Miami, FL, June 5th, 2023 (By Vanessa Brito *). Walk into any Florida gas station and you are likely to find a plethora of flavored disposable vapes with kid-friendly flavors like cotton candy and blue razz. Rates of underage smoking of cigarettes are at historic lows and significant progress was seen in underage vapor use after the federal government raised the age to purchase tobacco products to 21. Unfortunately, a glaring Trump-era loophole in e-cigarette regulations and a lack of enforcement by the FDA is threatening another youth vapor epidemic.
In January 2020, the Trump administration’s FDA released guidelines for electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) products, which prohibited flavored e-cigarettes and traditional cartridge-based vapes like Juul. However, the policy, imposed to “combat the troubling epidemic of youth e-cigarette use,” notably excluded disposable vaping products, allowing these types of products to remain on the market.
Not surprisingly, according to the latest National Youth Tobacco Survey, youth are now gravitating towards these disposable flavored products. In February, Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) introduced legislation to close the Trump-era workaround. However, it should not take an act of Congress to fix this issue: FDA can and should update the Trump guidelines to close this loophole, which would make all flavored disposable products illegal.
While closing this loophole would address part of the problem, the issue of FDA enforcement remains.
Following a scathing review of the FDA’s tobacco control arm, the agency conceded it “cannot be everywhere at all times.” In March, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf echoed the agency’s struggles with enforcement while pressing for more budget before the House Appropriations Committee.
Despite their inability to adequately regulate vapor products, the FDA is moving full steam ahead in its pursuit of prohibitionist policies. The agency is expected to announce a ban on flavored cigars and menthol cigarettes before the end of the year.
Rather than pursuing new bans and regulations for products kids don’t use, the FDA should focus on actually tackling the problem at hand and enforce the rules to protect our youth from flavored vapor.
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), who sits on the House Appropriations Committee, is in a powerful position to do just this as Congress debates the latest spending package. She is a champion of protecting our youth. Wasserman Schultz should tell the FDA to close the Trump-era disposal flavor loophole and enforce against the influx of illegal products addicting our children.
*Public Policy Analyst & Community Activist.
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