The Food and Drug Administration has announced aggressive steps aimed at curbing teenage vaping and smoking, including banning flavored and menthol products that may be especially appealing to minors.
The announcement this month came as new federal data from the National Youth Tobacco Survey showed increasing rates of youth e-cigarette use.
Under the FDA plan, vaping cartridges in flavors other than menthol, tobacco, and mint could only be sold in locations that restrict access to customers who are 18 and older. It also would heighten measures to ensure age verification for online sales of e-cigarette and nicotine products and outlaw products marketed to children through the use of “popular children’s cartoon or animated characters, or names of products favored by kids like brands of candy or soda.”
