House OKs ban on flavored e-cigarettes

Moving to stem a vaping epidemic among young people, the House approved a bill Friday to ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products.

The bill would place new restrictions on the marketing of e-cigarettes and ban flavors in tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes. It also would place a new excise tax on nicotine.

The House approved the bill, 213-195, sending it to the Senate, where approval is considered unlikely. The

White House said in a statement that President Donald Trump’s administration opposes the bill.

Supporters, mostly Democrats, said the legislation provides a comprehensive strategy to reverse a teen vaping epidemic that officials fear is hooking a generation of young people on nicotine. In the latest government survey, more than 1 in 4 high school students reported using e-cigarettes in the previous month. Late last year, Congress approved a law raising the minimum age to buy all tobacco and vaping products from 18 to 21 nationwide.

Opponents said the House bill went too far, noting that the new law raising the age of tobacco use has been in effect for only two months. Earlier this year, the Trump administration issued rules that prohibit fruit, candy, mint and dessert flavors from small, cartridge-based e-cigarettes like Juul, the most popular brand in the U.S.

But the policy exempts disposable e-cigarettes and larger tank-based vaping devices. Those exceptions followed months of lobbying by vaping companies. Public health advocates accused the administration of caving to industry pressure.

Some members of the Congressional Black Caucus said the proposal to ban menthol cigarettes could harm black smokers. African Americans smoke menthol cigarettes at a far higher rate than the rest of the U.S. population, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Marketing and promotion of menthol cigarettes is heavily targeted toward black smokers.

“White adult smokers would see little difference in their lives after this ban, while black smokers could face even more sweeping harassment from law enforcement if the hint of menthol smoke can justify a stop” by a police officer, said Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y.

“A ban that targets menthol products but ignores other premium tobacco products unduly burdens the black community,” said Clarke, whose Brooklyn district is majority African American.

Clarke invoked Eric Garner, a black New York man who died after being put in a chokehold by police officers who stopped him for selling loose, untaxed cigarettes.

“As Eric Garner’s mother knows all too well, in New York a single cigarette can become a death sentence,” Clarke said.

Supporters said the House bill would have huge health benefits for teenagers who increasingly use e-cigarettes and vape products with flavors such as mango, bubble gum and cotton candy.

E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that typically heat a flavored nicotine solution into an inhalable aerosol. They have been pitched to adults as a less-harmful alternative to traditional cigarettes, but there is limited data on their ability to help smokers quit.