Washington (AFP)

Will Mint and Menthol survive the United States' ban on flavored vaping? For seven weeks, intense lobbying has been taking place around these aromas with a long history, which worries health professionals.

On September 11, after a decade of regulatory laissez-faire, Donald Trump announced the upcoming ban on non-tobacco liquid refills to remove from the market anything that attracts young people to vaping, such as sweet scents. , red fruits or chewing gum.

Health Secretary Alex Azar promised on the same day that mint and menthol would also be banned, but US media reported that the government was considering exempting them for the moment, saying they would be useful for adults trying to quit smoking.

While a decision was announced for "the coming weeks", the drug agency, the FDA, which regulates tobacco and vaping, has still not published anything.

Negotiations seem to have moved to the White House.

The presidents of two of the largest medical federations were there on Wednesday, they told reporters in Washington.

"The idea that mint and menthol are adults' perfumes is ridiculous - mint toothpaste is given to little kids," said Sarah Goza, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

"I still remember chewing gum cigarettes very well," said Jacqueline Fincher, president of the American College of Physicians, recalling that flavors had been part of the tobacco companies' strategy to accustom generations of smokers.

The data looks in their direction: 64% of high school students who have vapoted in 2019 say they have consumed mint or menthol flavors, just behind the fruity tastes, and far ahead of candy, alcohol, chocolate and spices, according to the annual government study National Youth Tobacco Survey.

- Mandatory authorization -

Menthol, much consumed by black Americans, has been slaughtered for decades for cigarettes because, by softening the harshness of tobacco, it would conceal the toxicity. The FDA announced last year that it wanted to ban it.

The debate is reoccurring today for e-cigarettes. Not banning mint and menthol would be a "capitulation" to Juul and the industry, have recently warned several public health and anti-smoking organizations.

According to several media, 80% of the sales of Juul concern these two flavors.

Anticipating the regulatory chop, the company stopped selling other flavors mid-October, and today sells in the United States four flavors: Virginia tobacco, classic tobacco and ... mint and menthol.

In other countries, including France, you can still buy vanilla, apple or red berries.

Juul, partner since the end of 2018 to the tobacco giant Altria (Marlboro ...), and who has just changed CEO, is like the rest of the giants of the sector conducting studies that will form the basis of a request for authorization with the regulatory authorities. The FDA wants all vaping products to have filed such a claim by May 2020.

On the one hand, manufacturers want to prove that e-cigarettes, even though they contain nicotine and many other substances and fine particles, are less harmful than cigarettes. And on the other hand demonstrate that they are an effective way to quit smoking, comparable to nicotine patches and gums - what no e-cigarette today has the right to claim on its packaging.

Gregory Conley, of the US-funded industry-funded vaping association, says FDA regulations will ruin the market because they require too expensive studies. He calls for simple standards.

"Improved regulation is better than prohibition," he told AFP, referring to the term used for the US ban on alcohol in the 1920s.

If the FDA now intends to closely control nicotine vapers, it will remain the puzzle of the black market and vaping of cannabis liquids, a substance authorized in some states but banned at the federal level.

More than 1,600 people became ill this year after vaping mainly cannabis, and 34 died, an epidemic that remains a mystery of public health.

© 2019 AFP