The FDA Is Severely Restricting the Sale of Flavored E-Cigarettes. Here ’s What to Know

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday followed through on a rumored plan to significantly restrict the sale of flavored e-cigarettes in an effort to keep young users away from tobacco products. “The bottom line is this: I will not allow a generation of children to become addicted to nicotine through e-cigarettes,” said FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb in a statement. “We won’t let this pool of kids, a pool of future potential smokers, of future disease and death, to continue to build. We’ll take whatever action is necessary to stop these trends from continuing.” That action, according to the statement, starts with severely limiting the sale of e-cigarettes in all flavors except mint, menthol and tobacco; unflavored e-cigarettes are also unaffected by the policy. Vapes in flavors such as fruit and candy, which the FDA says are particularly appealing to youth users, will now only be sold through online and in-person vendors with age restriction practices in place, such as tobacco and vape shops, retailers with specified age-restricted areas or stores where vapes are kept out of view of and inaccessible to minors at all times. Under the policy, all-ages stores such as gas stations and convenience stories can no longer sell flavored vapes in full view of minors. E-cigarettes were designed to give adult smokers a healthier alternative to cigarettes, but the products have become popular among kids and teenagers. Recent research s...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized healthytime public health Source Type: news