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A4 U.S. NEWS
Saturday 22 June 2024
FDA OKs first menthol e-cigarettes, citing potential to help adult

smokers

By MATTHEW PERRONE the decision, which follows reusable device that heats liq- market after years of regula-
AP Health Writer years of advocacy efforts uid nicotine, turning it into an tory delays. Currently the U.S.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The to keep menthol and other inhalable aerosol. The other market includes thousands
Food and Drug Administration flavors that can appeal to two Njoy menthol products of fruit- and candy-flavored
on Friday authorized the first teens off the market. are disposable e-cigarettes. vapes that are technically il-
menthol-flavored electronic “This decision could mean Njoy’s products accounted legal but are widely available
cigarettes for adult smokers, we’ll never be able to close for less than 3% of U.S. e- in convenience stores, gas
acknowledging that vaping the Pandora’s box of the cigarette sales in the past stations and vape shops.
flavors can reduce the harms youth vaping epidemic,” year, according to retail data The FDA faced a self-imposed
of traditional tobacco smok- said Meredith Berkman, co- from Nielsen. Vuse, owned court deadline at the end
ing. founder of Parents Against by Reynolds American, and of this month to wrap up its
The FDA said it authorized Vaping E-cigarettes. “FDA has Juul control about 60% of the yearslong review of major
four menthol e-cigarettes once again failed American market, while hundreds of dis- vaping brands, including
from Njoy, the vaping brand families by allowing a preda- posable brands account for Juul and Vuse.
recently acquired by tobacco tory industry to source its next the rest. Most teens who vape Those brands have been sold
giant Altria, which also sells generation of lifetime custom- use disposable e-cigarettes, in the U.S. for years, awaiting
Marlboro cigarettes. ers America’s children.” including brands like Elf Bar, FDA action on their scientific
The decision lends new cred- Youth vaping has declined which come in flavors such applications. To stay on the
ibility to vaping companies’ from all-time highs in recent as watermelon and blueberry market, companies must show
longstanding claim that their years, with about 10% of high ice. Altria’s data showed Njoy that their e-cigarettes provide
products can help blunt schoolers reporting e-ciga- e-cigarettes helped smokers an overall health benefit for
the toll of smoking, which is rette use last year. Of those reduce their exposure to the smokers, without significantly
blamed for 480,000 U.S. deaths who vaped, 90% used flavors, harmful chemicals in tradi- appealing to kids.
annually due to cancer, lung including menthol. tional cigarettes, the FDA “Based upon our rigorous sci-
disease and heart disease. All the e-cigarettes previously said. The agency stressed the entific review, in this instance,
E-cigarettes have been sold authorized by the FDA have This image provided by NJOY products are neither safe nor the strength of evidence of
in the U.S. since 2007 but in been tobacco, which isn’t in 2024 shows packaging “FDA approved,” and that benefits to adult smokers from
recent years their potential widely used by young people for the company’s menthol- people who don’t smoke completely switching to a
benefits for smokers have who vape. Njoy is one of only flavored electronic cigarette shouldn’t use them. less harmful product was suf-
been overshadowed by their three companies that previ- product. Friday’s action is part of a ficient to outweigh the risks to
use by adolescents and teens. ously received FDA’s OK for Associated Press sweeping FDA review intend- youth,” said Matthew Farrelly
Parents and anti-tobacco vaping products. Like those menthol varieties come as ed to bring scientific scrutiny to of FDA’s Center for Tobacco
groups immediately criticized products, two of the Njoy cartridges that plug into a the multibillion-dollar vaping Products.q

Most alerts from the NYPD’s gunfire detection system are

unconfirmed shootings, city audit finds

By PHILIP MARCELO firmed shootings 87 percent whose office conducted million when it expires in De- SoundThinking, in an
Associated Press of the time, a city audit re- the audit. cember. The system utilizes emailed statement, said
NEW YORK (AP) — A gunfire leased Thursday has found. “The evidence shows that more than 2,000 acoustic its reviewing the report but
location and detection sys- The low rate of confirmed NYPD is wasting precious sensors to detect gunshot believes it is “gravely misin-
tem long used by the New shootings through Shot- time and money on this activity citywide. formed in its assessment of
York Police Department Spotter means police of- technology and needs to A spokesperson for the data and the value of Shot-
and other law enforce- ficers spent thousands of do a better job managing NYPD referred to the de- Spotter as a critical public
ment agencies nationwide working hours responding its resources,” he said in a partment’s response, in- safety tool.”
is sending police officers to to unfounded reports of statement. “Chasing down cluded at the end of the The company argued that
respond to loud noises that gunfire, said New York City car backfires and construc- audit. the comptroller’s office
don’t turn out to be con- Comptroller Brad Lander, tion noise does not make us The seven-page reply says, looked at the wrong met-
safer.” among other things, that rics and that system is not
Among other recommen- the comptroller analy- just accurate and effective
dations, the Democrat sis fails to acknowledge but also saves lives in com-
called for the city not to that officers responding to munities hit hardest by gun
renew its contract with ShotSpotter alerts serve as violence.
SoundThinking, the Califor- a form of crime deterrent “It should focus on full
nia-based company that simply by investigating the awareness of gunfire as
developed ShotSpotter, scene. it occurs, rapid response,
unless a more thorough It also says its difficult for and most importantly, lives
performance evaluation is the department to deter- saved,” the company said
conducted. mine exactly how many of the audit.
The NYPD paid the com- ShotSpotter reports result According to Lander’s au-
pany more than $45 million in a “confirmed shooting” dit, unconfirmed shootings
between 2014 and 2023, as those are only ones in ranged from 80% to 92%
according to the comp- which shell casings, fire- of alerts during the eight
troller’s office. A three-year arms, property damage, months that his office au-
Members of the New York City Police Department listen to a renewal reached in 2021 videos, witnesses, victims dited the system between
news conference, Jan. 4, 2017, in New York. would bring the total con- or other forms of evidence 2022 and 2023. q
Associated Press tract amount to nearly $55 are also identified.