The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that it will move foward with a policy that will restrict the sale of most flavoured e-cigarette products in convenience stores and online, Fortune reported.

The policy proposal suggests restricting the sale of most fruit-flavoured e-cigarettes and completely stopping the sale of some flavours in stores and online that are accessible to minors, Fortune reported. The FDA’s move against e-cigarette flavours is the result of the rising popularity of e-cigarette use among US teens. The proposal will be open for public comment for 30 days.
Under the new guidelines, stores will be required to sale vape products in an age-restricted part of the store and to verify the age of customers, according to Fortune.
In a statement, Scott Gottlieb, FDA commissioner, who announced he would be stepping down from his position early March, commented on the proposal, saying, “Evidence shows that youth are especially attracted to flavoured e-cigarette products, and that minors are able to access these products from both brick-and-mortar retailers, as well as online, despite federal restrictions on sales to anyone under 18.” He added, that “all manufacturers and retailers [would be put] on notice,” according to the report.
Government research found that e-cigarette use among high school students rose 77 per cent and almost 50 per cent among middle school students in 2018, Fortune reported.