Author: Aimee Cunningham / Source: Science News
In an attempt to curtail an alarming rise in teenage vaping, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced restrictions on the sale of certain flavored e-cigarettes that appeal to young people on November 15.
The agency also said it would seek to ban menthol cigarettes, long a goal of public health advocates, as well as flavored cigars.The flavor restrictions coincide with the release of new data showing that e-cigarette use by high school students shot up 78 percent from 2017 to 2018. The data, part of the National Youth Tobacco Survey, were reported November 16 in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
“If the policy changes that we have outlined don’t reverse this epidemic, and if the manufacturers don’t do their part to help advance this cause, I’ll explore additional actions,” FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement.
Gottlieb said that only stores that restrict access to the products to customers 18 years or older will be able to sell certain e-cigarette flavors, such as mango or crème brûlée. There will also be limits on online sales, but there are no restrictions on the flavors menthol, mint or tobacco.
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