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Democrats Really Don’t Want You to Smoke E-Cigarettes

Sens. Tom Harkin (D., Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D., Ill.)
Sens. Tom Harkin (D., Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) / AP
January 30, 2014

After accusing actors and actresses of "killing" their fans for using electronic cigarettes at the Golden Globes, a handful of Senate Democrats are not stopping their crusade, vowing a crackdown on the smoking simulators.

Regulating e-cigarettes will be Sen. Tom Harkin’s (D., Iowa) "final agenda" before he retires, according to the Hill:

Retiring Sen. Tom Harkin has led the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee since 2009. He said that the rise in e-cigarette smoking is something regulators must "nip in the bud" before negative health consequences take effect.

"I want to get [the Food and Drug Administration] to be very, very active on e-cigarettes," Harkin told reporters in a private meeting.

Part of that efforts will be encouraging White House budget officials to move quickly on proposed regulations from the FDA. The agency completed and forwarded its rule to the Office of Management and Budget in late October.

Harkin, along with Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.), was one of the several Democrats who chastised celebrities for smoking e-cigarettes during the Golden Globes ceremony, saying "notable displays of e-cigarette use" and "repeated shots of celebrities smoking e-cigarettes" would lead to kids beginning to use the popular e-cigarettes.

Smoking electronic cigarettes indoors has already been banned in New York City, one of the last laws signed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Published under: Dick Durbin , Tom Harkin