The US government on Thursday announced that it is banning most flavored e-cigarettes in a bid to curb the rising tide of vaping, but under industry pressure it stopped short of the full ban the White House promised in September last year.
The US Food and Drug Administration said cartridge-based e-cigarettes in flavors other than tobacco or menthol would be illegal unless specifically authorized by the government.
The ban is to take effect next month, outlawing cartridges with fruit, mint and candy flavors, which are popular among young people.
E-cigarette industry leader Juul had anticipated the decision and has withdrawn those flavors from sale in the US, leaving only tobacco and menthol.
However, the ban exempts large, tank-based rechargeable vaping devices which are primarily sold in shops that cater to adults.
“It was the pod cartridge-based systems that got us into this problem that are most attractive to kids,” US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said in a conference call with reporters. “The kids simply are not using in any material level the open tank vaping systems.”
Companies that do not cease making and selling such cartridges would face punishment, the agency said, without specifying the potential sanctions.
“The United States has never seen an epidemic of substance use arise as quickly as our current epidemic of youth use of e-cigarettes,” Azar said in a separate statement. “We aim to see whether e-cigarettes could serve as an effective off-ramp for adult smokers addicted to combustible cigarettes. We believe that remains a possibility.”
In late summer last year, a health crisis marked by severe and sometimes deadly lung ailments added to overall concerns over the success of Juul products among young people.
About 28 percent of senior high-school students said that they had vaped in the previous 30 days, according to a government survey last year, compared with about 11 percent in 2016.
Azar had said in September last year after a meeting with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office that all flavors would be banned in an effort to curb vaping by young people.
His announcement triggered a pressure campaign from the tobacco and vaping industries for the administration to reverse its decision.
Speaking for anti-tobacco advocates and public health officials who met with Trump in November last year, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids president Matthew Myers expressed dismay at the new rule, which he said “creates a giant loophole that will benefit the current existing tobacco companies.”
American Heart Association chief executive and president Nancy Brown called it “a huge victory for Juul, vape shops and the rest of the cigarette industry over the interest of this nation.”
The industry push highlighted the risk that Trump could lose votes in this year’s presidential election because of the proposed ban.
Trump said he would ultimately settle for raising from 18 to 21 the minimum age for buying vaping products. The US Congress last month voted to ban both e-cigarette and tobacco sales to those under 21.
The change is due to take effect nationwide by September.
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