If teenagers like an e-liquid flavor, the agency seems to think, adults should not be allowed to buy it.
Seven years after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officially declared its intention to regulate e-cigarettes, it has finally approved one such product.
But the FDA, which has rejected applications for millions of other vaping products, still seems inclined to ban the e-liquid flavors that former smokers overwhelmingly prefer. Why? Because teenagers also like them.
Yesterday the FDA announced that it had authorized the marketing of Vuse Solo, a vaping device made by R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company, along with two tobacco-flavored replacement cartridges. That decision implicitly recognizes the lifesaving potential of “electronic nicotine delivery systems” (ENDS), which offer smokers a far less hazardous alternative to conventional cigarettes. “The manufacturer’s data demonstrates its tobacco-flavored products could benefit addicted adult smokers who switch to these products—either completely or with a significant reduction in cigarette consumption—by reducing their exposure to harmful chemicals,” said Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products.
Jacob Sullum – Reason – 2021-10-13.