Donald Trump Reveals Plan To Ban Most Flavored Vaping Products
President Donald Trump clearly means business when it comes to cutting down on underage vaping. On Thursday, he revealed his administration’s plan to ban flavored vaping products. These refer to the cartridges or e-juice liquid that is used to operate an electronic cigarette like Juul’s eponymous product. The ban will cover fruit, candy, mint, and dessert flavors, according to Fox News.
Juul and other similar vaping products were created to help adult smokers kick the habit. However, due to the aforementioned appealing flavors that are available to consumers, young people are getting hooked on nicotine at a young age. If adult smokers do want to continue to vape, they can do so under Trump’s plan, but the only flavors that will be available to them would be methanol and tobacco.
In an effort to further fight the teen vaping epidemic, Trump has also raised the age that one must be to legally purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21. This new guidance refers to not just vaping products, but cigarettes and cigars as well. The announcement was shared on the Food and Drug Administration‘s website, as The Inquisitr previously reported.
“On December 20, 2019, the President signed legislation to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and raise the federal minimum age of sale of tobacco products from 18 to 21 years. It is now illegal for a retailer to sell any tobacco product — including cigarettes, cigars and e-cigarettes — to anyone under 21. FDA will provide additional details on this issue as they become available.”
While these new restrictions will certainly be a change, the president had originally planned even stricter laws. He had intended a full ban of all flavored vaping products but held back so as not to damage the industry as a whole.
The FDA says teen vaping is an epidemic. JUUL CEO acknowledges his product is a big part of the problem. Roughly 1 in 5 high school students, & nearly 1 in 20 middle school students said they vaped last year.
JUUL's CEO tells CBS News what's being done to stop underage vaping. pic.twitter.com/i2PbftQmPi
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) August 29, 2019
“We have to protect our families. At the same time, it’s a big industry. We want to protect the industry,” Trump said of his decision.
Companies like Juul have been widely criticized for their colorful packaging and fun sounding flavors, which some believe is used as a sales tactic to target young people in particular. The long-term health effects of vaping are not yet known but there have been countless stories of teenagers suffering from cardiac issues due to excessive vaping. As a result, the FDA has been after the company for years, in hopes of placing more restrictions upon these products and making it more difficult for underage consumers to gain access to them.
