New Report: Vapes Being Sold In Spite Of Federal Ban

A new report has shown that despite the ruling of a federal judge, e-cigarettes which are kid-friendly are available widely in both stores and online. 

New report: Vapes Being Sold In Spite Of Federal Ban

The ruling came in early September when they were asked to be pulled off store shelves. The FDA action that happened 2 years ago was followed by the judge’s ruling.

Matt Myers said that the youth use e-cigarettes which are widely available in retail outlets and on the internet. He said that is the reason why kids are attracted to the flavor. 

He added that over 85% of kids who use an electronic cigarette use a flavored one. He also said that nicotine addicts them after the flavor attracts them.

In Jan 2020, the FDA said that they would enforce actions on companies that do not stop the sale of flavored cigarettes after the manufacture and distribution has taken place.

Critics say that that was an old announcement and that times are different now.

The report found that Gummy Bear, Fruit Punch, Blueberry Lemonade, and Funnel Cake are just a few of the 100s of flavors available. It also added that gas stations and convenience stores make these vapes available very easily.

A deadline of Sept. 9 has been set for these companies that manufacture e-cigarettes to get the nod from the FDA for their products. If they fail to do so, their products will be pulled from the market.

It was also found by the report that even though the deadline passed quite a while ago, these products are still in circulation and that no action has been taken by the FDA.

Myers said that the reason for the skyrocketing of the cigarettes was also explained by the report.

It was found that among 8 cities, Juul was sold in all the cities.

In most cities, the flavored liquid was found. This included flavors like Cola, Green Apple, Tropical Fruit, among others.

In every single city, disposable e-cigarettes were available.

Denver, LA, Portland, Seattle, Detroit, Washington DC, Tempe, and Portland were the cities in question.

Between Feb 2020 and Sept 2021, it was found that the sale of disposable e-cigarettes shot up by almost 250%.

According to a recent sales tracking report by the CDC, the figure rose to 9.6 million from 2.8 million. It was noted that flavors like tobacco, mint and menthol contribute to only one in 5 e-cigarettes.

It was also reported that the total number of sales rose by over 60%. During the same period of time, the sales of flavors increased by 86%.

Myers cited federal survey data that mentioned that 1 in 5 high school seniors utilized a vape in the past month.

Erika Sward said that the remaining applications that the FDA has a need to be resolved quickly and that the FDA needs to act quickly. She said that it was really only a drop in the bucket when products with the highest market share are on the market and they claim to have gone through millions of applications.

Myers noted that the number of kids that use vapes has increased by 5 times.

The report noted that the FDA has rejected the applications of over a million flavored vapes. The agency is yet to make a decision on many different vapes and has stated that the products could be sold until a decision is made.

Myers said that the companies whose products have been denied have filed lawsuits and that the number of companies is around 45.

These companies use a significant loophole to keep selling these products and the FDA has to deal with them.