FDA sets tight limits on sales of flavored electronic cigarettes

NEW YORK – The US Food and Drug Administration plans to impose strict limits on the sale of most flavored electronic cigarettes, including age verification checks for online sales, in order to limit their use by children and adolescents.

"What I can not tolerate is another year of this level of growth." – FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb

FDA officials told the Wall Street Journal Thursday that the shares should be announced as early as next week. This move is an attempt to reduce what many say is a minor vaping epidemic.

"What I can not tolerate is another year of this level of growth," said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb on Wednesday.

The new policy will apply to cartridge-flavored vaping products, such as Juul, which have become popular with young people, and not open-tank systems, sold in vape stores and mostly used by adults, have indicated officials.

Limit minors access to the store

No retail outlet will be allowed to transport them unless it prevents minors from entering the store or creating a no-go zone.

In September, the FDA reversed the trend and warned the industry to tackle the problem of increasing the use of e-cigarettes among teens, on pain of risk of having their flavored products removed from the market.

Since 2017, FDA officials had envisioned e-cigarettes as a potential tool to wean adult cigarette smokers, but in September, the FDA reversed the trend and recommended the industry to s & # 39; Address the problem of increasing the use of e-cigarettes in teenage girls. out of the market.

Gottlieb then stated that the agency had not predicted an "epidemic addiction" among young people, primarily motivated by flavored products.

The new FDA restrictions had already been reported by the Washington Post.

Also on Thursday, the New York government, Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration, announced its intention to ban the sale of flavored electronic cigarettes next year, making its state the first to ban such vapors, often considered a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes.