Because "electronic cigarettes" don't deliver tobacco, they are excluded from even the Food and Drug Administration's authority to regulate tobacco products.

That should change as data accrue regarding the use and effects of the devices.E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that heat liquid nicotine that is delivered as a vapor.The liquids often incorporate flavors such as fruits, mint or coffee."Vaping," as the practice is called, has fostered a $2.1-billion-a-year industry that rapidly is growing.The industry contends that it offers a safer alternative to smoking, but there is no definitive evidence in that regard. Anti-smoking activists say that nicotine itself is a dangerous substance, regardless of whether it is accompanied by the toxic stew of other components in tobacco.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that nicotine is harmful to brain development.And Dr. Tom Frieden, the CDC director who personally has treated hundreds of tobacco victims for a variety of ailments, is unsparing of his assessment of e-cigarettes: "I see the industry getting another generation of our kids addicted. To me, as a physician, when 1.78 million of our high school kids have tried an e-cigarette and a lot of them are using them regularly … that's like watching someone harm hundreds of thousands of children."According to the CDC, tobacco use continually has declined among teenagers, but vaping among high school students tripled in 2014 to about 13 percent.Clearly, vaping has a public health component, especially relative to young people.The FDA, which received its authority relative to tobacco only in 2009, has noted a national increase in nicotine poisoning as vaping has grown, though it has not identified a specific correlation. Congress should extend to the FDA the same authority that the agency has relative to tobacco products.It should be able to restrict e-cigarette advertising aimed at children, require warning labels and evaluate products for their health risks.Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice