USA: FDA to ban flavoured e-cigarettes at convenience stores

To tackle a rise in e-cigarette consumption among young people, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced a new series of measures limiting sales and access.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced sweeping new restrictions on flavoured tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes popular among teenagers in an effort to prevent a new generation of nicotine addicts.

The announcement will mean that only tobacco, mint and menthol e-cigarette flavours can be sold at most traditional retail outlets such as convenience stores. Other varieties with fruity and sweet flavours can now only be sold at age-restricted stores or through online merchants that use age-verification checks.

“Any policy accommodation to advance the innovations that could present an alternative to smoking – particularly as it relates to e-cigarettes – cannot, and will not, come at the expense of addicting a generation of children to nicotine through these same delivery vehicles,” said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb.

Yesterday, the FDA and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new findings from the National Youth Tobacco Survey showing that more than 3.6 million middle and high school students were current (past 30 day) e-cigarette users in 2018, a dramatic increase of more than 1.5 million students since last year.