Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat, proposed a plan Monday to cap nicotine levels in e-cigarettes, a new and aggressive strategy for countering a rise in teen vaping that officials consider an epidemic.
“We can and must regulate nicotine levels in potent e-cigarette devices to make vaping less addictive and less appealing to youth,” Krishnamoorthi said at the City Club of Chicago. “We just have to do it. There’s no other choice.”
The plan, entitled the Ending Nicotine Dependence from Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems Act, would place a cap on the amount of nicotine in an e-cigarette at 20 milligrams per milliliter of vaping e-liquid. For reference, the average Juul pod contains about 59 milligrams per milliliter of e-liquid, and a single pod contains the same amount of nicotine as a pack of 20 cigarettes.
In the hopes of deterring teens from starting and continuing to use e-cigarettes, Krishnamoorthi’s plan would also give the Food and Drug Administration the authority to lower that nicotine concentration cap further to a minimally-addictive level or even a nonaddictive level.
The United Kingdom, European Union, and Israel enacted similar measures in 2017, capping permissible nicotine content at 5 milligrams per milliliter. Krishnamoorthi said Monday that the U.K. has “successfully deterred” the uptick in teen vaping, amounting to less than 5% of the youth population.
While e-cigarettes are deemed generally safer than smoking regular cigarettes, which burn tobacco and have been proven to cause various cancers and pulmonary illnesses, physicians agree that a developing brain can be stunted with continued nicotine use.
Most proposed or enacted regulations on the federal and state levels respectively have dealt with regulating flavored e-liquids to make them less attractive to young people, most of whom started using e-cigarettes because of fun flavors such as mango and creme brulee.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that about 3.15 million teens used flavored tobacco in 2018, e-cigarette products being the most commonly used.
“By banning flavors, ending youth marketing, and regulating the design and function of e-cigarettes, we are on our way to potentially ending this public health epidemic,” Krishnamoorthi said. “But to win this fight we’ll need the continued hard work and support of elected officials, regulators, advocates, and folks like you.”
