The U.S. Food and Drug Administration officially banned flavored e-cigarette products in an effort to curb youth vaping.
The agency specifically targeted tastes that appeal to children, including generic “fruit” and mint.
Enticed by familiar flavors, growing numbers of kids are turning to vaping as an alternative to traditional tobacco rolls: According to the National Youth Tobacco Survey, more than a quarter of high school students are e-cigarette users.
The so-called “epidemic” (as described by the FDA and Department of Health and Human Services), coupled with reports of vaping-related respiratory illnesses, has spurred the nation to action.
In June, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to ban all sales of battery-powered e-cigarettes, making it illegal to sell nicotine vaporizer products in stores, or for online retailers to ship goods to Bay Area addresses.
The state of Michigan followed suit, halting the sale of flavored nicotine vaping products in retail stores and online. The restrictions extend to misleading marketing, including the use of terms like “clean,” “safe,” and “healthy,” which may perpetuate ideas that vaping products are harmless.
Even Donald Trump backed plans to ban non-tobacco-flavored electronic cigarette products.
“We will not stand idly by as this crisis among America’s youth grows and evolves,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement. “We will continue monitoring the situation and take further actions as necessary.”
Under the FDA’s new policy, companies that do not cease manufacture, distribution, and sale of unauthorized flavored cartridge-based e-cigarettes (other than tobacco or menthol) within 30 days risk “enforcement actions” (the specifics of which remain unclear).
“We will continue to use our full regulatory authority thoughtfully and thoroughly to tackle this alarming crisis that’s affecting children, families, schools, and communities,” FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn said.
“We believe this policy balances the urgency with which we must address the public health threat of youth use of e-cigarette products,” he continued, “with the potential role that e-cigarettes may play in helping adult smokers transition completely away from combustible tobacco to a potentially less risky form of nicotine delivery.”
Cigarette consumption peaked in 1965, when about 50 percent of men and 33 percent of women were sucking down 100+ butts a year. Usage began to wane in the new millennium, dropping to less than 25 percent of adults who now smoke tobacco.
Children, however, are a different story: The 2019 National Youth Tobacco Survey estimates that more than 5 million middle and high school students currently use e-cigarette products.
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