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Vaping Comes Under Fire

Leah Seyoum

   Amid an alarming surge in vaping among teenagers, Congress recently
   approved an unprecedented measure to curb tobacco and e-cigarette use
   nationwide, especially among teens.

   Congress voted to increase the legal age to buy tobacco and vape
   products from 18 to 21 as part of a major fiscal 2020 spending
   agreement. First introduced in May by Senate Majority Leader Mitch
   McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, and Senator Tim Kaine, a Virginia
   Democrat, the "Tobacco-Free Youth Act" has bipartisan support and aims
   to tackle youth vaping.

   President Donald Trump had signaled his support of the measure and
   signed the underlying legislation Dec. 20. However, under pressure from
   his own campaign manager and special interests, Trump appears to be
   reconsidering a plan he unveiled in September to reduce youth vaping by
   banning flavored e-cigarettes -- an approach that experts say would be
   far more effective than raising the legal smoking age to 21.

   Despite warnings from government agencies and anti-vaping advocacy
   groups, the prevalence of minors using e-cigarettes has doubled since
   2017, according to data compiled by the University of Michigan and
   released last September by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

   Juul, the most popular e-cigarette in the U.S., controlled 75 percent
   of the market in 2018 and is at the center of what the U.S. Surgeon
   General has called an "epidemic of youth e-cigarette use." While the
   Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has acknowledged that no one
   brand is responsible for the outbreak of illnesses, as an industry
   leader, Juul is the focus of most finger-pointing, including from the
   surgeon general.

   Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced a lawsuit against Juul
   on Dec. 12, echoing attorneys general in D.C., New York, California and
   North Carolina who have filed similar lawsuits this year. Multiple
   school districts around the country have also taken legal action
   against Juul.

   Juul did not return phone calls or emails from VOA.

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