FDA effort targets teen smoking
Top U.S. health official pledged to try to ban menthol from regular cigarettes and outlaw all flavors.
NEW YORK — In a major new effort to curb smoking, a top U.S. health official pledged Thursday to try to ban menthol from regular cigarettes, outlaw flavors in all cigars and tighten rules governing the sale of most flavored versions of electronic cigarettes.
The restrictions are aimed at reducing smoking in kids: About half of teens who smoke cigarettes choose menthols, and flavored e-cigarettes have been blamed for an increase in teen vaping rates.
“I will not allow a generation of children to become addicted to nicotine through e-cigarettes,” Scott Gottlieb, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said in a statement.
Health advocates say a menthol ban would have greater impact on the health of Americans, but it would probably take years to put in place. The changes for e-cigarettes could kick in within a few months.
Battery-powered e-cigarettes are more popular among teens than regular smokes and are considered safer. But many versions contain potentially addictive nicotine, and health officials believe they set kids who try them on a path toward regular cigarettes.
Gottlieb called for additional steps to prevent the marketing of e-cigarettes directly to kids and online sales to minors.
He also proposed beefing up measures to ensure that convenience stores and some other retailers do not sell e-cigarettes in kidfriendly flavors such as cherry and vanilla. They could still be sold in vape shops or other businesses that do not admit minors.
Smoking is the nation’s leading cause of preventable illness, causing more than 480,000 deaths each year. The FDA currently bans sales of e-cigarettes and tobacco products to those under 18.
In 2009, the government banned a number of kidfriendly flavorings in cigarettes. But after an aggressive lobbying effort by tobacco companies, menthol was exempted.
Gottlieb’s proposal for e-cigarette flavorings also exempts menthol. He said menthol e-cigarettes may be an option for adults who turn to vaping products to quit regular cigarettes, and he decided not to push for an end to menthol flavoring in vaping products.
Smoking has declined for more than five decades. Some 42 percent of U.S. adults smoked in the early 1960s. Last year, the rate was down to 14 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Experts credit antismoking campaigns, cigarette taxes and smoking bans for most of the decline in the adult rate. But some say adult smokers switching to e-cigarettes have also helped in recent years.
The cigarette smoking rate is even lower among high school students — about 9 percent, according to the latest figures.
But e-cigarette use jumped 78 percent this year in high school kids and 48 percent among middle school kids, Gottlieb said, citing new survey data.
Some experts attribute the jump to newer versions of e-cigarettes, like those by Juul Labs Inc. of San Francisco. They resemble computer flash drives, can be recharged in USB ports and can be used discreetly.
“The increase in e-cigarette popularity (among kids) is almost certainly not a function of flavors. All the flavors were out there already,” said Kenneth Warner, a University of Michigan emeritus public health professor, and leading authority on smoking and health.
The FDA has taken earlier steps to investigate the marketing of e-cigarettes by Juul and other companies.
Getting out ahead of the FDA announcement, Juul on Tuesday stopped filling store orders for mango, fruit, creme and cucumber pods and will resume sales only to retailers that scan IDs and take other steps to verify a buyer is at least 21.
Health advocates applauded the e-cigarette plans, but some said they did not go far enough. Some called for a complete ban of flavorings and a more aggressive regulation of e-cigarettes.