The FDA Will Regulate Sale, Manufacturing Of E-Cigarettes

By MARC TORRENCE (Patch National Staff)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will soon have oversight of all tobacco products including, for the first time, e-cigarettes.

Electronic cigarettes — the battery-powered sticks that vaporize nicotine-laced liquids — have exploded in popularity in the United States in recent years, especially among young people, as a cigarette substitute.

But they've largely gone unregulated at the federal level.

Several states have passed laws of their own governing e-cigarette sales and usage in some form or another. California, for example, raised the smoking age statewide Wednesday to 21, which includes e-cigarettes.

The FDA's new authority over e-cigarettes, announced Thursday, will have several ramifications:

• E-cigarette products cannot be sold to anybody under the age of 18, and a photo ID is required for purchase.
• Manufacturers will have to submit a list of their products and ingredients to the FDA and put health warnings and risks on packaging and advertisements.
• Manufacturers cannot advertise low-risk products — like "light" or "mild" — without FDA approval.

The rules will go into effect in three months, the FDA announcement said, and will also govern cigars and hookah products.

A survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year showed the rapid growth in popularity of e-cigarettes among young people as cigarette usage has declined.

Usage of e-cigarettes among high school students went from 1.5 percent in 2011 to 16 percent in 2015, the survey found. Cigar and hookah usage has also increased, the FDA says, as people seek an alternative to cigarettes.

Image via Vaping 360, Flickr, used under Creative Commons