![E-cigarette use on the rise with youth and young adults. - [Image via TBEC / Wikimedia Commons]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2018/5/5/660x290/b_502x220x82/e-cigarette-use-on-the-rise-with-youth-and-young-adults-image-via-wikimedia-commons_1995273.jpg "E-cigarette use on the rise with youth and young adults. - [Image via TBEC / Wikimedia Commons]")
On April 6, the Food and Drug Administration began to quietly crack down on businesses that sell Juul e-cigarettes. The FDA commissioner, Scott Gottlieb, announced the nationwide "blitz" on April 24 to make sure that businesses were aware of the new policy. Laurie McGinley from the Washington Post, wrote "Juul e-cigarettes resemble a USB flash drive but contain high levels of nicotine. They come in such flavors as mango, creme brulee and cool mint and their emissions can be virtually invisible, making it difficult for teachers to spot and stop use of the product." Many people in the FDA are trying to determine why minors and young adults have become addicted to e-cigarettes.
Health Organizations sent a letter to the FDA
On April 18, six leading public health organizations sent a letter to the FDA to further investigate the rising popularity of e-cigarettes. The organizations were the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Truth Initiative, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, and American Lung Association.
A disturbing fact in the letter is, "FDA’s own Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study found that 85 percent of current e-cigarette users aged 12-17 had used a flavored product in the past month and 81.5 percent of those young users cited flavors as the reason for their use of the product." It also does not help the youth if they see young adults like Kendal Jenner posing naked and smoking an e-cigarette.
From #Colorado, here’s another troubling report on youth use of #Juul e-cigarettes:https://t.co/nPrndy7oUE
— Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (@TobaccoFreeKids) May 10, 2018
Health organizations want the FDA to ban flavored e-cigarettes
Juul e-cigarettes come in many flavors such as mango, fruit medley, crème Brulee, cool mint, and cool cucumber.
That is the issue since many youths are appealed by the different fruity flavors provided by Juul. As a result, in the letter previously mentioned, the health organizations call for "The FDA should immediately order the removal of any Juul flavors, including the highly popular 'mango' and 'cool cucumber' flavors ..."
In addition, with the rise of e-commerce, it is easier for youth to order products online with pre-paid visas.
And maybe some parents allow their children to use their credit/debit information online and this makes it legal for underage children to order the Juul products since on paper it says that the adult ordered the product. The letter says, "The FDA should suspend internet sales of Juul until adequate rules are established to prevent those sales to kids by requiring effective age verification both at the time of sale and delivery. At the same time, FDA should dramatically step up its enforcement of the ban on underage sales of Juul by brick-and-mortar retailers."
