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The Food and Drug Administration, alarmed by the dramatic increase in the number of vapors among minors, is expected to impose severe restrictions on the sale of e-cigarette products across the United States – measures that will likely have a significant impact on a sector in strong growth. in recent years with little government supervision.
According to senior agency officials, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is expected to announce the ban on the sale of most flavored electronic cigarettes in tens of thousands of convenience stores and drug stores. essence across the country. The agency will also impose rules such as age verification requirements for online sales, officials said.
Gottlieb should also propose the ban on menthol in regular cigarettes. The agency has received public comments on such a ban, which is a major goal of the public health community but which the cigarette industry is likely to oppose.
Preliminary government data shows that the use of electronic cigarettes has increased by 77% among high school students and by nearly 50% among middle school students in 2018. This means that 3.5 million children were vaping at the beginning of the year. 2018, an increase of one million compared to 2017.
Gottlieb, who has previously served on the board of directors of a vaping company in North Carolina, has already been considered an ally of the electronic cigarette industry. He delayed the implementation of some essential rules shortly after his appointment to the position of Commissioner in 2017. He also declared his first priority is to protect children from tobacco-related illnesses. Most vaping products are flavored and studies show that teens are attracted to aromas.
"We now have evidence that a new generation is addicted to nicotine, and we can not tolerate it," he said, referring to the vaping data in an interview before he make his final decision on e-cigarette policy.
The Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Scott Gottlieb, is expected to announce the ban on flavored electronic cigarettes. Studies show that flavors attract teenagers and Gottlieb said protecting minors from smoking-related health problems was a top priority. (Astrid Riecken / For the Washington Post)
The only exception to the ban on flavored products in convenience stores is menthol products for electronic cigarettes. The FDA will continue to allow the sale of this flavor, as menthol is allowed in regular cigarettes.and the agency does not want to give an advantage to traditional cigarettes over e-cigarettes. But the FDA could extend the sales restriction to menthol electronic cigarettes if teenage vaping does not go down, officials said.
Gottlieb's actions apply to a specific type of vaping product that dominates the youth market – electronic cigarettes that use prepackaged flavor cartridges. This includes the extremely popular vaping products from Juul Labs. The restrictions do not apply to "open tank" systems available in vape shops.
Research indicates that many users of e-cigarettes may become addicted to nicotine and that some will likely end up with regular cigarettes, a product that kills half of its users in the long run. In addition, the long-term health effects of spraying are unknown.
At the same time, vaping advocates and advocates of "harm reduction" have stated that e-cigarettes are a powerful tool to help adult smokers quit smoking more dangerous cigarettes. They warned that making it more difficult for adults to buy electronic cigarettes – or deprive them of flavored products – would be detrimental.
"We must be very careful not to overreact to the problem of youth," said David Abrams, professor of social and behavioral sciences at New York University.
Juul, which accounts for more than 70% of the retail market, is sold in tens of thousands of outlets.
The measures taken by Gottlieb will almost certainly be criticized as being too aggressive on the part of the industry and too weak on public health groups and Democratic legislators, whose electoral victory will probably encourage them to fight against the use electronic cigarettes by young people.
Tobacco control groups are demanding restrictions on the marketing and prohibition of all electronic cigarette flavorings until manufacturers can prove that these flavors are beneficial to public health by helping adults to stop to smoke, without the young people soothing more.
"As long as the FDA will allow these companies to peddle these flavors, you will see a steady increase in the number of children dependent on this product," said Senator Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) In an interview.
Gottlieb has resisted a general ban because he wants to ensure that flavored products are available to adults who wish to use them to quit ordinary cigarettes. Such devices could be a potentially less harmful source of nicotine, he said.
"We know that adults stop consuming fuels and that flavors play a role in this process," he said in an interview. "We do not want to prevent adults from having access to these products."
In the United States, the adult smoking rate reached its lowest level last year, at 14%, continuing its downward trend after a peak in 1965, but the cigarette kills about 480,000 Americans a year.
Flavored electronic cigarette products will be available at tobacco and tobacco stores, which, according to the FDA, pays more attention to checking the age of buyers. Under federal law, tobacco products can not be sold to persons under 18 years of age. In some states and localities, age is higher.
Gottlieb should also warn that new restrictions on e-cigarettes could be imposed if their use by young people does not begin to decline.
FDA officials, who recently led a crackdown on the retail sale of electronic cigarettes to minors in detail products are sold illegally, were alarmed by the number of offenses in convenience stores.
Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, a consumer group, emphasized the importance of making electronic cigarettes available to adults in convenience stores and online, especially those living in rural areas who do not might not have vape shops. "Severely limiting the availability of these devices does not seem to be in the interest of public health," he said.
Convenience stores have already begun to question Gottlieb's legal ability to limit the sale of electronic cigarettes to a specific type of store.
Juul, an elegant electronic cigarette introduced in 2015, is largely responsible for the rise in use by young people. A technical and design breakthrough, the e-cigarette looks like a USB key and, unlike earlier vaping products, provides high levels of smooth, nicotine-free nicotine. Each of its pods, which have flavors such as mango and cucumber, provides as much nicotine as a pack of cigarettes.
The initial marketing strategy of the company included a launch party with attractive young models whose images were widely shared on social media sites such as Twitter and Instagram.
Today, society is feeling the repercussions of increased use by young people. Company officials said the first marketing campaign was short-lived and had no impact on sales.
The San Francisco-based company is now publishing ads that tout its role in helping smokers quit traditional cigarettes. The ads carry the slogan "The alternative for adult smokers".He also pledged $ 30 million to reduce the use of minors. With four other electronic cigarette manufacturers, he plans to submit plans to Gottlieb on reducing youth use.
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