FDA Announces Measures to Curb E-Cigarette ‘Epidemic’ Among Young People

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, as the father of three young children, hears “daily from parents and teachers worried about the epidemic use of electronic cigarettes and nicotine addiction among kids,” he said Thursday, announcing measures to curb the use of e-cigarettes among young people. “Any policy accommodations” to promote e-cigarettes as an alternative to “combustible” smoking “cannot, and will not, come at the expense of addicting a generation of children to nicotine through these same delivery vehicles,” said Gottlieb, a physician. “Hard” data shows “kids using e-cigarettes are going to be more likely to try combustible cigarettes later,” he said. “This is a large pool of future risk.” CTA made a “conscious decision” to exclude e-cigarettes as an exhibit category on the CES show floor, said CTA President Gary Shapiro at CES Unveiled New York last week (see 1811090029).