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A6 U.S. NEWS
Monday 10 February 2020

FDA crackdown on vaping flavors has blind spot: disposables

By MATTHEW PERRONE to buy a Juul device and
Associated Press a four-pack of pods. Furh-
WASHINGTON (AP) — The man says teens will instead
U.S. government on Thurs- buy a pack of Stigs “for the
day began enforcing re- weekend and then just be
strictions on flavored elec- done with it.”
tronic cigarettes aimed at The makers of Stig, Puff Bar
curbing underage vaping. and Fogg disposables did
But some teenagers may not respond to requests for
be one step ahead of the comment.
rules. Analysts report that dispos-
Parents, researchers and ables are still just 5% of the
students warn that some nearly $15 billion global
young people have al- vaping market, according
ready moved on to a new- to the firm ECigIntelligence.
er kind of vape that isn’t Researchers who study e-
covered by the flavor ban. cigarette trash around high
These disposable e-ciga- schools say they have no-
rettes are sold under brands ticed a shift in what teens
like Puff Bar, Stig and Fogg are vaping. Jeremiah
in flavors such as pink lem- Mock, of the University of
onade, blueberry ice and California, San Francisco,
tropical mango. has been finding discard-
The Food and Drug Ad- In this Jan. 31, 2020 photo a woman holds a Puff Bar flavored disposable vape device in New York. ed Puff Bars in local school
ministration’s crackdown On Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020, the U.S. government began enforcing restrictions on flavored electronic parking lots over the last
cigarettes aimed at curbing underage vaping.
narrowly targets reusable Associated Press three months.
vaping devices like Juul, Vape shop owners also say
the blockbuster brand that lution. before the ban was an- ers under the government’s the market is changing.
helped trigger the teen The agency’s rationale: nounced in early January new age limit, which went Since the FDA announce-
vaping craze in the U.S. Reusable vaping devices and only sells tobacco and from 18 to 21 late last year. ment, distributors and man-
Under the new policy, only are far and away the most menthol. High school student Philip ufacturers have ramped up
menthol and tobacco fla- popular with underage us- At a congressional hearing Fuhrman says most of his their disposable offerings,
vors are allowed for those ers, preferred by more than Wednesday, the head of New York classmates who according to Vapewerks
devices. 60% of high schoolers who Fontem U.S., which makes vape have ditched Juul for owner Jeremy Gardner in
Critics of the FDA policy fear vape, according to survey blu vapes, was pressed to disposables like Stig, a tiny Cumberland, Maryland.
teens will simply switch to data collected last year. drop its vivid vanilla and e-cigarette sold in flavors “How do disposables get
the cheaper disposables, The FDA’s top tobacco cherry crush disposable e- like mighty mint and man- a free pass when they’re
which are widely available regulator said it can still go cigarettes. go bomb. essentially the same thing
at convenience stores and after any vaping product Fontem chief Antoine They’re easier to hide be- as a Juul or anything else
gas stations. that appeals to teenagers. Blonde countered that its cause “they’re smaller and that comes with a prefilled
“They are very accessible “If we see a product that customers are adults, not when you’re done you can pod?” he asked.
and seem to be the new is targeted to kids, we will children. Less than 3% of just throw it away,” said the Gardner doesn’t stock his
buzzy product,” said Dr. take action,” Mitch Zeller, high school students who 16-year-old Fuhrman, who most requested brand, Puff
Karen Wilson, a tobacco who heads the agency’s vape reported blu as their says he no longer vapes. Bar, but sells a rival dispos-
researcher and pediatri- tobacco center, said in a preferred brand, accord- He’s now an anti-vaping able. Most of his business
cian at Mount Sinai’s medi- statement. ing to 2019 government activist and his mother is comes from larger, tank-
cal school in New York. Thursday was the dead- data. one of the founders of a based vapes, which are
The FDA confirmed that line for makers of reusable “We’re not aware of any parents’ group opposed to more popular with adults
the flavor restriction won’t e-cigarettes to stop selling issue caused by our dispos- youth vaping. and allow users to custom-
apply to “self-contained, fruity and candy flavors. able flavors,” Blonde said. At $20 for a three-pack, Stig ize flavors and nicotine
disposable products,” but Juul was already in compli- Sales of disposable e-ciga- may not seem cheap. But concentrations.
only to rechargeable ones ance. rettes and all other tobac- Fuhrman and other teens Those products are exempt
that use pods or cartridges It dropped its best selling co and vaping products say it’s a smaller investment from government flavor
prefilled with a nicotine so- mint and most other flavors are prohibited to teenag- than the $40 or $50 needed restrictions.q