Under a federal court order, e-cigarette manufacturers were required to submit marketing applications to the FDA by September 9, 2020, and products that were the subject of timely applications were allowed to stay on the market for up to one year while the FDA reviewed the applications, a period that expired September 9, 2021. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and other public health groups have urged the FDA to deny marketing applications for all flavored e-cigarettes because of the clear evidence that flavored products have fueled an epidemic of youth e-cigarette use and nicotine addiction.
The FDA has reported that it has denied marketing applications for over 1 million flavored e-cigarette products. However, the FDA has yet to issue decisions about the e-cigarette brands that have the largest market share or are most popular with kids, such as Juul, most Vuse products, NJOY, blu, Smok and Suorin. The FDA is also considering whether to authorize any menthol-flavored e-cigarettes despite the popularity of menthol products with kids. In addition, more than 40 e-cigarette companies have filed lawsuits challenging the FDA’s marketing denial orders, and other companies – including Puff Bar, the flavored disposable e-cigarette that is now the most popular brand among kids – have sought to evade FDA regulation by using synthetic nicotine (nicotine made in a lab rather than derived from tobacco).
To assess the impact of the FDA’s actions to date on the availability of flavored e-cigarettes, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids conducted a scan of five top online e-cigarette retailers and 43 brick-and-mortar stores in eight cities across the U.S. (Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; Los Angeles, CA; Portland, ME; Portland, OR; Seattle, WA; Tempe, AZ; and Washington, DC). This scan provides a snapshot of the current e-cigarette market and is not intended to be a representative sample of stores nationwide or online. Key findings include:
The report calls for the following actions to protect kids and public health:
While youth e-cigarette use has declined from record-high levels reached in 2019, it remains a serious public health problem. According to the 2021 National Youth Tobacco Survey, over two million middle and high school students reported using e-cigarettes in the first half of 2021, even as many schools remained closed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The survey underscored that flavored products are driving youth use as 85% of youth e-cigarette users report using flavored products, with fruit, candy/desserts/other sweets, mint and menthol reported as the most popular flavors. Indicating the addictiveness of the products now dominating the market, 43.6% of high school e-cigarette users report frequent use (on at least 20 days a month) and 27.6% report daily use.
Chinese Association on Tobacco Control Copyright © 1992-2011 906-907 Anhuidongli, Chaoyang District Beijing 100101 |