Durbin praises FDA’s new measures cracking down on youth use of Juul, other e-cigarettes

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Daily file photo by Paige Leskin

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) speaks at an event. Durbin praised new measures that aim to limit youth Juul and other e-cigarette use.

Samantha Handler, Assistant City Editor

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said he is pleased with the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to issue new enforcement actions to “better protect” minors from using Juul e-cigarettes, according to a Tuesday news release.

The FDA announced in a separate news release Tuesday that it will launch an “undercover nationwide blitz” to crack down on the sale of Juul products to minors, among other measures.

Durbin and 10 other senators wrote a letter to FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb calling for the FDA to remove “kid-friendly” candy and fruit flavored tobacco products, according to the release.

“By taking one look at a JUUL advertisement, it’s abundantly clear they have dusted off Big Tobacco’s old marketing playbook and are obviously trying to market their products to our children and teens,” Durbin said in the release. “I continue to urge the agency to immediately use its existing authority to remove any JUUL flavors — like their kid-popular mango flavor — that are currently on the market in violation of regulations.”

Durbin also sent a letter to Kevin Burns, the chief executive officer of JUUL Labs, Inc., requesting that the company take steps to limit minors’ use of the product.

In the letter, Durbin and 10 other senators said the company’s vaping device and flavored nicotine cartridges, Juul pods, are “undermining” the nation’s efforts to reduce youth tobacco use.

“Your company’s product purports to help people quit smoking cigarettes,” the letter said, “yet we are concerned that JUUL — with its kid-appealing design and flavors — will only lead to further nicotine addiction and adverse health consequences.”

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