U.S. to outlaw flavourings for e-cigarettes

Surprise White House announcement could remake vaping industry

WASHINGTON— The U.S. federal government will act to ban thousands of flavours used in e-cigarettes, President Donald Trump said Wednesday, responding to a recent surge in underage vapin g that has alarmed parents, politicians and health authorities nationwide.

The surprise White House announcement could remake the multibillion-dollar vaping industry, which has been driven by sales of flavoured nicotine formulas such as “grape slushie” and “strawberry cotton candy.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will develop guidelines to remove from the market all e-cigarette flavours except tobacco, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told reporters during an Oval Office appearance with the president, first lady Melania Trump and the acting FDA commissioner, Ned Sharpless.

Trump, whose son Barron is13 years old, said vaping has become such a problem that he wants parents to be aware of what’s happening.

“We can’t allow people to get sick and we can’t have our youth be so affected,” the president said. Melani a Trump recently tweeted her concerns over the combination of children and vaping.

At the meeting, the president said, “I mean, she’s got a son — together — that is a beautiful, young man, and she feels very, very strongly about it.”

Trump’s first public comments on vaping come as health authorities investigate hundreds of breathing illnesses reported in people who have used e-cigarettes and other vaping devices.

No single device, ingredient or additive has been identified, though many cases involve marijuana vaping.

The restrictions announced by Trump officials would only apply to nicotine vaping products, which are regulated by the FDA.

The FDA has had the authority to ban vaping flavours since 2016, but has previously resisted calls to take that step.

Agency officials instead said that they were studying to see if flavours could in fact help smokers quit traditional cigarettes.

But parents, teachers and health advocates have increasingly called for a crackdown on flavours, arguing that they are overwhelmingly to blame for the explosion in underage vaping by U.S. teens, particularly with small, discrete devices such as Juul’s.