But now, The Food and Drug Administration has new regulations that will force hundreds of products to go under federal review.
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With the rules that were more than two years in the making, the agency is expanding its authority over e-cigarettes, cigars and hookah tobacco, in much the same way it already regulates traditional cigarettes.
The FDA’s regulations also require tobacco manufacturers to submit products for authorization and for product advertisements and packaging to have health warnings.
Any product that came onto the market after 2007 must be FDA-approved. In addition to pipe tobacco and hookahs, the new regulatory standards will affect e-cigarettes, vapes, and cigars for the first time. And the Federal Drug Administration says that made it too easy for them to fall into the hands of teenagers, whose use of the products increased more than 900 percent between 2011 and 2015.
FILE – A man smokes an e-cigarette in Chicago, April 23, 2014.
“Millions of kids are being introduced to nicotine every year, a new generation hooked on a highly addictive chemical” Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said.
The Indiana Youth Institute is applauding the new rules.
E-cigarettes will be regulated as tobacco products, federal authorities announced on Thursday.
Prohibit selling – including online – tobacco products to people younger than 18.
At one “vape” shop in New York City, the Henley Vaporium, owner Peter Denholtz said he was concerned about the new rules.
“Vaping products have the potential to save some of those lives”.
The popularity of “vaping” has grown in recent years.
And he fears stricter regulations will push people back into their old bad habits.
Requiring age verification by photo ID.
“I think it’s a smart move”.
The FDA began focusing on e-cigarettes in 2009 as they began appearing on store shelves in the United States. That space alone may be worth $2 billion in sales, according to estimates, though precise figures are not available.
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“With this rule the FDA will be able to prevent misleading claims and provide consumers with information to help them better understand the risk of tobacco use”, said Dr. Rob Califf, of the FDA.
