Help protect youth from harmful nicotine products
In 2022, 12% of 8th-graders, 20.5% of 10th-graders, and 27.3% of 12th-graders reported vaping nicotine in the past year, numbers that have greatly increased in the past five years.[1] Nicotine vaping remains one of the most used substances among adolescents, and vaping accounts for most adolescent nicotine use.[2] Flavored e-cigarettes are the most commonly used, with nearly 85% of middle and high school students who use e-cigarettes using flavored e-cigarettes. Fruit flavors are the most popular, followed by candy, desserts, or other sweets. Disposables are the most commonly used devices, accounting for over half of adolescents’ e-cigarette use.[3]
Nicotine exposure before age 25 can harm parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood, and impulse control and can increase the risk for future addiction to other substances and the use of traditional cigarettes.[4] Vaping also exposes users to toxic chemicals and other harmful ingredients. Youth vaping led to an outbreak of lung injuries (EVALI) among adolescents in 2019.
For years, the tobacco industry has used flavors to entice young users, despite the health risks. In 2020, the federal government prohibited the sale of flavored, refillable cartridge-based e-cigarettes. However, this left a loophole for the now popular disposable flavored e-cigarettes. Synthetic nicotine products are also growing in popularity, as companies are increasingly selling such products in an effort to evade government regulation.
Without targeting the products that are most popular among youth, the flavored, disposable vapes, efforts to curtail youth nicotine use will have limited effectiveness.
The Disposable ENDS Product Enforcement Act of 2023 would close this loophole. It would direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to update guidance to describe how the agency will prioritize enforcement against disposable electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), including non-tobacco-derived (synthetic) nicotine products
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