The US Food and Drug Administration or FDA is preparing to ban Juul Lab's e-cigarettes in the country. This decision came after the agency reviewed the data presented by the vaping company for two years.
FDA to Ban Juul E-Cigarette
According to The Wall Street Journal, the FDA has already banned several fruit-flavored e-cigarettes in the United States after critics and anti-smoking activists claimed that such products are enticing to teenagers.
Regulators have since been reviewing thousands of applications from vaping companies to allow them to enter the American market.
USA Today reported that Juul had no immediate comment regarding the ban. The company can challenge the ruling in three ways: they can appeal the decision through the FDA, file a revised application for its products, or file a challenge in court.
New Rules for Vaping Companies
In 2020, the FDA required all vaping and e-cigarette companies to submit applications if they wish to continue marketing their products in the country.
The agency only banned fruit-flavored and mint-flavored juice pods that are used in vaping and e-cigarette products. The ban did not apply to tobacco-flavored and menthol products.
In September 2021, the FDA banned the sale of thousands of vaping and electronic cigarette products but still allowed Juul to sell their products.
Erika Sward, the national assistant vice president of advocacy at the American Lung Association, said that banning Juul products is "long overdue."
Sward added that Juul is responsible for the "youth vaping epidemic." She said that no product or company that disregards children's health should be allowed to remain on the market.
According to The Guardian, the FDA regulators determined that Juul did not provide enough evidence to prove that their product is not meant for the youth.
The underage vaping rate increased in the United States in the last 10 years. However, in recent months, surveys showed that the rate is declining.
In 2021, The National Youth Tobacco reported about 11% of high school students vaping. In 2020, the numbers dropped to 19.6%.
The agency is hopeful that there will be a continuous decline in youth vaping because the market is shrinking more and more.
Theodore Wagener, the Center for Tobacco Research director, said that he is currently involved in a study evaluating whether smokers who wish to quit are willing to try nicotine replacement therapies or smoke e-cigarettes instead.
Wagener said that even though the study is still ongoing, some people were able to kick the habit by using e-cigarettes successfully.
Wagener added that now that several products are removed from the market, adults who want to switch from tobacco cigarettes may have a limited selection of e-cigarettes they can purchase.
In October 2021, the FDA had allowed British American Tobacco to market its Vuse Solo e-cigarettes and tobacco-flavored pods. It is the first vapor product to get clearance from the US health regulator.
The crackdown on vaping companies has upended the once fast-growing industry. In March, Altria invested $1.6 billion in Juul, a fraction of the $12.8 billion it invested back in 2018.
Related Article : Is Juul Safe? 1.3 Million Users complained Over Leaky Pods
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Written by Sophie Webster
