US: Crackdown On E-Cigarettes Coming, FDA Chief Says

The Food and Drug Administration will step up its crackdown on e-cigarette sales to teens, the head of the agency said Tuesday.
 

Lawmakers on a House Appropriations subcommittee grilled FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb about excessive use of e-cigarettes among youths. The FDA has the authority to go after e-cigarette makers and retailers if they violate a ban on sales to people under 18, but lawmakers questioned if the agency was doing enough.
 

“I am concerned that FDA’s silence on e-cigarettes could open the door to the next public health emergency,” said Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y.
 

Gottlieb said the FDA will crack down on youths' use of e-cigarettes in the coming weeks.
 

“We are going to take some vigorous enforcement steps to try to perceive what we see is inappropriate use by youth,” Gottlieb said, refusing to elaborate on when the action will happen.
 

The agency has several avenues for targeting retailers that are selling to minors. Those include a warning letter, massive fines, or banning the retailer from selling any tobacco or e-cigarettes.
 

Gottlieb said e-cigarettes could offer fewer health risks than traditional cigarettes, but the soaring use among minors is worrisome. A recent study found that e-cigarette use grew a massive 900 percent among high school students from 2011 to 2015.
 

“We can’t just addict a whole generation of young people onto nicotine,” he said.