State health officials push FDA to regulate e-cigarettes, other new tobacco products

Photo: Model with electronic cigarette
A female model demonstrating use of an electronic cigarette.

Among the products are little cigars that are sold in candy flavors that health experts say are as dangerous as full-sized cigars.

The products also include smokeless, electronic-cigarettes and dissolvable products.

Those two options come with unknown risks beyond research that shows these products to be highly addictive, according to CDPHE Executive Director Dr. Larry Wolk.

Wolk said the FDA needs to require people be at least 18 years old to buy e-cigarettes and other like products.

"There’s a number of tobacco products that seem to have slipped through the cracks with regard to the FDA’s oversight," Wolk said.

Wolk added that the FDA should ban self-service and online sales of the products as well as make it illegal to market them to young people.