FDA Concerned About E-Cigarette Addiction in Young Smokers

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is putting the vaping industry on the spot to help prevent e-cigarette addiction in minors.

Last month, the agency announced that it would send out 1,300 letters with fines to JUUL e-cig retailers and four other manufacturers who had allegedly sold their product to underage children.

The JUUL e-cig and other e-cig devices made by Blu, Vuse, MarkTen XL, and Logic have been connected to 97 percent of all sales. The FDA has put forth an ultimatum to these companies that they have a deadline of Nov. 12, 2018 to establish and make known their business plans for preventing youth access to their products.

Through an extensive covert investigation over this past summer, the FDA looked into brick and mortar retailers as well as online stores because of its concern about the growing problem of e-cigarette addiction in young people.

The JUUL e-cig and several similar devices are quite a bit smaller than traditional cigarettes and, because of this can be hidden and used more easily by those in high school or even younger students.

According to a Law360 article, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb originally looked upon these devices as alternatives for adult tobacco-users seeking to reduce the health ramifications of their nicotine ingestion. The agency was surprised by the turn of events in which e-cigarette addiction among youth has been magnified.

The FDA and Gottlieb are purportedly disappointed by the e-cigarette addiction trend and lack of the devices’ usefulness as a transition device for adult cigarette smokers. He indicated in the article that up to two million underage children are using and becoming subject to e-cigarette addiction.

Of particular concern with this growing epidemic is that liquid which fills the device creating the vapor is sold in flavors that are appealing to children. Fruity or mock-candy flavors are a draw to minors and do not burn the throat of the user.

The nicotine delivered is very addictive and seems to reach the user’s bloodstream in a much faster and more efficient way with e-cig units. The long-range impact of this nicotine on growing, but its effects on as-yet underdeveloped brains remain an unknown factor with the epidemic.

The FDA has provided some suggestions with its ultimatum for the manufacturer’s plans. Some of these suggestions include but aren’t limited to ceasing sales to all recently fined retailers that were found to have sold to youth, stopping online sales where it is difficult to verify the age of the purchaser, changing the appeal by removing attractive fruit, candy, or cookie flavors, drastically altering advertising practices, and developing internal self-policing of product distributors.

According to Law360, Gottlieb hopes for an appropriate response which will allow them to keep the alternatives in the commercial marketplace. The burning of tobacco releases dangerous chemicals which have been demonstrated to cause lung and other cancers over time. These diseases related to smoking are responsible for the demise of 500,000 Americans each year.

Join a Free JUUL E-Cigarette Calls Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you or your child used a JUUL e-cigarette and later became addicted to nicotine, you may be eligible to join the JUUL e-cigarette class action lawsuit or start a new suit.

Learn More