President Donald Trump on Monday said he was meeting with representatives from the vaping industry, as his administration gets closer to announcing some form of restrictions on the products.
“Will be meeting with representatives of the Vaping industry, together with medical professionals and individual state representatives, to come up with an acceptable solution to the Vaping and E-cigarette dilemma. Children’s health & safety, together with jobs, will be a focus!” the president tweeted on Monday morning.
Will be meeting with representatives of the Vaping industry, together with medical professionals and individual state representatives, to come up with an acceptable solution to the Vaping and E-cigarette dilemma. Children’s health & safety, together with jobs, will be a focus!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 11, 2019
In September, the Trump administration announced that it was working on a policy that would ban the sale of all non-tobacco flavored e-cigarettes, including menthol.
However, amid intense pushback from vapers (and some conservatives circulating data about how such a ban might impact him in the 2020 election), it was reported that the administration was considering a flavor ban that would not include menthol.
Last week, Bloomberg reported that there may be some form of an exemption from the ban for vape shops.
A few days ago, the president told reporters that his administration planned to raise the age to legally buy vaping products to 21 and that some announcement regarding the administration’s stance on vaping would come out this week.
However, as CNBC notes, the FDA does not have the authority to raise the smoking age.
READ MORE:
- Vape shops may be exempt from Trump’s flavored e-cigarette ban
- What’s the difference between a vape and an e-cigarette?
- Some conservatives reportedly worried e-cigarettes could be a 2020 election issue
- Tobacco and menthol not expected to be included in Trump’s vape flavor ban