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Scott Gottlieb, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, stepped up efforts to end a teenage "vape" epidemic, announcing on Wednesday a crackdown on retailers who allegedly sold e-cigarettes to miners and warned manufacturers .
Authorities said the decision against more than 1,300 retailers was the biggest enforcement action in the agency's history. The threat of banning, if implemented, would drastically drop the growing industry.
The most recent data, not yet published, show a 75% increase in the consumption of electronic cigarettes among high school students this year compared to 2017. The FDA has refused to publish these figures, but people know them Smoking Survey in youth, where the agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collaborate.
In his prepared remarks for FDA employees, Gottlieb said the rapid rise in adolescence, sales trends and concerns among parents and teachers had convinced him that the minor use of electronic cigarettes had become a real crisis. "The worrying and accelerated use trajectory we see in young people and the path to addiction must stop," he said.
In its coercive action, the FDA recently sent nearly 1,200 letters to traditional stores and online retailers to warn them that they could be sentenced to the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors under 18 years of age. $ 11,182 – out of 130 other institutions for repeat offenses.
Most importantly, the notices sent Wednesday morning require five major electronic cigarette manufacturers, including Juul Labs, based in San Francisco, to submit plans within 60 days to reduce sales to underage consumers. If the plans do not promise to "substantially reverse" the trend of youth use, Gottlieb said the agency would consider measures that could lead to the temporary or permanent elimination of aromatized products from the market.
Scott Gottlieb, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, now considers the use of e-cigarettes by young people as an "epidemic" (Michael Reynolds / EPA).
Such a move would be a blow to the e-cigarette companies – Juul, Vuse, Blu, Logic and MarkTen – who often feature cream and fruit flavors in their products. Many public health groups believe that these flavors encourage young people to try out the devices. Businesses insist that flavors are essential to help addicted adult smokers move from conventional cigarettes to tar and other harmful chemicals.
Gottlieb has repeatedly acknowledged that e-cigarettes can be an effective tool for adults trying to quit smoking. His tough talk for the industry on Wednesday was all the more remarkable.
In his remarks to FDA staff, the Commissioner acknowledged that some adults may be hurt by a crackdown on flavored electronic cigarettes. But "the risk of young people is paramount," he said. "By closing the children's access ramp, we will have to reduce the exit ramp for adults wishing to leave fuel tobacco and electronic cigarettes."
The FDA's regulation of tobacco products has long been marked by twists and years of debate. In 2009, the law on tobacco control gave the agency the power to smoke cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. In 2016, the agency "estimated" that products such as electronic cigarettes were also under its jurisdiction and asked companies to file applications to market their products by August 2018. Sales were allowed to continue in the meantime.
Then, last year, a few months after being sworn in as a commissioner, Gottlieb announced a new global framework for tobacco. It included plans to reduce nicotine in conventional cigarettes to non-addictive levels. And he emphasized the role of e-cigarettes as a way for adult smokers to dispense with cigarettes.
Gottlieb used "law enforcement discretion" to extend the deadline for e-cigarette manufacturers' marketing applications until 2022, saying the agency and industry needed more time to prepare. The delay was denounced by public health groups, who filed a lawsuit to restore the tighter schedule.
The agency remains committed to the tobacco scene, Gottlieb told his team on Wednesday, but acknowledged that he "was not predicting what I think is an epidemic of e-cigarette use among teens now." ". -cigarettes "becomes very obvious."
According to Mr. Gottlieb, one solution could be to revoke the time limit for electronic cartridge cigarettes, the most common type used by young people. This would prevent manufacturers from selling flavored appliances without explicit authorization from the FDA, which could force some products to be marketed, at least temporarily.
Much of the FDA's change of heart is the result of Juul's phenomenal success, which looks like a USB key. In just three years, he has captured about 70% of the electronic cigarette market, according to Bloomberg. The FDA has been urging Juul in recent months to obtain information on its marketing.
"Juul has changed the game," said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Children, in an interview. He listed three reasons why the company has been so successful: she found how to deliver high levels of nicotine in a way that was not tough; he packaged the product rationally and intelligently; and he developed a social media and advertising campaign that made a Juul e-cigarette "cool and hip".
The company pointed out that the device was created for adults who wish to transition ordinary cigarettes. Earlier this year, as social criticism mounted, she committed $ 30 million over three years for independent research, youth and parent education, and community engagement. He also announced a new social media policy featuring adult smokers – not models – and their stories of passing through Juul.
Yet, said Myers, "there is no way to put that genie back to the bottle" with the use of young people. "Now that Juul has shown how to market to teens and young adults, others use the same marketing tactics.
Flavors other than menthol have been banned since 2009 in regular cigarettes to reduce their appeal to young people. No flavor is currently limited to other tobacco products.
Read more:
We killed the cigarette. What we got in return is nicotine flavored with mango in "festive fashion".
Juuling: If you do not know what it is, ask your children
Juul electronic cigarette maker targets teenagers with false safety claims
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