E-cigarettes, which previously had practically no federal oversight, will soon be regulated similarly to tobacco cigarettes, as outlined in a Food and Drug Administration rule published Thursday.
Here are six things to know about e-cigarette use, the new regulations and reactions to them.
1. Under the new regulations, e-cigarettes, cigars and other "covered tobacco products" cannot be sold to people under 18, and purchasers who are 26 or younger will have to show photo identification as proof of age. Additionally, cigar and e-cigarette producers will have to register with the FDA and be subject to inspections, according to The New York Times. Regulations will go into effect in 90 days.
2. On Thursday, Sylvia Burwell, the secretary of HHS, said the FDA regulations help protect the nation's children and teenagers. According to the CDC, e-cigarette use rates among high school students grew from 1.5 percent in 2011 to 16 percent in 2015 and from 0.6 percent to 5.3 percent among middle schoolers in that time frame. They are the most frequently used tobacco product among that age group.
3. The American Medical Association President Steven Stack, MD, issued a statement of support Thursday for the regulations, calling it a "notable and important step that will ban the sale of these products to minors and improve public health."
4. Both the AMA and the American Academy of Pediatrics did take issue with the fact that the agency did not ban the sale of flavored tobacco products. However, at a press conference Thursday, Ms. Burwell said there are plans to extend the cigarette flavor ban to cigars in a separate proposed rule.
5. Not every professional association is against e-cigarettes, however. In April, the Royal College of Physicians, a British medical association, endorsed e-cigarettes as a healthy alternative to smoking.
6. The American Vaping Association, an industry trade group, came out against the regulations Thursday, saying "this is not regulation — it is prohibition," according to The New York Times.