FDA ratcheting up pressure on flavored tobacco and e-cig products

Citing the sharp rise in youth use of e-cigarettes, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. announces proposals aimed at addressing the alarming trend.

He is directing the agency's Center for Tobacco Products to revisit its compliance policy that extended the dates for manufacturers to file marketing applications, August 2021 for combustible tobacco products and August 2022 for electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) or e-cigarettes.

He also wants all flavored ENDS products to be sold only in age-restricted outlets (e.g., vaping stores that (supposedly) check IDs). Online sales would be subject to heightened age verification practices.

Over the past several years, e-cigarettes were the most commonly used tobacco product by youth. In fact, more than 2 million middle and high school students were current users of e-cigarettes in 2017, and the FDA now believes that youth use of e-cigarettes is reaching epidemic proportions. This belief is based on a number of factors, including the agency’s mounting enforcement actions, recent sales trends, news coverage, increased concerns among kids, parents and educators, as well as preliminary data that will be finalized and released in the coming months. Additional research from another survey, Monitoring the Future, shows that about 80 percent of youth do not see great risk of harm from regular use of e-cigarettes. This is particularly alarming considering that harm perceptions can influence tobacco use behaviors.

Scott intends to pursue a ban on menthol in combustible tobacco products considering its appeal to kids who use menthol e-cigs.

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