An Important Government Reform Today

The Teenage Vaping Epidemic

In the article “This is what the Trump administration should do on vaping”, published by The Washington Post, Scott Gottlieb proposes a plan that he believes will solve the epidemic of teens using e-cigarettes. Whenever the obvious solution to ban e-cigs all together is proposed, it is most commonly joined with the rebuttal by adult vapers saying that this would take away their method used to quit smoking. Gottlieb also mentions another problem that may arise regarding smaller vape shops and their business. However, he also claims that the smaller shops are not the victims of these restrictions, but the culprits, as a study found that they are selling double the amount of vaping products to teens than gas stations.

While there has been a recent ban on JUUL’s most popular flavor with kids, the mint pod, Gottlieb suggests that the government must do more regarding the issue. He proposes that they get rid of the more easily concealed, cartridge-based e-cigs from the market and require companies to file an FDA application if they want to relaunch their products. These applications would need to prove that they provide a net public-health benefit. 

Another important factor with the industry of vaping is the lack of age restrictions being enforced in the stores selling these products. Most of the smaller shops depend on the business of younger individuals who are not of age, therefore giving them more of a reason to ease up on checking IDs. Gottlieb also suggests the FDA requires that the adults-only vape shops must prove that they are effectively enforcing age restrictions. In addition to his concerns toward the smaller smoke shops, the author advises that the FDA helps these shops with the process of completing the applications by allowing some of the vape shops to combine their applications with stores of similar manufacturing, in order for them to be able to compete with big tobacco companies.