Trump administration finalizes crackdown on flavored vape cartridges
Evie Fordham
Fox Business January 2, 2020
Companies must stop selling "certain unauthorized flavored e-cigarette products" within 30 days or face Food and Drug Administration enforcement, the Trump administration announced Thursday.
Fruit and mint flavors are included in the crackdown, while tobacco and menthol flavors are excluded.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar called the new enforcement policy "comprehensive" and "aggressive."
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"All e-cigarettes on the market today are illegal. ... The only reason they have stayed on the market is because we maintained enforcement discussion," Azar said.
The decision comes after news from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that another person died of what appears to be a vaping-related respiratory disease. CDC research has associated vaping products that contained THC — or tetrahydrocannabinol, which is the active chemical in marijuana that causes a "high" — with the cases of lung-related illnesses.
"We're going to protect our families, we're going to protect our children, and we're going to protect the industry," President Trump said Tuesday.
The president and his top health officials had said they would ban flavored e-cigarettes back in September because those fruity flavors appeal to teens and children.
However, vaping lobbyists pushed back on those efforts and White House advisers told Trump it could cost him votes with adults who vape if he went through with the ban.
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Starting in May, the FDA will review all e-cigarettes and only those with demonstrated benefits to U.S. public health will be allowed to stay on the market. No e-cigarette companies have filed the pre-market applications so far.
Trump also signed a bill into law that raised the legal age for buying tobacco products to 21 from 18 in December.
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FOX Business' Ann Schmidt and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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