Pursuits

Celebrities Pitching E-Cigarettes Make a Nightmare for Public Health Officials

From the Vapefest, a gathering of e-cigarette and vapor delivery system enthusiasts on March 21 in Herndon, Va.Photograph by Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images

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By John Tozzi

June 30, 2014 at 8:34 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Updated, June 30, 4pm ET

Public health officials have spent decades trying to push smoking to the margins of the culture, and until very recently, had pretty much locked that down. Cigarette makers were barred from TV and radio advertising in 1970. State lawsuits against tobacco companies settled in 1998 ended billboard ads and banished Joe Camel and other marketing toward youth. Since then, tobacco companies have had to settle for advertising at counters and cash registers.