President Trump speaks at vaping roundtable
President Trump suggested raising the age to buy vaping products to 21 in a White House meeting on vaping Friday afternoon. Utah Senator Mitt Romney and White House counselor Kellyanne Conway were among those attending the roundtable, which included stakeholders and experts.
In September, Mr. Trump said his administration was reviewing electronic cigarettes, which have contributed to lung-related disorders and deaths in recent months. Mr. Trump announced that month his administration would work to ban all non-tobacco flavored vaping products from the market, but there has not yet been significant movement from the administration.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said at the time the FDA planned to develop guidelines to remove all e-cigarette flavors except plain tobacco from the market.
A 2018 survey showed about 1 in 5 high school students used e-cigarettes. That's more than three million kids — 78% more than in 2017.
More than two-thirds of those teenage vapers used flavored products. And while a recent spike in serious lung illnesses may involve combining vaping with substances like THC, the administration plans to ban most flavored vaping products to make them less appealing to children.