Policy Memo on E-cigarette Advertising Ban: Public Health Implications

This policy memo addresses the issue of e-cigarette advertising and its impact on public health, particularly the exposure of young people to tobacco products. It provides background information on the history of tobacco advertising, the rise of e-cigarettes, and the current lack of policies regulating their marketing. The memo analyzes the stakeholders involved, including government agencies, health organizations, and advocacy groups, and reviews relevant literature highlighting the negative effects of e-cigarette advertising on youth. It emphasizes how e-cigarette marketing tactics, such as appealing flavors and sponsorships, expose young people to nicotine, potentially leading to addiction and health risks. The memo calls for a ban on e-cigarette advertising to protect public health and prevent the normalization of smoking among young people. The memo cites several studies and reports from organizations such as the FDA and CDC to support its arguments, and includes a list of references for further reading.

Running head: POLICY MEMO 1
Policy Memo
Name
Institution

POLICY MEMO 2
Policy Memo
To:
From:
Date:
RE: Ban on e-cigarette advertising
Ban on e-cigarette advertising
E-cigarettes advertising involves running cigarette commercials on unrestricted media or
even mainstream media. Vaping stores and companies buy television adverts and use social
media to advertise their products because the ban on tobacco advertising does not include them.
These adverts expose young people to cigarettes hence increasing their chances of using e-
cigarettes. By offering scholarships and requesting students to write essays on topics related to e-
cigarettes, the young people get exposed by accessing information that may not be intended to
them. This topic is of interest to me because I feel like the use of e-cigarette advertising is a
tactic that cigarette companies use to expose the young people to tobacco.
Background Information
Despite the ban on advertising tobacco on commercial televisions in 1971, cigarette
companies still have avenues for advertising their products thereby still exposing the adolescents.
The marketing of e-cigarettes through the traditional media outlets, internet, retail environments
as well as recreational venues and events not only exposes the young people into tobacco but
also introduces them to smoking. Lack of e-cigarette policies has prompts the cigarette
companies to sponsor youth events and festivals thereby creating a sales and marketing platform

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for their products. They also use flavors appealing to the young generation which easily lures
them into smoking. Although the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement and the 2009 Family
Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act prohibited the cigarette and smokeless tobacco
companies from sponsoring such events, e-cigarettes are not bound by this policy. According to
Cullen et al. (2018), the overall tobacco used among high school students increased by 38%
between the year 2011-2018. This can be accredited to the popularity of e-cigarettes. This
exposure can cause dependence and damage the brain of these young people. Moreover, e-
cigarette is undermining the role of public health in smoking cessation (Booth, Albery, & Frings,
2017). This calls for the ban on this act as it leads to health risks such as cancer, respiratory and
heart diseases or even spread of infectious diseases.
Stakeholder Analysis
The stakeholders who are able to influence the policy decisions on the ban of e-cigarettes
include the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education drug unit,
World Health Organization, Food and Drug Administration, American cancer Society,
Americans for non-smokers, Truth initiative as well as Center for Disease Control and
Prevention. The stakeholders are organizations, advocacy groups and law makers who will
ensure that at every level of decision-making, the family voice is present as they represent the
public concerns and values. These stakeholders are also directly concerned with the health of the
community hence their ability to influence policy decision making.
Literature Review
Research shows that e-cigarette marketing in the USA targets the young people as it acts
as a gateway to traditional smoking. Study conducted by Padon, Maloney, and Cappella (2017)

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show that the lack of regulation on marketing has made the e-cigarette companies to market their
cigarettes using features that may particularly appeal to the youth. Beyond avoiding misleading
claims, there are currently no policies governing e-cigarettes. Food and Drug Administration
(2016) only forbids direct sales of tobacco to persons below 18 years and in advertisements.
However, there is lack of a policy on e-cigarette hence the loophole. Wan et al. (2017) found that
shops with e-cigarette adverts had more profits and had negative association with adolescents.
Therefore, it is important to ban e-cigarette advertisements since there is no difference between
the traditional advertisement methods.

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References
Collins, L., Glasser, A. M., Abudayyeh, H., Pearson, J. L., & Villanti, A. C. (2018). E-cigarette
marketing and communication: how e-cigarette companies market e-cigarettes and the
public engages with e-cigarette information. Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 21(1), 14-
24.
Booth, P., Albery, I. P., & Frings, D. (2017). Effect of e-cigarette advertisements and
antismoking messages on explicit and implicit attitudes towards tobacco and e-cigarette
smoking in 18–65-year-olds: a randomised controlled study protocol. BMJ open, 7(6),
e014361.
Cullen, K. A., Ambrose, B. K., Gentzke, A. S., Apelberg, B. J., Jamal, A., & King, B. A. (2018).
Notes from the field: Use of electronic cigarettes and any tobacco product among middle
and high school students—United States, 2011–2018. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly
Report, 67(45), 1276.
Food and Drug Administration, HHS. (2016). Deeming tobacco products to be subject to the
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended by the Family Smoking Prevention
and Tobacco Control Act; restrictions on the sale and distribution of tobacco products
and required warning statements for tobacco products. Final rule. Federal
register, 81(90), 28973.
Padon, A. A., Maloney, E. K., & Cappella, J. N. (2017). Youth-targeted e-cigarette marketing in
the US. Tobacco regulatory science, 3(1), 95-101.

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Wan, N., Siahpush, M., Shaikh, R. A., McCarthy, M., Ramos, A., & Correa, A. (2017). Point-of-
sale E-cigarette advertising among tobacco stores. Journal of community health, 42(6),
1179-1186.