Teens Are Still Vaping Flavors, Thanks To New Disposable Vape Pens
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Jim Liebelt Jim Liebelt's Blog - Published Feb 20, 2020
*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on NPR.
Efforts to stem the tide of teen vaping seem to be a step behind the market. By the time Juul pulled most of its flavored pods from the market in October of 2019, many teens had already moved on to an array of newer, disposable vape products.
"Juul is almost old school ... It's no longer the teen favorite," says Meredith Berkman, co-founder of the advocacy group PAVE, Parents Against Vaping E-cigarettes.
"Among the disposables [that] are most popular, there's Puff Bar, there's Stig, there's Viigo," Berkman says. They're designed for one-time use. Then, they're tossed, she explains. "These have just flooded the market," Berkman says.
These products are flourishing despite the Trump administration's partial ban on flavored e-cigarettes, announced in January and in effect as of February 5. The enforcement guidance issued by the Food and Drug Administration was aimed at stopping young people from vaping. It focused on enforcement on flavored cartridges, like Juul's popular products.
But it left open some "loopholes," says Matt Myers of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "It won't take the kids and it hasn't taken the kids any time to make a switch [to newer products]."
At any time, the FDA could crackdown on the new disposables. The agency has enforcement discretion to take action and in the guidance, the agency specified it could take action on any e-cigarette product that's "targeted to minors."
