FDA plans to impose severe restrictions on e-cigarettes

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13. Menthol cigarettes may be on the chopping block, too.

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Gottlieb also is expected to propose banning menthol in regular cigarettes. The agency has been collecting public comments on such a prohibition, which is a major goal of the public health community but is likely to be strongly opposed by the cigarette industry.

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The only exception to the ­flavored-products ban in convenience stores involves menthol ­e-cigarette products. The FDA will continue to permit sales of that flavor because menthol is permitted in regular cigarettes, and the agency doesn’t want to give traditional cigarettes an advantage over e-cigarettes. But the FDA may extend the sales restriction to menthol e-cigarettes if teen vaping doesn’t decline, officials said.

Gottlieb’s actions apply to a specific kind of vaping product that dominates the youth market — e-cigarettes that use prepackaged flavor cartridges, or pods. That includes the wildly popular vaping products by Juul Labs. The restrictions don’t apply to the “open-tank” systems available in vape shops.

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