The Food and Drug Administration issued a ban Thursday on fruit and mint-flavored vaping cartridges like the pods made by Juul, but with exemptions for tobacco and menthol.
Why it matters: The ban is meant to curb e-cigarette use among children who have been attracted to cartridge vapes due to their flavors, cheap price and concealing features of size and small vape clouds.
"The United States has never seen an epidemic of substance use arise as quickly as our current epidemic of youth use of e-cigarettes. HHS is taking a comprehensive, aggressive approach to enforcing the law passed by Congress, under which no e-cigarettes are currently on the market legally.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar
The big picture: The Trump administration is keeping vape shop owners in mind with this new rule, which will not apply to the sale of flavored vials for tank vaping systems, the New York Times reports.
- Juul already announced months ago that it would no longer sell flavored cartridges in-store and online in anticipation of a federal ban.
- The FDA said it still could authorize non-menthol or tobacco flavors if it meets "applicable standards."
- Companies that don't cease sale of these products within 30 days risk FDA "enforcement actions," according to the new policy.
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