Should the FDA limit access to e-cigarettes?



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This month, the FDA has taken unprecedented steps to limit teens' access to e-cigarettes. The FDA argues that teenage vaping has become an "epidemic", while some users claim that e-cigarettes are revolutionary to rid adults of traditional cigarettes. The FDA needs to find a public health solution to encourage smokers to stop smoking, but it can not allow a new generation to become nicotine dependent. Is the limitation of electronic cigarettes the solution? What do you think?

PERSPECTIVES

The FDA is not only concerned with the use of e-cigarettes by teens, according to FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, the organization fears that vaping could engender a whole new generation of nicotine addicts.

Vaping has exploded in popularity in recent years, especially among high school students. A report published in 2016 by the US Surgeon General indicated a 900% increase in electronic cigarette consumption among high school students from 2011 to 2015. And like most trends, vaping has also spread to college students. According to the report:

E-cigarettes are marketed by promoting flavors and using a wide variety of media channels and approaches used in the past to market conventional tobacco products to youth and young adults.

Unless the major electronic cigarette manufacturers find a solution to the public health problem within 60 days (starting September 12), the FDA says it could ask them to stop selling flavored tobacco pods.

But teens are not the only ones using electronic cigarettes. Traditional smokers are turning to vaping as a "less dangerous" alternative to traditional cigarettes. There is no doubt that e-cigarettes are always bad for health, but traditional cigarettes are certainly worse. In addition, according to a Penn State study, e-cigarettes create less dependency.

While there are conflicting reports about whether e-cigarettes actually help reduce or replace smoking habits, the devices are less dangerous. John Ross of Harvard Health Publishing explains:

The main advantage of electronic cigarettes, compared to ordinary cigarettes, is that they do not produce tar or toxic gases present in cigarette smoke.

The FDA fears that the use of electronic cigarettes by teenagers will act as a gateway to traditional cigarettes. But what about some 37.8 million adult smokers in the United States? Limiting access to e-cigarettes, whether they are scented or not, will impact all users, including those who use them as an alternative to tobacco.

In addition, some critics claim that the FDA's attention is misplaced, as opioids and other illicit substances pose a much greater threat to the country's youth.

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