More Active Efforts to Regulate E-cigarettes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be making more active efforts to regulate e-cigarettes following a report showing that devices have seen a sharp increase in use among young people. According to The Hill, acting FDA head Dr. Stephen Ostroff said that the agency is moving “full speed ahead” to enforce stricter rules for the devices.
Dr. Ostroff cited new federal data showing that e-cigarette use has triples among middle and high school students in the last year. “Data released last week from the National Youth Tobacco Survey showing dramatic increases in reported use of e-cigarettes is a cogent reminder of just how important the deeming rule is,” he stated at the annual conference for the Food and Drug Law Institute, according to The Hill. “We are moving full speed ahead on the proposed deeming rule, which sets the stage for expanding the types of tobacco products that we regulate, including e-cigarettes,”
13 Percent of High School Students Use E-cigarettes.
The report showed that 13 percent of high school students use e-cigarettes, which is more than those who smoke traditional cigarettes. The report showed that last year, 4.6 million young people, 25 percent of all high school students and 8 percent of middle school students, used tobacco in some form.
The FDA first considered regulating e-cigarettes four years ago. Last April, the agency officially proposed new rules prohibiting the sale of e-cigarettes to anyone under the age of 18. However, some health advocates point out that the rules do not address marketing and advertising. More than 135,000 comments were submitted on the proposed regulations rules. Ostroff said this response “has been a challenge of the first order.”
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