FDA Extends Oversight To E-Cigarettes Restricts Vending Machine Access

SILVER SPRING, MD -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has finalized a rule extending its authority to all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, cigars, hookah tobacco and pipe tobacco, and restricting their availability in vending machines.

In 2009, Congress passed the bipartisan Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (TCA), which gave the FDA authority to regulate the manufacturing, distribution and marketing of tobacco products to protect public health.

Until FDA's finalized May 10 rule, there was no federal law prohibiting retailers from selling e-cigarettes, hookah tobacco or cigars to people under age 18. The rule changes that, with provisions aimed at restricting youth access, which go into effect in 90 days. They include prohibiting the sale of covered tobacco products in vending machines, except in locations accessible only to adults. The products cannot be sold to persons under the age of 18 years, in person or online, and photo ID age verification is now required. Additionally, free samples can no longer be distributed.

The rule also requires manufacturers of all newly regulated products to show that they meet the applicable public health standard set forth in the law and receive marketing authorization from the FDA, unless the product was on the market as of Feb. 15, 2007. The tobacco product review process gives the agency the authority to evaluate ingredients, product design and health risks, as well as their appeal to youth and nonusers.

While there has been a substantial decline in the use of traditional cigarettes among youth over the past decade, their consumption of other tobacco products continues to climb. A recent survey supported by the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows e-cigarette use among high school students has risen from 1.5% in 2011 to 16% in 2015; the study claims hookah use has increased, too. In 2015, three million middle and high school students were e-cigarette users, and data showed high school boys smoked cigars at about the same rate as cigarettes.

Additionally, a joint study by the FDA and the National Institutes of Health shows that, in 2013-14, nearly 80% of current youth tobacco users reported consuming a flavored tobacco product in the past 30 days -- with the availability of appealing flavors consistently cited as a reason for use.

The new rule will subject all manufacturers, importers and retailers of newly regulated tobacco products to all applicable provisions, bringing them in line with other tobacco products the FDA has regulated under the TCA since 2009.