US Government takes weak stand on flavored E-cigarettes
“Press reports on New Year’s eve indicated that the White House will allow the FDA to stop allowing the sales of flavored e-cigarettes except menthol for closed systems (like Juul pods), but allow continued sales of flavored tank (open) e-cigarette systems.
This is a big win for the big tobacco companies (including Juul) because menthol is the most important flavor. Juul, like the rest of the big tobacco companies, has been lobbying to keep menthol (and tobacco) flavors.
Why? When Juul stopped selling other flavors, sales of mint skyrocketed and made up the difference. (Menthol is derived from mint.)”
“The fact that the Administration announced this on New Year’s Eve shows that they know this decision will not be popular with the public. It’s a well-established public relations principle to announce unpopular decisions late-night or over the weekend in the hope it will be missed when people are on vacation.
All of this reinforces the reality that e-cigarette regulation, like everything else in tobacco control, requires continued effort at the local and state level, including comprehensive bans on the sales of flavored tobacco products, including menthol.”
Summary of statement from Stanton Glantz, University of California San Francisco, December 31, 2019. Full statement at: https://tobacco.ucsf.edu/trump-lets-fda-take-baby-step-toward-dealing-e-cig-flavors-local-action-remains-key
by Dr.Stephen Hamann
