FDA Proposes New Regulations in the Wake of Increased Teen Vaping

November 20, 2018

A rise in vaping among the young population has pushed the Food and Drug Administration to devise fresh rules pertaining to e-cigarettes use and sale. FDA commissioner, Scott Gottlieb, has recently proposed the rule that would ban e-cigarettes sales at shops and online stores accessible to minors. The rule would not, however, be applied to ventures that only give access to adults (vape shops, tobacconists and age-restricted websites).

The proposal of strict e-cigarette rules was actually prompted by new statistics showing that vaping has exponentially increased among youngsters. A survey conducted in March this year shows that 78 percent of high schoolers are vaping. Astonishingly, 48 percent of middle school students are also consuming nicotine through vapers.

Gottlieb has pledged to bring down this unrestrained vaping trend among young people. The FDA commissioner is of the belief that rising vaping habit will produce another generation of nicotine addicts. He fears that vaping will eventually aggravate into higher smoking rates and related health issues. He also thinks that the country will lose all the gains made against tobacco use by letting the vaping trend loose.

Flavors are to Blame

Flavored e-cigarettes - Image powered by Tampabayreview.com

Alex Azar, the Health and Human Service Secretary, says that flavored e-cigarettes are the main culprit for encouraging vaping and the subsequent nicotine use. Flavored e-cigarettes initially incentivize young people to experiment with the electronic administration of nicotine. However, this experimentation can easily culminate into regular use with the next step of shifting to combustible products.

Combustible tobacco products are the leading cause of the two most prevalent cancers (lung and oral). Hundreds and thousands of people have lost their lives to the heavy use of combustible tobacco products.

Exemption of Menthol and Mint

Exemption of Menthol and Mint

The proposed rule will not be applied to tobacco, mint, and menthol flavored vape products. FDA acknowledges that the aforementioned products are widely used by adults who are trying to quit smoking. Nevertheless, Gottlieb is also apprehensive about these products too and thinks that kids can also indulge in e-cigarettes that don’t have any flavor.

Mathew L. Myers is the president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. He is of the opinion that the proposed rules are not strict enough to curb down vaping among young people. He emphasizes that the FDA needs to work out stricter rules. There are two major issues that need to be addressed.

• No FDA rule can prevent the ever-increasing proliferation of vape shops. The easy access to e-cigarettes will only contribute to the problem.
• There is no effective provision to ensure that vape shops are fulfilling their responsibility in preventing sales of illegal paraphernalia to underage consumers. Gottlieb has reiterated that the agency will continue to strictly monitor the use of vapers among young people.

Data reveals that e-cigarettes are more problematic than marijuana when it comes to use among teens. Surveys and stats also show that the legalization of cannabis doesn’t lead to a drastic increase in the marijuana consumption among the underage cohort.

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