Lawmakers and outside groups are urging President Donald Trump to make good on his promise to institute a federal ban on flavored e-cigarettes more than a month after he raised the issue.
In September, Trump said his administration would ban the sale of all flavored vaping products except those that are flavored with tobacco after a rash of deaths and illnesses attributed to the cigarette alternatives. After a recent report claimed Trump may backpedal from that promise, stakeholders are speaking out.
"Flavored e-cigarettes are attractive to kids and are a huge public health concern, and politics should never outweigh the common good in setting our nation's public health policy," House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., wrote to Trump, according to The Hill.
The administration may still allow mint- and menthol-flavored vaping products, which are popular with teenagers. Critics say that would be the wrong move.
"With each day, more children continue to be lured to e-cigarettes by flavors such as fruit, candy, and mint or menthol. We are therefore deeply troubled that there is no final compliance policy more than six weeks after the Oval Office announcement," a group of more than two dozen Senate Democrats wrote to Trump.
Sara Goza, the president-elect of the American Academy of Pediatrics, added, "The idea that mint and menthol are adult flavors is simply ridiculous."
The Hill reported that Trump's re-election campaign may be putting pressure on him to allow the sale of the two aforementioned flavors.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week that nearly three dozen people have died from a mysterious lung illness attributed to vaping. More than 1,600 illnesses have been reported.