Trump to hold White House meeting on underage vaping

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will meet with medical experts, health advocates and industry representatives on the problem of underage vaping later this week, the White House said Wednesday.

Electronic cigarette use by teenagers has surged, but federal authorities haven’t finalized a plan for regulating e-cigarettes.

At the White House meeting set for Friday, administration officials said, Trump will hear from representatives from “all sides” of the vaping issue as he weighs “responsible guidelines.”

The announcement comes days after reports that the president is backing away from a sweeping ban on virtually all e-cigarette flavors proposed in September.

But White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement announcing the meeting: “The policy making process is not stalled — it continues to move forward.”

Under the plan announced two months ago, the Food and Drug Administration would remove fruit, dessert, candy other sweet flavors because of their appeal to teens.

But the ban has faced aggressive pushback from vaping lobbyists and conservative groups who warn it could cost Trump votes in key states.

At a Capitol Hill hearing Wednesday, senators prodded Trump’s nominee to head the FDA on the fate of the flavor ban. Dr.

Stephen Hahn said he supports “aggressive action” on underage vaping, but had not discussed specific plans with the president.

E-cigarettes first appeared in the U.S. more than a decade ago and have grown into a multibilliondollar industry despite little research on their long-term effects, including whether they can help smokers quit cigarettes.

Vaping opponents argue that those benefits are unproven and that the lack of government regulation has triggered a vaping surge among U.S. teens and children. More than a quarter of high school students reported vaping in the past month, the latest government survey shows.

On Tuesday, the American Medical Association called for a total ban on all e-cigarettes and vaping products until they can be reviewed by the FDA.

The FDA repeatedly has pushed back its deadline to begin reviewing thousands of vaping products on the market. The deadline now is next May.