US health officials will tighten sales of e-cigarettes

WASHINGTON (AP) – US health regulators have put in place a plan to protect teens' e-cigarettes by limiting sales of most flavored products in convenience stores and online.

The new guidelines, first proposed in November, are the latest government effort to reverse what the health authorities have called a vape epidemic among miners.

Electronic cigarettes usually heat a flavored nicotine solution into an inhalable vapor. Federal law prohibits their sale to under 18s, but 1 in 5 high school students report using electronic cigarettes, according to the latest poll released last year.

According to the proposed guidelines released Wednesday by the Food and Drug Administration, electronic cigarette manufacturers would limit sales of most flavored products to stores verifying the age of customers entering the store or providing for a separate and limited area for customers. vaping products. Businesses should also use third-party identity verification technology for online sales.

Companies that do not meet the requirements may see their products removed from the market, the FDA said.

"It's now up to businesses and the vaping industry to work with us to try to reduce these levels of use by young people, who are simply intolerable," said the FDA commissioner. Scott Gottlieb, during an interview. The restrictions will not apply to the three flavors that, according to the FDA, are more relevant to adults than teens: tobacco, menthol and mint.

The FDA will accept comments on the guidelines for 30 days before finalizing them later this year.

Anti-smoking activists questioned whether in-store restrictions would be enough to stop the unprecedented rise in teenage smoking. The FDA has little authority over how stores display and sell vaping products. Critics are saying that the agency is essentially asking companies to control where and how their products are sold.

Today & # 39; hui, @US_FDA pursue policies to prevent young people from gaining access to flavored tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes and cigars, and to attract them. https://t.co/DVhsMSX5Mx

– Tobacco FDA (@FDATobacco) March 13, 2019

"The FDA continues to nibble on the edges and this will not end the epidemic," said Erika Sward, of the American Lung Association, who called on the FDA to remove all flavored electronic cigarettes from the US. market.

Health experts say that nicotine is harmful for brain development, and some researchers fear that drug-addicted teenagers will only end up smoking cigarettes.

According to regulations developed by the Obama administration, manufacturers were expected to submit e-cigarettes to a safety and health review by August 2018. But Gottlieb has extended the deadline to 2022, claiming that the agency and the industry needed more time to prepare. As part of Wednesday's update, the FDA will postpone the deadline to 2021.

Nevertheless, the American Lung Association and several other anti-smoking groups are suing the FDA for justice to begin to immediately examine the effects of electronic cigarettes on safety and health.

___

The Health and Science Department of the Associated Press is receiving support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Copyright © Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, disseminated, rewritten or redistributed.

pics

Related stories