Nov. 18, 2019 — U.S. President Donald Trump’s pledge in September to ban the sale of most flavored e-cigarettes to stem the rise in vaping among young people appears to be weakening.
Two months after he made the promise, Trump has yielded to pressure from lobbyists and political advisers and not taken any action on vaping, saying only that he wants to study the issue, The New York Times reported.
The proposed ban on flavored vaping products had wide support from health officials and others as an outbreak of severe vaping-related lung injuries has added to concerns about the teen vaping crisis.
On Nov. 11, Trump tweeted that he would 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.”
However, one senior White House official said no such meeting had been scheduled, The Times reported.
In the absence of federal government action on vaping, several states have moved to ban flavored vaping products. That’s led to legal challenges from the industry and lobbying of lawmakers and the White House to prevent new rules that would affect adults’ use of e-cigarettes, The Times reported.