I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4624 
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to establish a tobacco 
product standard prohibiting any e-liquid with a concentration of nicotine 
higher than 20 milligrams per milliliter, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 8, 2019 
Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to 
establish a tobacco product standard prohibiting any e- 
liquid with a concentration of nicotine higher than 20 
milligrams per milliliter, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ending Nicotine De-
pendence from Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems Act 
of 2019’’ or the ‘‘END ENDS Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds as follows: 
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(1) According to the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention (in this section referred to as 
the ‘‘CDC’’), the brain keeps developing until ap-
proximately age 25, and nicotine exposure can harm 
the parts of the brain that control attention, learn-
ing, mood, and impulse control. 
(2) Adolescent nicotine use may also increase 
the risk of future addiction to other drugs. 
(3) A recent CDC study found that 99 percent 
of e-cigarettes sold in the United States contain nic-
otine. 
(4) In congressional testimony before the Sub-
committee on Economic and Consumer Policy of the 
Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House 
of Representatives on September 24, 2019, CDC 
Principal Deputy Director Anne Schuchat stated 
that ‘‘fourth generation e-cigarette devices’’ were 
first sold in 2015 and ‘‘use nicotine salts, which can 
lead to much more available nicotine’’. 
(5) According to Dr. Schuchat’s testimony, 
fourth generation devices ‘‘can cross the blood-brain 
barrier and lead to potentially more effects on the 
developing brain in adolescents’’. Further, ‘‘the very 
high levels of accessible nicotine and the discreet use 
of the product’’ directly link the growing popularity 
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of fourth generation e-cigarette devices to the rise in 
youth e-cigarette use. 
(6) Prior to the use of nicotine salts, which are 
now used in the e-liquids of the most popular e-ciga-
rettes, most e-cigarettes contained ‘‘freebase nico-
tine’’. Because freebase nicotine has a much harsher 
effect on the inhaler, these e-cigarette devices con-
tained much less nicotine than devices which contain 
nicotine salts. 
(7) The most popular e-cigarette manufactured 
and sold in the United States, which is considered 
a ‘‘fourth generation device’’, most frequently con-
tains an ‘‘e-liquid’’ with 59 milligrams per milliliter 
of nicotine. 
(8) In response, the European Union, the 
United Kingdom, and Israel implemented regula-
tions to cap the concentration of nicotine in e-ciga-
rette e-liquids to 20 milligrams per milliliter. 
(9) The United Kingdom’s nicotine cap went 
into effect on May 20, 2017. As youth use sky-
rocketed in the United States between 2017 and 
2018, the percentage of youth e-cigarette users who 
use more than once a week only rose from 1.2 per-
cent to 1.7 percent, and the percentage of youth who 
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use less than weekly decreased from 2.2 percent to 
1.8 percent. 
(10) E-cigarettes manufactured and sold in the 
United States are currently not subject to any nico-
tine cap, and e-cigarette manufacturers are per-
mitted to design their products to be as addictive as 
possible. 
(11) According to the CDC, e-cigarette use rose 
by 78 percent among high schoolers and 48 percent 
among middle schoolers between 2017 and 2018. 
(12) Preliminary results from the CDC’s an-
nual National Youth Tobacco Survey published in 
September 2019 show that 27.5 percent of high 
school students reported using an e-cigarette in the 
previous 30 days, up from 20.8 percent in 2018. 
(13) The CDC, the Food and Drug Administra-
tion, the Department of Health and Human Serv-
ices, the Surgeon General of the Public Health Serv-
ice, and various State and local health authorities 
have determined the skyrocketing e-cigarette use 
amongst American youth to be an ‘‘epidemic’’. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of the Congress that— 
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(1) effectively combating the youth e-cigarette 
epidemic will require the implementation of bold and 
enduring policy solutions; 
(2) under the current regulatory framework, 
American youth have easy access to highly addictive 
‘‘fourth generation’’ e-cigarette devices that hook 
them into a lifelong addiction to nicotine; 
(3) in order to significantly decrease youth e- 
cigarette use and to reduce the dangers associated 
with excessive nicotine inhalation, the Federal Gov-
ernment should regulate nicotine levels in e-ciga-
rettes in order to make them less addictive and less 
harmful to youth; and 
(4) in addition to regulating nicotine levels, the 
Federal Government should also review other factors 
related to the composition and function of fourth 
generation e-cigarettes in order to make them less 
addictive and appealing to youth, including battery 
power and design. 
SEC. 4. MAXIMUM NICOTINE CONTENT IN E-LIQUIDS. 
(a) TOBACCO PRODUCT STANDARD.—Paragraph (1) 
of section 907(a) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 
Act (21 U.S.C. 387g(a)) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subparagraph: 
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‘‘(C) NICOTINE CONTENT IN E-LIQUIDS.— 
Beginning on the date of enactment of the End-
ing Nicotine Dependence from Electronic Nico-
tine Delivery Systems Act of 2019, an e-liquid 
shall not have a concentration of nicotine higher 
than— 
‘‘(i) 20 milligrams per milliliter; or 
‘‘(ii) such lower nicotine concentration 
as is determined by the Secretary to be 
minimally addictive or non-addictive.’’. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 900 of the Federal 
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 387) is 
amended— 
(A) 
by 
redesignating 
paragraphs 
(8) 
through (22) as paragraphs (10) through (24), 
respectively; and 
(B) by inserting after paragraph (7) the 
following: 
‘‘(8) ELECTRONIC
NICOTINE
DELIVERY
SYS-
TEM.—The term ‘electronic nicotine delivery system’ 
means a tobacco product that is an electronic device 
that delivers nicotine, flavor, or another substance 
via an aerosolized solution to the user inhaling from 
the device (including e-cigarettes, e-hookah, e-cigars, 
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vape pens, advanced refillable personal vaporizers, 
and electronic pipes) and any component, liquid, 
part, or accessory of such a device, whether or not 
sold separately. 
‘‘(9) E-LIQUID.—The term ‘e-liquid’ means any 
liquid intended for use with an electronic nicotine 
delivery system.’’. 
(2) CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 9(1) 
of the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health 
Education Act of 1986 (15 U.S.C. 4408(1)) is 
amended by striking ‘‘900(18)’’ and inserting 
‘‘900(20)’’. 
Æ 
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