The FDA issued a draft guidance March 13 outlining restrictions on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, reports The Washington Post.
Three things to know:
1. Under the draft guidance, only stores that ban minors or contain designated adult sections would be permitted to sell flavored vaping products. The guidance would also require online marketplaces to improve their age verification processes.
2. If the draft guidance is subject to a 30-day comment period. If it passes, companies that do not follow the new regulations may be forced to remove their products from the market.
3. Outgoing FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, attributes the "epidemic-level rise in youth e-cigarette use" to flavored e-cigarette products.
"Evidence shows that youth are especially attracted to flavored e-cigarette products, and that minors are able to access these products from both brick-and-mortar retailers, as well as online, despite federal restrictions on sales to anyone under 18," he said in a statement.