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The use of electronic cigarettes has become an epidemic among adolescents and must be stopped, said Wednesday the head of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Scott Gottlieb.
The FDA has stated that it is putting a brake on sales of vaping products to teens and could consider removing electronic cigarettes from the market if manufacturers do not do more to stop exponential sales to teens. The FDA may also limit the sale of certain flavored products, Gottlieb said.
"We are seeing clear signs that the use of e-cigarettes by young people has reached an epidemic proportion, and we need to adapt some aspects of our overall strategy to stem this clear and current danger," said Gottlieb at the # 39, a press conference.
"We are announcing the largest ever coordinated initiative against illicit sales in the history of the FDA. This is the most important crackdown in the agency's history. It targets retail and online sales of electronic cigarettes to minors. "
The FDA sent 1,300 warning letters and fines to retailers in "a large-scale, undercover national flash campaign."
"The vast majority of violations involved the illegal sale of five electronic cigarette products – Vuse, Blu, Juul, MarkTen XL, and Logic – and these five brands currently represent more than 97 percent of the US electronic cigarette market," the FDA said. I said.
"In addition, the FDA has also issued 12 warning letters to other online retailers who sell mislabelled labeled and / or advertised e-liquids, resembling child-friendly food products such as sweets and cookies. "
The FDA is trying to put in place a framework to regulate electronic cigarettes. For decades, the agency was not empowered to regulate cigarettes or other tobacco products, but Congress passed a law in 2009 giving the agency limited power to do so.
"Almost ubiquitous – and dangerous trend"
The FDA has taken a slow approach to allow manufacturers to determine how to submit products for review. But Gottlieb says sales have skyrocketed, especially among teenagers, who can quickly become addicted to nicotine.
"I now have good reason to believe that it has reached a proportion of epidemic growth," Gottlieb said.
"I use the word epidemic very carefully. Electronic cigarettes have become an almost ubiquitous – and dangerous – trend among teenagers. The worrying and accelerated use trajectory we see in young people and the path to addiction must stop. It's just not tolerable.
Tobacco opponents urged the FDA to go even faster. "Why would we trust an industry that has never been able to regulate itself to find a solution now?" asked Robin Koval, CEO of the Truth Initiative, a nonprofit organization created in 1998 as part of a settlement agreement between major US tobacco companies and 46 states, the District of Columbia and five territories US.
"The Juul phenomenon results in part from lingering delays on this front.It's time to act before a product is available in all high schools in the United States, not after."
Studies show that teenagers who use the vape are also more likely to smoke burned traditional cigarettes. They also show that nicotine in e-cigarettes is addictive and that other chemicals added to the flavor may be harmful.
And vaping products use fruity and candylike aromas to attract users.
Manufacturers say e-cigarettes can help adult smokers avoid burned tobacco products. But Gottlieb said the easy availability of electronic cigarettes was hitting teenagers.
"I will be clear. The FDA will not allow a generation of young people to become nicotine addicted to allow adults to have unlimited access to these same products, "said Gottlieb.
Juul issued a statement saying the company would work with the FDA, but Gottlieb said the vaping industry had not taken his warnings seriously.
"I warn the e-cigarette industry for over a year that they need to do a lot more to curb the trends of youth," Gottlieb said.
"In my opinion, they treated these issues as a public relations challenge rather than seriously considering their legal obligations, the public health mandate and the existential threat to these products."
He said "everything is on the table", including criminal charges.
Teens can expect to hear from the FDA during a new national campaign next week.
"This public campaign will bring these public health messages to online sites that teenagers have access to, and even to high school bathrooms," Gottlieb said.
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