The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
FDA issues policy to restrict e-cigarettes
E-cigarette initiative designed to restrict flavored products.
Agency’s much-anticipated guidelines target what its commissioner has called “an epidemic” of underage vaping.
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration issued a much-anticipated policy Wednesday designed to restrict how and where flavored e-cigarettes are sold — an effort to combat what the agency’s commissioner has called “an epidemic” of underage vaping.
What happened
The initiative, a signature effort of departing FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, reflects a major departure in how the agency regulates vaping products. It limits sales of fruity and kid-friendly vaping products to stores that bar minors or have separate adult-only sections. And it says online sellers must tighten age verification and restrict the quantities they sell.
The agency said companies that violate those conditions would be subject to FDA enforcement actions — including their products being ordered off the market.
What’s affected
Gottlieb also moved up by one year the deadline for flavored e-cigarettes to get agency approval — to August 2021.
The sales restrictions and new deadline would apply to a vast array of e-cigarette products, including those offered in flavors such as cherry and bubblegum.
They would not apply to mint, menthol and tobacco flavors unless those products were being sold in a way that targeted minors because the agency says those products are most often used by adult smokers trying to quit.
The policy was issued as a draft guidance and is similar to the plan Gottlieb outlined in November to combat youth vaping.
Its issuance disproves rumors the White House was thwarting his efforts to crack down on vaping.
The guidance also bans flavored cigars that were on the market as of 2016 — although that is a small subset of the total number of flavored cigars on the market.
What’s next
The policy is expected to be finalized after a 30-day public comment period.