Vaping just got a whole lot harder for minors.
New rules from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that came into force Monday have brought e-cigarettes, hookah tobacco and cigars in line alongside cigarettes, meaning they can't be sold to anyone under the age of 18.
Anyone who even looks less than 27 will need to show ID to get the products, and they can't be stocked in vending machines that people under 18 can access. Retailers will also not be allowed to give away free samples.
SEE ALSO:More middle and high school students are using e-cigarettes than ever beforeWhile traditional cigarette use among minors has declined in recent years, e-cigarette use has jumped from 1.5 percent of high school students in 2011 to 16 percent in 2015, the FDA says. These new rules, finalized in May, aim to curtail access to the products.
The new legislation also allows the FDA to review any new products that come to market, with manufacturers compelled to register and list their products.
All newly regulated products will need a marketing order from the FDA unless they were already on the market by Feb. 15 2007. Manufacturers are also obliged to report ingredients and harmful or potentially harmful constituents in the products.
They can keep selling the products for up to two years while the new production application is being put together, and an additional year while the FDA checks it.
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The news has been welcomed warmly among health advocates but less so by the vaping industry.
The American Lung Association insisted that the change "will help prevent young people from starting to use tobacco, and help consumers better understand the risks of using these products."
Greg Conley, the president of the American Vaping Association, meanwhile has vehemently attacked the rules on Twitter. He said that they could effectively spell the end of the industry.
“If we do not succeed in changing the FDA’s [new regulations], the vapor industry will shrink to almost nothing beginning August 8, 2018," he lamented.
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Vaping has long been a controversial issue. In 2015, a Public Health England study decided that it was 95 percent less harmful than smoking, a theory that was subsequently blasted by medical journal The Lancet.
Many studies have said smoking e-cigarettes presents similar health risks to smoking regular cigarettes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Director Tom Frieden has said, “No form of youth tobacco use is safe. Nicotine is an addictive drug and use during adolescence may cause lasting harm to brain development.”
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