The US government on Thursday announced it would soon ban most flavoured e-cigarettes as it tries to curb a rising tide of youth vaping, but stopped short of the full ban promised in September by President Donald Trump. The Food and Drug Administration said cartridge-based e-cigarettes in flavours “other than tobacco or menthol” would be illegal unless they receive specific authorisation from the government. “The United States has never seen an epidemic of substance use arise as quickly as our current epidemic of youth use of e-cigarettes,” Health Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement. The 2019 National Youth Tobacco Survey shows that more than five million US middle and high school students are e-cigarette users, with nearly one million using daily. The flavour ban will exempt large, tank-based vaping devices, however, which are primarily sold in vape shops that cater to adult smokers.

Source: Punch January 02, 2020 21:11 UTC