http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/business/its-now-illegal-to-sell-e-cigarettes-cigars-hookah/nsCms/
Federal officials are hopeful that a new law that took effect Monday which expands the types of tobacco products it’s illegal to sell to minors will help curb tobacco use.
The new law prohibits retailers from selling e-cigarettes, hookah tobacco or cigars to people under 18, Mitch Zeller, director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Product said.
For years, it has been illegal under federal law to sell cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to minors. Now all tobacco products are covered except for accessories.
Retailers are required to check photo ID of anyone under age 27, and are not be allowed to give away free samples of newly deemed tobacco products.
In addition, retailers will not be allowed to sell cigars, hookah tobacco, and e-cigarettes in a vending machine where anyone under age 18 has access at any time.
“While there has been a significant decline in the use of traditional cigarettes among youth over the past decade, their use of other tobacco products continues to climb — putting a new generation of kids at risk of addiction. E-cigarette use, for example, skyrocketed from 1.5 percent in 2011 to 16 percent in 2015 (an over 900 percent increase) among high school students; and hookah use also increased significantly. And every day, more teenage boys try a cigar than try a cigarette,” Zeller said in a blog post.
The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act into law, Zeller added, gave the FDA the authority to regulate cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco, and smokeless tobacco.
“But cigar, hookah tobacco and e-cigarette markets remained unregulated, creating a market environment I have equated in the past to the Wild, Wild West,” Zeller wrote.
In addition to restricting youth access to tobacco products, FDA will now be able to review new tobacco products not yet on the market, prevent misleading claims and help better provide consumers with information to make informed decisions about their tobacco use. This means tobacco product manufacturers will be required to register and list their products with FDA. Manufacturers will also be required to report ingredients and harmful and identify potentially harmful ingredients in their products.