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Trump¹ Administration Announces Plans to Ban Flavored E-cigarettes

American President Donald Trump says his administration will propose banning thousands of flavors of electronic cigarettes, known as e-cigarettes.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will develop rules to remove all e-cigarette flavors, except tobacco, from the U.S. market.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar made the announcement Wednesday. He spoke² at the White House during an appearance with the president, first lady Melania Trump and the acting³ chief of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Ned Sharpless.

E-cigarettes are a popular substitute for traditional smoking products. They have been available in the United States for more than 10 years.

The electronic devices heat liquid into vapor⁴ -- very small particles that users inhale⁵. Many users vape with a liquid that includes flavoring, nicotine⁶ and other chemicals. Nicotine is a natural chemical found in tobacco plants.

Trump said vaping has become such a problem that he wants parents to be informed of what is happening.

“People are going to watch what we’re saying and parents are going to be a lot tougher with respect to their children,” Trump said.

It will take several weeks to develop the proposed flavor restrictions⁷.

Trump’s first public comments on vaping come as U.S. officials investigate hundreds of breathing problems in people who have used e-cigarettes and other vaping devices.

No single device, ingredient or additive⁸ has been identified, although many cases involve marijuana vaping devices. There is still little research on the long-term effects of vaping.

The administration proposal would only affect nicotine vaping products, which are subject to FDA rules.

The FDA has had the power to ban vaping flavors since 2016, but up until now resisted calls to take that step. Agency officials instead said they were studying whether flavors could help people stop smoking traditional cigarettes.

But many parents, politicians and health activists⁹ have called for action on flavors. They argue that flavoring is largely to blame for a rise in vaping among U.S. teenagers.

“We simply have to remove these attractive flavored products from the marketplace until they can secure FDA approval, if they can,” Azar said. He added that flavored products could seek the agency’s permission to re-enter the market.

Azar said the administration would let tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes remain available for adults. But he said that if children begin using those products, “we will take enforcement action there also.”

A 2009 law banned all flavors from traditional cigarettes except menthol. But that law did not affect e-cigarettes, which were then a small percentage of the tobacco market.

A ban on flavors would represent a huge blow to the vaping industry. Juul, one of the best known manufacturers, has grown into a huge business by selling mint, fruit and dessert flavored-nicotine products.

Juul and other vaping companies argue that their products are supposed to help adult smokers¹⁰ reduce their dependence¹¹ on traditional paper-and-tobacco cigarettes. But there is little evidence that e-cigarettes are effective for helping¹² people stop smoking.

Federal law bars e-cigarette and all other tobacco sales to those under age 18. But last year, one study found that 1 in 5 high school students reported vaping in the past month. Government health officials have called the rising in vaping an “epidemic¹³.”

More than 80 percent of underage teens who use e-cigarettes say they chose the product because it “comes in flavors that I like,” studies have found.

I’m Ashley Thompson.

Words in This Story

flavor – n. a substance that is added to food or drink to give it a desired taste

substitute – n. a person or a thing that takes the place of someone or something else

inhale – v. to breathe in

ingredient – n. a part of any mixture or combination

attractive – adj. appealing or pleasing to the senses

dessert – n. a usually sweet treat served at the end of a meal

epidemic – n. a situation in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

4 vapor   

n.蒸汽，雾气

参考例句：

• The cold wind condenses vapor into rain.冷风使水蒸气凝结成雨。
• This new machine sometimes transpires a lot of hot vapor.这部机器有时排出大量的热气。

5 inhale   

v.吸入(气体等)，吸(烟)

参考例句：

• Don't inhale dust into your lung.别把灰尘吸进肺里。
• They are pleased to not inhale second hand smoke.他们很高兴他们再也不会吸到二手烟了。

6 nicotine   

n.(化)尼古丁，烟碱

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily.许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily.许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。

7 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

8 additive   

adj.附加的；n.添加剂

参考例句：

• Colour is often an additive in foods.颜料经常是各种食物中的添加物。
• Strict safety tests are carried out on food additives.对食品添加剂进行了严格的安全检测。

9 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 smokers   

吸烟者( smoker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily. 许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Chain smokers don't care about the dangers of smoking. 烟鬼似乎不在乎吸烟带来的种种危害。

11 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

12 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

13 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。