the cmte who are up for re-election. Named members are known vaping opponents.]

***

For what it may be worth ... the publicity surrounding the HELP cmte hearings last month was fairly intense, judging by the # of media stories: https://www.google.com/search?q=us+...=cdr:1,cd_min:5/12/2014,cd_max:5/19/2014&tbm=

There are very few stories on tomorrow's hearing, which leads me to suspect that it may be some kind of political "debt" owed to (?) Rockefeller and/or other vaping opponents on the committee. I'm more inclined to think of it as a warm-up for a big post-Labor-Day ("back to school") dog-and-pony show, which will be timed for the release of new studies on minor use. We saw this movie last month, with the coordinated release of the CDC poison control call center data and the HELP hearings. That doesn't mean that I don't think we should take it seriously ... but right now my sense is that it will be a bust, and very few Sen.s will bother to show.

 

[Vocalek]

Here is a link to the CASAA CTA on the hearing, which was posted yesterday and sent to our members in the states that have a Senator on the committee. CASAA: Call to Action! Senate Commerce Committee Hearing June 18, 2014 regarding E-Cigarettes

 

[Vocalek]

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[Vocalek]

Today, I received a copy of the testimony that Scott Ballin plans to deliver at the hearing.

View attachment SCBallin-SenateCommerceTestimonyJune2014.pdf

 

[rothenbj]

Interesting presentation. The biggest objection I could find was his belief that "1. That no one under the age of 18 (21) should be able to purchase any tobacco or nicotine containing product including e-cigarettes. This should include such things as (as are applied to some tobacco products already) age verification, face to face sales, restrictions on vending machines etc".

He thinks there might be some general consensus on this but that would only be in that room.

 

[Kent C]

Today, I received a copy of the testimony that Scott Ballin plans to deliver at the hearing.

View attachment 347510

Once again, we see this.... (basically the same as Zeller's comments in the HELP committee hearing, and imo, what needs answered in some manner - it is how they would justify more regulation rather than less):

"In addition, e-cigarettes may help some smokers quit. However, the existing evidence is insufficient to support any informed inference on net public health benefits versus harm at this time.

The impact on individuals is only part of the story. We must also consider e-cigarettes' impact on public health at a population level..................."

This is a bit of a slam at the true ANTZealots:

10. That FDA, while focusing on the abuses of aggressive advertising targeted at youth, also begin considering how best to convey truthful, complete and non-misleading information to the public about the risks, relative risks and intended uses

repeated here:

1. The public at large and consumers of tobacco and nicotine products need to be truthfully and honestly educated about the risks and relative risks of products in the marketplace, including e-cigarettes.

 

[Stosh]

Does everyone have their blood pressure meds and Xanax ready? C-SPAN is carrying the hearing 2:30 EDT

 

[rothenbj]

Does everyone have their blood pressure meds and Xanax ready? C-SPAN is carrying the hearing 2:30 EDT

Can I avoid watching?

 

[DrMA]

Can I avoid watching?

I started watching, but my blood pressure skyrocketed and within minutes I was feeling nauseated, so I had to stop. I'm gonna call Poison Control and report severe adverse effects to even a minor exposure to the slurry gushing from the Senate Commerce Committee.

 

[rothenbj]

I started watching, but my blood pressure skyrocketed and within minutes I was feeling nauseated, so I had to stop. I'm gonna call Poison Control and report severe adverse effects to even a minor exposure to the slurry gushing from the Senate Commerce Committee.

Yes the Regressives getting stroked by the ANTZ.