Man smoking an e-cigarette.Photo: Getty
The Food and Drug Administration approved an e-cigarette company to begin marketing their products in the U.S. for the first time on Tuesday, a significant change after years ofpushing back against vaping.
The FDA said that Vuse, an e-cigarette brand from the British company R.J. Reynolds, could promote their device and tobacco-flavored cartridges. The agency said that the benefits of encouraging adult smokers to switch from traditional cigarettes outweigh therisk of hooking teenagers on e-cigarettes.
“The FDA determined that the potential benefit to smokers who switch completely or significantly reduce their cigarette use, would outweigh the risk to youth,” theysaidina statement.
The FDA also said they had analyzed data from R.J. Reynolds that showed that the Vuse products “are significantly less toxic than combusted cigarettes based on available data.”
Vuse vape.Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty
The decision comes after the FDA had ordered several other e-cigarette companies,primarily Juul, to end their marketing tactics that had led to an enormous jump in teen vaping and cigarette use. Juul and another popular brand among adolescents, Puff Bars, had topull their fruit-flavored productsfrom the market on FDA orders.
The FDA said they also rejected 10 other Vuse flavors and only authorized the tobacco-flavored ones “because these products are less appealing to youth and authorizing these products may be beneficial for adult combusted cigarette users who completely switch to [e-cigarettes] or significantly reduce their cigarette consumption.”
“While today’s action permits the tobacco products to be sold in the U.S., it does not mean these products are safe or ‘FDA approved.’ All tobacco products are harmful and addictive and those who do not use tobacco products should not start.”
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Anti-tobacco groups such as Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids decried the decision, with president Matthew Myerssayingin astatementthat the authorization of “Vuse products with this level of nicotine leave our nation’s youth at an undue risk of addiction.”
The FDA said that they will continue to track teen tobacco use and could change or remove their authorization if there are any issues.
source: people.com
