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A6 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 19 November 2019

Trump backing off banning vaping flavors popular with teens

By JONATHAN LEMIRE, MAT- the officials. Trump tweet- work, they never have,” organization, called on to protect the public from
THEW PERRONE and DAR- ed last week that he’ll be Tony Abboud, executive Trump to implement the tobacco-related disease
LENE SUPERVILLE meeting with vaping indus- director of the Vapor Tech- original plan. and death, and prevent e-
Associated Press try representatives, medical nology Association, said in “The health of America’s cigarettes from becoming
WASHINGTON (AP) — When professionals and others “to a statement. youth must come first and an on-ramp to nicotine ad-
President Donald Trump come up with an accept- Gregory Conley, president is not for sale or political diction for a generation of
boarded Air Force One able solution to the Vaping of the American Vaping gain,” Koval said in a state- youth,” she said.
to fly to a Kentucky cam- and E-cigarette dilemma.” But within days, Trump
paign rally two weeks ago, The White House has yet tweeted that e-cigarettes
a plan was in place for him to announce a date for a might be a less-harmful
to give final approval to a meeting. alternative for smokers, a
plan to ban most flavored This month, Trump cam- point long made by the
e-cigarettes. paign manager Brad industry. Meanwhile, vap-
By the time Trump landed Parscale and others ing lobbyists, conserva-
back at Joint Base Andrews showed the president poll- tive groups and Republi-
outside Washington a few ing data indicating that can lawmakers from key
hours later, the plan was e-cigarette users could states warned Trump that a
off. And its future is unclear. abandon him if he followed crackdown could cost him
For nearly two months, mo- through with the ban, the with voters.
mentum had been building officials said. The Vapor Technology As-
inside the White House to try Campaign aides also high- sociation launched ads
to halt a youth vaping epi- lighted an aggressive so- and an online campaign
demic that experts feared cial media campaign — promising to punish Trump
was hurting as many as 5 #IVapeIVote — in which and other politicians who
million teenagers. advocates claimed a ban - In this April 23, 2014 file photo, a man smokes an electronic support vaping restrictions.
Both first lady Melania would force the closure cigarette in Chicago. Conservative groups that
Trump and Ivanka Trump, of vaping shops, eliminat- Associated Press have long promoted vap-
the president’s daughter ing jobs and sending us- ing as an alternative to
and senior adviser, pushed ers of electronic cigarettes Association, an advocacy ment. The first lady opened smoking, including Grover
for the ban, which was also back to traditional smokes. organization, added that the White House to a group Norquist’s Americans for
being championed inter- Parscale also pointed out the government should of young people from the Tax Reform, joined the criti-
nally by White House coun- the risk that a ban could put in place “sensible and Truth Initiative in October to cism.
selor Kellyanne Conway, have on e-cigarette users targeted regulations” be- tell her about their experi- That group and others
who has taken the lead on in key battleground states fore it resorts to prohibition, ences with vaping. helped organize protests
some public health issues. that Trump narrowly won in which opponents of a ban Trump’s initial pledge Sept. against banning flavors,
But as Trump sat surround- 2016. said could lead to the cre- 11 to ban virtually all fla- including one outside the
ed by political advisers on Others in the West Wing, ation of an underground vored e-cigarettes stunned White House.
the flights to and from Lex- including Conway, have market for e-cigarettes. vaping proponents and Trump supporters also
ington, he grew reluctant argued that a ban could But Matt Myers, president of was immediately em- showed up at some of his
to sign the ban, convinced be a winning issue with the Campaign for Tobac- braced by anti-tobacco campaign rallies holding
it could alienate voters suburban voters, including co-Free Kids, said Trump advocates. In an Oval Of- signs expressing their oppo-
who would be financially mothers, who have fled the would be guilty of “terrible fice appearance with the sition to a ban.
or otherwise affected by president in large numbers. public policy” and “bad first lady and Azar, Trump The industry warned some
a vaping ban, according Few would predict where politics” if he backs down. said the government would 15,000 to 19,000 vaping
to two White House and Trump, who is known to “This is one of the very act within weeks to protect shops across the country -
campaign officials not au- abruptly change his mind, few issues on which public children from fruit, candy, and jobs - could be wiped
thorized to speak publicly would end up since he re- views are unified,” Myers dessert and other sweet out if flavors were eliminat-
about private conversa- cently has been consumed said in a telephone inter- vaping flavors, including ed.
tions. with other matters, notably view. “There are a small mint and menthol. The administration was
A news conference sched- televised impeachments number of vape shop own- The announcement fol- widely expected earlier
uled by Health and Human hearings. ers who are loud and don’t lowed a tweet two days this month to announce
Services Secretary Alex The vaping industry’s larg- care. But there are millions earlier by Mrs. Trump ex- a scaled-back flavor ban
Azar to announce the ban est trade group said Mon- more moms and dads who pressing concern “about that would exempt men-
was canceled, while more day the administration was are deeply concerned.” the growing epidemic of thol, citing research that
meetings with industry heading “in the right direc- Robin Koval, president and e-cigarette use in our chil- the flavor was not widely
leaders and lobbyists were tion for adult smokers and CEO of the Truth Initiative, dren.” used by children. But no
proposed, according to their families.” “Bans don’t a nonprofit, anti-tobacco “We need to do all we can decision came.q