Fighting Teen Vaping, FDA Plans Crackdown On Flavored E-Cigarettes

By Jamie Gumbrecht, CNN (CNN) — Taking on epidemic levels of teen e-cigarette use, the US Food and Drug Administration is expected to announce new restrictions on the sale of e-cigarette products an agency official confirmed Thursday. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is expected to announce a ban on the sale of most flavored e-cigarettes in convenience stores and gas stations as early as next week. The agency will impose age-verification requirements for online sales. Flavored e-cigarette products would be available in vape and tobacco shops. Gottlieb is also expected to propose a ban on menthol in regular cigarettes. The new restrictions were first reported by the Washington Post. The convenience store ban on flavored e-cigarette sales would not include menthol. Because the FDA will continue to allow the sale of menthol in regular cigarettes, the agency doesn’t want to give cigarettes an advantage over e-cigarettes. E-cigarette makers argue the devices help adult smokers give up cigarettes — potentially saving them from related illnesses — by giving a nicotine fix without the smoke and smell of combustible cigarettes. The scientific consensus is still out on the long-term health effects of vaping. About 6.9 million adults used e-cigarettes in 2017, according to a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Thursday. But the FDA says it didn’t foresee the “epidemic” of youth e-cigarette use. More than 2 million mid...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health News CNN e-cigarettes Source Type: news