E-cigarette pitches spur first lady’s ire
Melania Trump urges anti-vaping education
ARLINGTON, Va. — Melania Trump said Monday that companies “must stop” marketing e-cigarettes to children, saying they are addictive and dangerous.
Marketing tobacco products to children is prohibited in the United States, and Juul Labs Inc., the nation’s largest maker of electronic cigarettes, has said it will cease advertising them in the U.S.
Still, some believe Juul’s early online marketing of e-cigarettes contributed to an explosion in vaping among youth.
Trump said that “it is important to me that we all work to educate children and families about the dangers associated with this habit.”
“Marketing this addictive product to children must stop.”
The first lady promotes an anti-drug message through the Be Best youth initiative she launched in May 2018.
Last month, Trump tweeted her concerns over the “growing epidemic of e-cigarette use in our children.”
She later joined President Donald Trump when he announced from the Oval Office that U.S. health authorities will act to ban thousands of fruity and other flavorings used in e-cigarettes.
Federal statistics show vaping among teens had increased between 2017 and 2018.
The Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids said it was grateful for the first lady’s message and called on the administration to implement its plan and quickly remove all flavored e-cigarettes from the market.
Industry representatives, such as the American Vaping Association, which represents makers and retailers of e-cigarettes and vaping solutions, oppose the planned policy, arguing the policy could create a “black market” for vaping products and push adults who vape to resume smoking.
Melania Trump addressed a rally at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration headquarters to mark the start of the annual Red Ribbon Week later this month, an observance that came to be after the 1985 torture and slaying of DEA Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena in Mexico.