Washington (AFP)
The US leader in electronic cigarettes, Juul Labs, announced Thursday the suspension of sales of non-menthol flavored refills in the United States, while the government of Donald Trump is preparing a national ban.
The brand will stop selling mango, cream, fruit and cucumber flavors until federal health authorities finalize new regulations on vaping, Juul said in a statement. The "pods" with tobacco, menthol and mint flavors will continue to be sold.
"We need to start the vaping industry from scratch by gaining the confidence of society and cooperating with regulators, governments and all stakeholders to fight against the vaping of young people, while offering an alternative to adult smokers" said Juul's new chief executive, KC Crosthwaite, last month.
A showdown is currently taking place in the United States on electronic cigarettes, which appeared about ten years ago and have become popular in recent years among young people, according to multiple surveys.
The industry advocates the role of e-cigarettes as a healthier alternative to smoking to help people quit smoking. But legislators across the country, and abroad, are tempted or have already enacted a total or partial ban to protect youth.
Donald Trump's administration has chosen the path to ban flavored e-liquids, a ban that would include the very popular tastes of mint and menthol, the health minister said in September.
The text has not yet been published but should be published "soon", told AFP Tuesday a spokesman for the US Agency for Drugs, which has tutelage on tobacco and electronic cigarettes, the Food and Drug Administration.
Juul assured that she would not challenge the FDA's upcoming regulation, but by Thursday's decision, the company says she believes that mint and menthol must remain allowed.
These debates occur as a mysterious epidemic of severe pulmonary diseases related to vaping has killed at least 26, with more than 1,300 patients identified since the spring, according to a report of 11 October.
In three quarters of the cases, the patients had vapoted refills with THC, the psychoactive agent of cannabis, often bought from dealers and manufactured outside any regulatory framework.
© 2019 AFP