Editorial Board
FDA Should Act Fast Amid Youth Vaping ‘Epidemic’
E-cigarettes aren’t harmless — and vast numbers of young Americans are using them.
No time to lose.
Photograph: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg
Teen vaping has skyrocketed in just a few years: Between 2017 and 2018, the share of high-school students using e-cigarettes rose by 78%, to one in five. Unlike other tobacco products, e-cigarettes have not been subject to a government health and safety review because of multiple decisions by FDA delaying that review. At long last, the FDA now says it wants to end this regulatory limbo, and move up a deadline for manufacturers to show that their products meet basic standards by two years — requiring action in 10 months, rather than by 2022.
Even that is too long to wait.