E-Cigs Are Still Flooding the US, Addicting Teens With Higher Nicotine Doses

Star of life (medical symbol created by the National Highway Safety Administration — public domain) This article by Liz Szabo first appeared in KFF Health News, republished with permission. Liz Szabo, KFF Health News June 26, 2023 When the FDA first asserted the authority to regulate e-cigarettes in 2016, many people assumed the agency would quickly get rid of vapes with flavors like cotton candy, gummy bears, and Froot Loops that appeal to kids. Instead, the FDA allowed all e-cigarettes already on the market to stay while their manufacturers applied for the OK to market them. Seven years later, vaping has ballooned into an $8.2 billion industry, and manufacturers are flooding the market with thousands of products — most sold illegally and without FDA permission — that can be far more addictive. “The FDA has failed to protect public health,” said Eric Lindblom, a former senior adviser to the director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. “It’s a tragedy.” Yet the FDA isn’t the only entity that has tolerated the selling of vapes to kids. Multiple players in and out of Washington have declined to act, tied the agency’s hands, or neglected to provide the FDA with needed resources.
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