E-cigarette, Juul use addressed by FDA in new actions

Shutterstock

• The FDA is taking steps to enforce and address the
  e-cigarette epidemic among minors.
• The agency is giving the makers of some of the most prevalent
  vaping devices 60 days to show they are able to keep their
  products away from teens. If they can’t, the flavored products
  could be pulled from store shelves.
• In 2017, more than 2 million middle and high school
  students used e-cigarettes. The FDA is trying to
  initiate a public education campaign in order to learn more
  about e-cig products and their access and appeal to
  teens. 

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

announced Wednesday that it is taking steps to crack down on
the illegal sale of e-cigarette products — like the increasingly
popular Juul — to minors. 

The agency is giving makers of some of the most prevalent vaping
devices 60 days to submit plans showing they can keep their
products away from teens. If the manufacturers fail to submit
plans that could halt the trend of e-cigarette use among kids,
their flavored products could be pulled from store shelves.

As part of a nationwide enforcement effort this summer, the
FDA 
issued
 more than 1,300 warning letters
and fines to retailers who were found to have illegally sold
products to teens.

The majority of these violations were doled out for the
sale of five e-cigarette products to those under 18 – Vuse, Blu,
Juul, MarkTen XL, and Logic. The agency also issued 12 warning letters to online retailers
that are selling or advertising flavored vapor inserts for
e-cigarettes in a way that might be misleading to kids, such
as offering candy and cookie flavors. They also prohibited
certain retailers who had violations from selling
tobacco products for specific periods of time. 

The FDA’s moves come as the booming e-cig company Juul

has been flagged by doctors, researchers and non-profits for
health risks and deceptive marketing to attract minors. Juul
takes up nearly 71% of the entire e-cig market with its USB sized
device that comes with single inserts containing the same amount
of nicotine as an entire pack of cigarettes. The company — valued
at $15 billion — is growing more popular among teens and has even
eyed an
international expansion of its business. 

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in the press release
that the “youth use of electronic cigarettes has reached an
epidemic proportion.” In 2017, more than 2 million middle and high school
students used e-cigarettes.

The FDA stated that although e-cigarettes can potentially
help adult smokers move away from traditional cigarettes, that
effort can’t come at the expense of a whole new generation
becoming addicted to nicotine. It is working with Youth Tobacco
Prevention Plan to address the access and appeal of these
products, and to launch a public education campaign.